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- Qualifications:DSW, MA, MSc, BA (Hons).
- Position:Senior Lecturer
- Department:College of Health, Science and Society School of Health and Social Wellbeing
- Telephone:+441173281678
- Email:Robert2.Lomax@uwe.ac.uk
About me
I am a senior lecturer in social work with a long-standing interest in mental health, social complexity, and the ways practitioners can work alongside people experiencing significant distress. As a social worker I spent many years in statutory mental health services employed as a senior practitioner and Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP). I also a Thorn-trained practitioner, which continues to shape my commitment to psychosocial, person‑centred approaches to care.
I previously worked for The Open University, where I managed distance‑learning programmes and developed a strong interest in accessible, flexible social work education. At UWE, I teach primarily in the area of social policy, mental health, and work with adults at risk. I am currently joint Programme Leader for our undergraduate qualifying social work degree, and I am also supporting the development of our new Social Work Apprenticeship programme — an exciting opportunity to expand and diversify routes into the profession.
My research interests are rooted in mental health, health inequalities, and the wider social conditions that shape people’s experiences of adversity and support. In 2024, I completed my doctorate at Cardiff University, having undertaken research with an NHS Trust to explore how social workers understand and respond to social determinants of mental health in everyday practice. My thesis focused on the multi-disciplinary environments that can shape practitioners’ capacity to hold on to sociologically informed understandings of people’s situations. I am particularly interested in how social workers make sense of complexity and how statutory systems can better recognise and respond to its impact.
I am a registered social worker with Social Work England (SW33448) and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I also hold postgraduate qualifications in business administration and academic practice.
Whether through teaching, research, or partnership work, I am motivated by strengthening the role of social work in mental health care and improving how systems respond to people facing inequality and marginalisation.
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