Gavin is a Professor of Social Care and Praxis Chair of Social Care at Queen’s University Belfast. He qualified as a social worker in 1995 then worked for 12 years in mental health services before starting at Queen’s in 2008.
His main research interests are in mental health, specifically: the effectiveness of services; the social determinants of mental health; human rights and mental health/mental capacity legislation; and the associations between adversity, trauma and mental health.
His main education responsibility at Queen’s is for the Mental Health and Mental Capacity Law Post-Graduate Diploma course which prepares social workers for their statutory duties under those legal frameworks.
Gavin is also involved in the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, and the Mental Health Strategy 2021-2031 for Northern Ireland which includes a positive focus on promotion, prevention and the social determinants of mental health.
