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Sionnadh McLean

Senior Lecturer. Sheffield Hallam University | SHU · Faculty of Health and Wellbeing. UK

Sionnadh is a Reader in Physiotherapy in the Allied Health Professions Department. She leads the Rehabilitation Theme Lead, supervises PhD students, supports the development of research across the AHP department and undertakes research predominantly in the area of "rehabilitation adherence" and "neck and upper limb disability." She is the MSc Manual Therapy course leader, and teaches across the physiotherapy curriculum to undergraduate physiotherapist to doctoral level students.

Sionnadh qualified as a physiotherapist in 1994 at Birmingham University, gained her Masters in Manipulative Physiotherapy in 1999 at the University of Queensland, and then subsequently completed my PhD in 2007 at the University of Hull. Her doctoral level research was related to the conservative management of non-specific neck pain: effectiveness of treatment, predictors of treatment outcome and upper limb disability. This has led to the development of two primary research avenues, which are neck and upper limb and rehabilitation adherence. The neck and upper limb research is currently investigating the mechanisms which lead to the development of upper limb disability in patients with non-specific neck pain. Also under investigation is the use of the single arm military press (SAMP) test as a physical outcome measure for measuring upper limb capacity in patients with neck pain. The adherence theme investigates the reasons why patients do not adhere with treatment recommendation, exercise and clinic appointments and further investigates strategies to improve adherence.

Prior to undertaking her current role as a lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, she worked in clinical practice. Sionnadh began in various junior and senior rotational posts, then worked as a clinical specialist in musculoskelatal outpatients at Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust and finally as the physiotherapy outpatients manager at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.


Specialist areas of interest

 Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Rehabilitation AdherenceNeck and Upper Limb disability

Teaching

Physiotherapy

BSc (Hons) PhysiotherapyMSc Manual PhysiotherapyProfessional Doctorate Programme

Publications

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