Dr. Melanie Cooper

Biography

Mel practised as a nurse then as a midwife before beginning her career in higher education as a Lecturer in Midwifery and Reproductive Health in 1997. 

She is now a Reader in Maternity and Migrant Health, works in the Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) in Bradford Council and is a Fellow in the Wolfson Centre for Applied Health Research. 

Her research interests are around health inequalities in minoritised ethnic (including migrant) communities and co-producing and evaluating public health interventions to overcome barriers to good health. Interventions include those that improve health and also those that support engagement with health and maternity services. Examples of interventions include:

The DAISI project uses digital animation to communicate key public health messages with women https://www.daisi-research.co.uk/

Peer and family focused Interventions to support minoritised ethnic women accessing cancer screening services e.g. https://muslimfamiliesscreening4life.org/

Using virtual reality to improve wellbeing in asylum seeking and refugee communities.

Engaging the seldom heard voice is essential to Mel's work. She works closely with the voluntary sector to ensure 'experts by experience', including people who are seeking asylum and refugees are central to all research activity. 

Mel co-developed the charity; the Maternity Stream of Sanctuary https://maternity.cityofsanctuary.org/ and within this recently established the Maternity Stream research network with an ethos of ensuring women who are 'experts be experience' at the centre of any research undertaken

https://maternityresearch.cityofsanctuary.org/

Mel also led the University of Bradford in becoming welcoming and inclusive for people who are seeking asylum and refugees. She led the Faculty of Health Studies to be the 1st University department to achieve a 'Health Stream of Sanctuary award' and then led the University to be one of the 1st in the UK to achieve a 'University of Sanctuary award.' One aspect of this award involves enabling people, who cannot access student finance, the opportunity to study at the University. 

Currently, Mel is supervisor to the following Postgraduate Researchers:

Tahira Mumtaz, T.Mumtaz1@bradford.ac.uk, Childbirth cultural traditions; exploring the lived experience of forced migrant women.

Emma Eyers, e.j.eyers2@bradford.ac.uk, The role of the digital midwife as a leader supporting the implementation and adoption of electronic health records into UK maternity services; an ethnographic study

Ada Iluno, a.c.iluno@bradford.ac.uk, Ethnic minority families experiences of children’s palliative and end of life care in the UK.

Ugomma Nwadinigwe, u.e.nwadinigwe@bradford.ac.uk, The co-development, pilot testing and evaluation of a bespoke intervention to increase cancer screening uptake in Black African women in the UK.

Monica Makaure-Daka, m.makaure@bradford.ac.uk, Tackling the challenges of transitioning to parenthood in forced migrant women.

Charles Ukandu,  k.ukandu@bradford.ac.uk, Exploring asylum seekers and stakeholders perceptions of the impact of asylum accommodation on health and wellbeing.  

Ahmed Uddin, a.e.uddin@bradford.ac.uk, Co-designing mental health services, an evaluation of the experience of Black and South Asian communities in Bradford and its impact on their care.

Teaching

Minoritised ethnic (including migrant) communities and health/ maternity care
 Engaging seldom heard voices in health
 Health inequalities and public health interventions
 Qualitative research methodologies.
 Ethical, legal and professional issues in practice
 Research ethics

Professional activities

Publications