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Staff profile

staff list  BackProf Hilary Brown

  • Job title: Senior Consultant (Social Care & Adult Protection)
  • Dept: Applied Psychology
  • Tel:
  • Campus: Salomons
 

Professor Hilary Brown has a background in learning disability services with a particular focus on issues of abuse and disability rights. She is a qualified teacher: a Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development and has a Masters in Health Education from the University of London and a PhD in social work from the University of Kent. She trained in consultancy and organisational development at the Tavistock Institute and has completed advanced training in Cognitive Analytic Therapy to be accredited as a psychotherapist with the UKCP.

During the late 80's and early 90's she was employed by South East Thames Regional Health Authority as part of the team responsible for supporting the transition from institutions to community based models of care and designed innovative training materials including the Lifestyles and Bringing People Back Home packages published by Pavilion Publishing. During this time she also worked for the FPA to develop training on sexuality for people working in learning disability services and became alert to issues of sexual abuse and abusing which later became the focus of her research, eventually collaborating with Ann Craft as Chair of NAPSAC (now Ann Craft Trust) to campaign for safer services from 1990 until 1995. From 1989-1996 she was based at the Tizard Centre, University of Kent where she was a Senior Lecturer, conducting (with Vicky Turk and June Stein) influential research into the sexual abuse of people with learning disabilities and into the implementation of generic adult protection policies to guide practitioners dealing with all types of abuse of vulnerable adults. In 1996 she moved to the Open University as Professor of Social Care. 

She joined Salomons (part of Canterbury Christ Church University) as a consultant in adult protection and social care in January 1999. In that capacity she contributed to the first national guidance on abuse of vulnerable adults "No secrets" Department of Health 2000) and the equivalent Welsh Office document "In safe hands". She worked with the Council of Europe on the prevention of abuse of disabled children and adults and on violence against all vulnerable citizens and has contributed more broadly to their disability rights programme. Her published work includes research papers, policy analysis and training materials on a wide range of social care issues and until 2004 she was a founder co-editor of the Journal of Adult Protection.

She currently manages a programme of work in relation to abuse of vulnerable adults, serving as Chair of the Barnet Safeguarding Adults Board and the Chair of the Serious Case Review Panel for Kent and Medway Safeguarding Adults Board. She provides supervision and mentoring to staff in a range of social care and mental health roles and consults to a range of organisations.

Her consultancies have included work for the National Patient Safety Agency and the Public Guardianship Office (now Office of the Public Guardian, (for whom she produced guidance on financial abuse and on its new role in relation to the 2005 Mental Capacity Act). She has just completed a project on best interests decision-making in complex cases in collaboration with health and social care agencies. To download a copy of this report please click here|.  

In 2006 she produced a review on abuse of disabled people for the National Disability Authority of Ireland, to inform their policy development. To view a copy of this report please click here|. With Sophie Burns and Margaret Flynn she produced a study of the needs of people with learning disabilities who are dying for the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities and with David Thompson she has produced Response-ability, to guide staff working with men with learning disabilities who are at risk of sexually offending. She has also published material on breaches of professional boundaries.

In 2008 she qualified as a Psychotherapist after completing 7 years training in Cognitive Analytical Therapy. She works in the NHS one day each week and has a small private practice. But she continues to teach and consult to outside agencies. In 2010 (with Jessie Emilion) she began a programme of teaching Cognitive Analytic Therapy principles to students of clinical and counselling psychology at Christ University, Bangalore and with Naison Msebele has written on the way that race is addressed in counselling and psychotherapy.

Key Publications

  • Msebele, N. and Brown, H. (2011) Racism in the consulting room: myth or reality? The Psychoanalytic Review, vol 98 (4) pp 451-92 accepted March 18th 2010
  • Brown,H (2011) The role of emotion in decision-making Journal of Adult Protection vol 13 no 4 pp 194-203 Emerald Group Publishing London
  • Brown,H (2011) Safeguarding adults against abuse in care homes for older people with mental health problems Chapter 10 in Dening, T. and Milne, A. (eds) Older people and mental health problems Oxford University Press Oxford UK pp113-130
  • Flynn, M. and Brown,H. (2010) Safeguarding adults with learning disabilities against abuse ch in Grant,G. Rachmaran, P. Flynn,M. and Richardson, M.(eds) Learning Disability:a life cycle approach [second edition] Open University Press/McGraw Hill Maidenhead
  • Brown,H. (2010) Sexual abuse of children with disabilities ch 7 in Protecting children from sexual violence: a comprehensive approach Council of Europe Strasbourg
  • Brown,H, (2010) Drawing the line : a training pack on professional boundaries Pavilion Publishing Brighton
  • Brown, H, (2009) The process and function of serious case review Journal of Adult Protection vol 11 issue 1 pp38-50
  • Flynn, M., Brown, H., Burns, S. and Keywood, K. (2009) The palliative care experiences of adults with learning disabilities/ intellectual disability: the implications fo ethical decision making. International Journal on Disability and Human Development, Special Issue on Palliative Care, 8, (1) 25-32.
  • Brown H, (2009)) Safeguarding Adults ch in Social Work for Practitioners ed Adams, R.V. published by Wiley London
  • Brown, H. Burns, S. and Flynn,M. (2005) Dying Matters: A workbook on caring for people with learning disabilities who are terminally ill, Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities 2005
  • Brown,H. (2002) Safeguarding adults and children with disabilities against abuse Council of Europe Strasbourg.
  • Brown, H. and Stein, J. (1998) Implementing Adult Protection Policies in Kent and East Sussex. Journal of Social Policy, 27, 3, 371-396.
  • Brown, H. & Stein, J. (2000) Monitoring adult protection referrals in 10 English local authorities. The Journal of Adult Protection(pp19-31), Vol 2. Iss.3.
  • Brechin,A. Brown,H. and Eby,M. eds (2000) Critical practice in health and social care OU Sage.
  • Brown, H., Stein, J. and Turk, V. (1995) The sexual abuse of adults with learning disabilities: Report of a second two year incidence survey. Mental Handicap Research, 8(1), (pp. 3-24).