Skip navigation

Dr Melissa Girling

Research Fellow

Department: Nursing, Midwifery & Health

Melissa Girling

As a social scientist, my research is committed to developing and applying innovative research methods that produces knowledge about how health and social problems are understood in vulnerable populations. My research interests are informed by social science theory and are both academically focused as well as grounded in ‘real’ service development and innovation. 

Over the past 20 years I have been involved in a number of research and evaluation projects in the UK and New Zealand that have provided timely and on-going responses to mental health, at-risk youth, substance use, and criminal justice issues through developing and implementing monitoring and outcome measures, assessing the health and social impact of these issues on individuals and groups, and providing appropriate recommendations for positive outcomes. 

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Mechanisms to support interventions involving the police when responding to persons experiencing a mental health crisis: A realist review, Redgate, S., Clibbens, N., Haighton, C., Dalkin, S., Bate, A., Girling, M., McCarthy, S., Eagles, T., Gray, J., McKinnon, I. 10 May 2025, In: Health & Social Care in the Community
  • ‘For Want of a Nail’: developing a transparent approach to retroduction and early initial programme theory development in a realist evaluation of community end of life care services, McEwan, K., Girling, M., Bate, A., Atkinson, J., Clarke, A., Dalkin, S. 3 Jul 2024, In: International Journal of Social Research Methodology
  • How is tailored implementation undertaken using a self-guided toolkit? Qualitative study of the ItFits-toolkit in the ImpleMentAll project, Finch, T., Potthoff, S., May, C., Girling, M., Perkins, N., Vis, C., Bührmann, L., Etzelmueller, A., van Genugten, C., Schuurmans, J., Piera-Jiménez, J., Rapley, T. 11 Jul 2024, In: Implementation Science
  • Systematic review of applications and properties of the NoMAD instrument for assessing implementation outcomes: Study protocol, Finch, T., Bührmann, L., Potthoff, S., May, C., Gibson, B., Gumancik, J., Wilson-Dickson, O., Girling, M., Rapley, T. 17 Sep 2024, In: NIHR Open Research
  • A cluster randomised controlled trial, process and economic evaluation of quality improvement collaboratives aligned to a national audit to improve the care for people with diabetes (EQUIPD): Study protocol, Sykes, M., Copsey, B., Finch, T., Meads, D., Farrin, A., McSharry, J., Holman, N., Young, B., Berry, A., Ellis, K., Moreau, L., Willis, T., Alderson, S., Girling, M., O'Halloran, E., Foy, R. 31 Aug 2023, In: Implementation Science
  • Towards an Implementation‐STakeholder Engagement Model (I‐STEM) for improving health and social care services, Potthoff, S., Finch, T., Bührmann, L., Etzelmumller, A., van Genugten, C., Girling, M., May, C., Perkins, N., Vis, C., Rapley, T. 1 Oct 2023, In: Health Expectations
  • Experience-based co-design (EBCD) with young people who offend: Innovating methodology to reach marginalised groups, Girling, M., Le Couteur, A., Finch, T. 12 Jul 2022, In: PLoS One
  • Translational framework for implementation evaluation and research: a normalisation process theory coding manual for qualitative research and instrument development, May, C., Albers, B., Bracher, M., Finch, T., Gilbert, A., Girling, M., Greenwood, K., MacFarlane, A., Mair, F., May, C., Murray, E., Potthoff, S., Rapley, T. Dec 2022, In: Implementation Science
  • Translational framework for implementation evaluation and research: Protocol for a qualitative systematic review of studies informed by Normalization Process Theory (NPT): Protocol for a qualitative systematic review of studies informed by Normalization Process Theory (NPT) [version 1; peer review: 2 approved], May, C., Albers, B., Desveaux, L., Finch, T., Gilbert, A., Hillis, A., Girling, M., Kislov, R., MacFarlane, A., Mair, F., May, C., Murray, E., Potthoff, S., Rapley, T. 13 Jun 2022, In: NIHR Open Research
  • Developing oral health risk assessment as routine practice during early stages of clinical careers: A cross‐sectional study of dental students using the NoMAD questionnaire, Cook, C., Finch, T., Sharma, S., Girling, M., Rapley, T., Vernazza, C. 1 Feb 2020, In: European Journal of Dental Education

PhD March 20 2019


Latest News and Features

Harriette Moore and Tim Ingleby from Northumbria University have been awarded Venice Fellowships by the British Council.
a student looking at a painting
Left to right: Joshua Sisskin, First Secretary of the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Berlin and Dr Ulugbek Azimov of Northumbria University.
Richard Lamb, Head of KTP Programme, Innovate UK and John Clayton, Knowledge Transfer Adviser, Innovate UK KTN, met with the project team for the Northumbria University and Space Architects KTP.
Ed Cottam
Members of staff from the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at Northumbria University celebrate the Surveying programmes retaining RICS accreditation.
More news

Back to top