Faculty:Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care
School:Education and Social Care
Location: Chelmsford
Areas of Expertise: Social Work and Social Policy
Research Supervision:Yes
Melanie’s research involves working with those defined as marginalised due to their health and/or social situation to raise awareness and improve access and delivery in service provision.
Melanie joined the School of Education and Social Care in 2004, as a Research Assistant and worked on a number of nationally funded projects, in the area of mental health and social inclusion. Since then she has lead and collaboratively worked on a number of funded research projects in the areas of complex needs of marginalised women, self-harm and peer support.
As a community-based social researcher Melanie’s research focuses on working with groups of people who are often defined as marginalised and vulnerable due to their health and/or social situation. With expertise in working with women experiencing multiple and severe disadvantage and adult self-harm. Her research centres on providing evidence that can influence the development of socially just policy and practice approaches.
An emphasis throughout her research is an interest in experiential ways of knowing and peer-led initiatives and the ethics of undertaking research with marginalised groups. Underpinning her research is a commitment to feminist forms of inquiry and inclusive methodologies.
Melanie teaches on the undergraduate and postgraduate qualifying Social Work courses in the areas of research methods, peer support, wellbeing, and marginalised groups. She is also a dissertation supervisor for the MA Social Work Dissertation. Additionally, Melanie regularly teaches on the University’s Doctoral Training Programme and Staff Researcher Development Programme in qualitative methods and co-production.
Supporting Older People Research Group, Essex (OPRGE), Research Training Programme. Team: Munn-Giddings, C. & Boyce, M. Funder: OPRGE £4,500. Co-Investigator.
Evaluation of outreach support for women involved in prostitution. Team: Boyce, M. & Dadswell, A. (2017-2021). Funder: [email protected] £50,000. Principal Investigator.
An exploration into the experiences of self-harm in adults. Team: Boyce, M. (2017-2018). Funder: Anglia Ruskin University Dragon’s Den Funding. £1,500. Principal Investigator.
Engagement Strategy for a Women’s Refuge with Colchester & Tendring Women’s Refuge. Team: Munn-Giddings, C., Boyce, M., O’Brien, N. (2014-15). Funder: Essex Police and Crime Commission. £19,486. Co-Investigator.
Effective support for self-help / mutual aid groups (ESTEEM). Team: Munn-Giddings, C, Avis, M., Collis, S. and Boyce, M., Chaudhary, S. & Seebohm, P. (2010-14). Funder: Big Lottery. £264,866. Co-Investigator.
Caregiver’s perceptions of the value of the arts in therapeutic and clinical interventions. Team: Bungay, H., Munn-Giddings, C., Boyce, M. & Wilson, C. (2014). Funder: Arts and Humanities Research Council. £23,813.
Training & Supporting Older People as Researchers. Team: Munn-Giddings, C., McVicar, A., Boyce, M. & O’Brien, N. (2009-12). Funder: Essex County Council. £66,000. Co-Investigator.
Evaluation of a pilot employment support programme. Team: Boyce, M. & Pittam, G. (2009). Funder: Remploy. £17,500. Principal Investigator.
Briefing paper on supporting people with mental health problems to stay in employment. Boyce, M. (2008). Funder: Restore. £2,500. Principal Investigator.
The Innovatory Features of User Run Organisations. Team: Munn-Giddings, C., Smith, L., Boyce, M. & Wright, S. (2006-8). Funder: Mental Health Foundation £50,000. Co-Investigator.
Social inclusion through supported employment for people with mental illness (SESAMI). Team: Secker, J., Schneider, J., Floyd, M., Boyce, M., Slade, J. & Johnson, R. (2004-6). Funder: European Social Fund. Researcher.
In press. Mental Health Review Journal Boyce, M. (2021). “It doesn’t stop when you get to 18”: experiences of self-harm in adults.
Boyce, M. & Munn-Giddings, C. (2020). Reflections on research with self-harm self-help groups. Social Work & Social Sciences Review. Special Issue: Research with hard-to-reach populations. Social Work & Sciences Review, 21(1), pp.21-33.
Munn-Giddings, C. & Boyce, M. (2020). How social governance, health care, and civil society shape self-help/mutual aid and peer support in Europe. In: T.Borkman (2020) Self-help/mutual aid groups and peer support. Brill Publishers, Leiden, NL. pp.141-162.
Boyce, M., Munn-Giddings, C. & Secker, J. (2018). ’It is a safe space’: self-harm self-help groups. Mental Health Review Journal, 23(1), pp.54-63.
Boyce, M., Bungay, H., Munn-Giddings, C. & Wilson, C. (2017). The impact of the arts in healthcare on patients and service users: A critical review. Health & Social Care in the Community, DOI: 10.1111/hsc.12502.
Munn-Giddings, C., Avis, M.,Boyce, M., Chaudhary, S. &Seebohm, P. (2017). Being a 'self-help supporter': recognising the roles that community practitioners can adopt in supporting selfhelp groups. Research, Policy & Planning, 32(2):pp.113-125.
Munn-Giddings, C., McVicar, A., Boyce, M. & O’Brien, N. (2016). Learning from older citizens’ research groups. Educational Gerontology, 42(1), 58-69.
Wilson, C., Bungay, H., Munn-Giddings, C. & Boyce, M. (2016). Healthcare professionals’ perceptions of the value and impact of the arts in healthcare settings: A critical review of the literature. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 56, 90-101.
Boyce, M. Seebohm, P., Chaudhary, S., Munn-Giddings, C. & Avis, M. (2014) Use of social media by self-help/mutual aid groups. Groupwork, 24(2), 26-44.
Seebohm, P., Chaudhary, S., Boyce, M., Elkan, R., Avis, M., Munn-Giddings, C. (2013) The contribution of self-help/mutual aid groups to mental well-being. Health & Social Care in the Community, 21(4), 391:401.
Visram, N., Roberts, A., Seebohm, P., Boyce, M. & Chaudhary, S. The role of self-help groups in promoting well-being: experiences from a cancer group. Mental Health & Social Inclusion, (2012) 16(3), 139:416.
Boyce, M. & Dadswell, A. (2021) Unique role of outreach in supporting women with multiple and complex needs. ARU Public Event: International Women’s Day.
Boyce, M. & Dadswell, A. (2018) ‘Undertaking ‘collaborative’ research with women involved in prostitution’. Collaborative Action Research Network (CARN) International Conference Voicing and Valuing: Daring and Doing. Edge Hill University, Manchester, UK, 25-28 October.
Boyce, M. (2017) Key Note: ‘Enabling individual and collective gains through self-help/mutual aid’. Voluntary Action Camden (VAC) Maximising Community Resilience Through Mutual Aid, London, UK, 29 September.