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Staff Profile: Gwerfyl Roberts

Co-Director LLAIS www.llais.org

Associate Member ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism, Bangor University
Lead: Language and Cultural Awareness in Health and Social Care Thematic Research Group, Centre for Health-Related Research, Bangor University

Gwerfyl’s main research interest focuses on enhancing the evidence base for language appropriate practice in health and social care. She is Co-Director of LLAIS, a WORD funded initiative that offers advice and consultancy on enhancing Welsh language awareness across CRC Cymru, the new R&D infrastructure in Wales; and maintains a research network portfolio on language appropriate practice. Commissioned research includes a national study to obtain a sector wide overview of the levels of Welsh language awareness amongst healthcare professionals; a scoping study to determine the need for a national health and social care research network for language awareness in Wales and an evaluation of the Twf project, a Welsh Language Board initiative on language transmission in the family, and the role of healthcare professionals in promoting bilingualism in the home.

Gwerfyl has been involved in the production of a number of standardised bilingual healthcare terminologies and teaching packs to support practitioners in their role as mentors and facilitators of language choice; and she is co-editor of the 1st Welsh Edition of Bailliere’s Midwives’ Dictionary. She is a member of the Welsh Assembly Government Task Group for Welsh in the Health Service.

Research Grants Awarded

Year	Study Title	Funding Body	Award
2007-2008	Principal Investigator: Language Awareness in Health and Social Care Research: A Self-Directed Learning Pack for Nurse Education.	Higher Education Funding Council for Wales	£5,000
2007-2010	PhD Scholarship	Welsh Language Board	£45,000
2007-2010	PhD Scholarship	Higher Education Funding Council for Wales	£45,000
2006-2009	Joint Principal Investigator: LLAIS.	Wales Office for Research and Development in Health and Social Care	£297,040
2005-2008	Co-Investigator: Twf and Onwards: Impact Assessment and the Way Forward.	Welsh Language Board	£214,000
2005	Joint Principal Investigator: Scoping Study of Language Awareness in Health and Social Care.	Wales Office for Research and Development in Health and Social Care	£14,000
2003-2004	Principal Investigator: A Study of Welsh Language Awareness in Healthcare Provision in Wales.	Welsh Assembly Government	£89,000
2001-2003	Principal Investigator: Bilingual Initiatives in Midwifery Education	Welsh Assembly Government	£100,000

 

Recent Publications

Spencer L, Roberts G, Irvine F, Jones P, Baker C & Williams C (2007) Using Cluster Analysis to Explore Survey Data. Nurse Researcher 15, 1, 37-54.

Irvine F, Roberts G, Tranter S, Williams L & Jones P (2007) Using the critical incident technique to explore student nurses' perceptions of language awareness. Nurse Education Today. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2007.02.010.

Roberts G & Irvine F (2007) LLAIS Briefing Paper 2: Language Awareness in Health and Social Care Research Governance. University of Wales Bangor. Download from: http://www.bangor.ac.uk/llais/brief/Papur%20Briffio%202.pdf

Roberts G, Irvine F, Jones P, Spencer L, Baker C & Williams C (2007) Language awareness in the bilingual healthcare setting: a national survey. International Journal of Nursing Studies. 44, 1177-1186.

Irvine F, Roberts G, Jones P, Spencer L, Baker C & Williams C (2006) Communicative sensitivity in the bilingual healthcare setting: A qualitative study of language awareness. Journal of Advanced Nursing 53, 4, 1-13.

Roberts G & Irvine F (2006) LLAIS Briefing Paper 1: Language Appropriate Practice in Health and Social Care. University of Wales Bangor. Download from: http://www.bangor.ac.uk/llais/brief/LLAIS_ORG.pdf

Roberts G, Irvine F, Richardson J, Earles C, Gareth E & Prys R (2005) Report on a
Scoping Study of Language Awareness in Health and Social Care. University of
Wales Bangor. Download from:
http://www.word.wales.gov.uk/content/networks/language-e.pdf

Prys D, Roberts G & Paden L (2004) Geiriadur Bydwragedd Baillliere. (1st Welsh edition). University of Wales Bangor.

Roberts G, Irvine F, Jones P, Baker C & Williams C (2004) Report of a Study of
Welsh Language Awareness in Healthcare Provision in Wales. Welsh Assembly
Government, Cardiff. Download from:
http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/documents/415/ACF3394.pdf

Muntz R, Tudor Edwards R, Tunnage, Prys & Roberts G (2004) Development of a Welsh Language Version of the EQ-5D Health-Related Quality of Life Measure. Stage One: Translation. The Psychologist in Wales 18,

Roberts G, Kent B, Prys D & Lewis R (2003) Describing chronic pain: towards
bilingual practice. International Journal of Nursing Studies 40, 889-902.

Roberts G & Paden L (2000) Identifying the factors influencing minority language
use in healthcare education: a European perspective. Journal of Advanced Nursing 32,
1, 75-83.

Roberts G & Prys D (1997) Termau Nyrsio a Bydwreigiaeth / An English-Welsh
Dictionary of Nursing and Midwifery Terms. University of Wales Bangor.

Roberts G (2003) Mentoring in the Bilingual Setting. University of Wales, Bangor.
http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/documents/415/mentora.pdf

Roberts G & Williams C ( 2003) Words of Comfort: Promoting Language Appropriate Practice. University of Wales Bangor.
http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/documents/415/Gair-o-Gysur-pdf.pdf