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      Mr Alfonso Pezzella

      MSc, PGcertHE, BSc, MBPsS, FHEA
      ROLE: Lecturer (Practice) in Mental Health
      SCHOOL: Health & Education
      DEPARTMENT: Mental Health & Social Work
      TELEPHONE: +44 (0)20 8411 4014
      EMAIL: A.Pezzella@mdx.ac.uk
      1. Biography &
        Qualifications
      2. Learning &
        Teaching Interests
      3. Research Outputs &
        Interests
      4. Funded Research &
        Knowledge Exchange Projects
      5. Engagement &
        Impact

      • Biography &
        Qualifications

        Alfonso Pezzella is Lecturer in Mental Health at Middlesex University. Alfonso joined Middlesex University in 2012 and currently works in Department of Mental Health, Social Work and Integrative Medicine within the School of Health and Education.

        Alfonso teaches on a variety of topics including research methods, SPSS, mental health, LGBT issues and transcultural issues in health. Alfonso is currently working on a European project (IENE 5) led by Professor Irena Papadopoulos (Middlesex University) and five other European countries, which aims to develop a MOOC in Intercultural Communication Skills and Patient Safety. He is also working on various research projects on LGBT inclusion in the curriculum in health and social care and LGBT and mental health.

        Alfonso is chair of Sexuality and the Social Work International Interest Group. The group encourages international collaborations in social work research, education and practice developments in the field of gender, sexuality, sexual identity and LGBT+ issues.

        Alfonso has a professional Twitter feed @AlfPezzella where he enjoys bringing the community together and discussing topics regarding mental health, LGBT, psychology and education. You can also follow Alfonso on ResearchGate for his latest publications.

        Qualifications

        • Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGcertHE)
          2015
        • MSc Applied Clinical Health Psychology
          Dissertation title “The effects of stress on eating behaviour”
          2012
        • BSc (Hons) Psychology
          Dissertation title “The effects of ambient odours on mood, anxiety and stress”
          2011

        Membership of Professional Bodies 

        • The Higher Education Academy
          Fellow, FHEA
          2016
        • The British Psychological Society
          Graduate Member, MBPsS
          2011
        • The British Psychological Society
          Division of Clinical Psychology
          Associate Fellow
          2013

        Languages Spoken

        English (Fluent)
        Italian (Mother tongue)
        Spanish (Conversational)

      • Learning &
        Teaching Interests

        Programme Leadership

        • MSc Mental Health Studies
        • MSc Mental Health Studies (Top-Up)

        Module Leadership

        • NSA4050 - Developing Research Capabilities
        • MHR3001 - Mental Health Awareness: From Prevention to Recovery

        Taught modules

        • MHR2000 - Developing and Understanding in Mental Health
        • MHR3001 - Mental Health Awareness: From Prevention to Recovery
        • NIP3331 – Nursing Practice Enquiry 
        • MHR4608 – Planning and Delivering Care in Practice
        • NSA4050 - Developing Research Capabilities

        Teaching Interests

        • LGBT, Gender and Sexual Identity
        • Mental Health
        • Cultural Competence 
        • Compassion
        • Psychology
        • Research Methods, Quantitative and Qualitative
        • SPSS

      • Research Outputs &
        Interests

        Alfonso is currently working and leading on a large-scale european project funded by Erasmus+ KA2 Strategic Partnership, along with six other European countries. The project, Developing a culturally competent and compassionate LGBT+ curriculum in health and social care education aims to enhance knowledge and raise awareness of LGBT+ issues to enable health educators to develop teaching tools to support the inclusion of LGBT+ issues within health and social care curricula. (IENE 9) 

        • IENE 9 - "Developing a culturally competent and compassionate LGBT+ curriculum in health and social care education" aims to enhance knowledge and raise awareness of LGBT+ issues to enable health educators to develop teaching tools to support the inclusion of LGBT+ issues within health and social care curricula
          2019 - 2021
        • IENE 8 "Empowering migrant and refugees with parenting skills" 2018 - 2020
        • IENE7 "Improving communication, intercultural and social skills for foreigners and migrants who work as caregivers of elderly people in Europe."
          2017 - 2019
        • IENE 6 “Contemporary large migration waves into Europe: Enabling health workers to provide psychological support to migrants and refugees and develop strategies for dealing with their own emotional needs 2016 – 2018 Funded with support from the European Commission. The aim of the project is to empower healthcare professionals and volunteers to deal with migrants and refugees from the current massive waves of displaced people which are reaching Europe and who are experiencing massive traumas and tragedies in their endeavours to flee to a safe and ‘better’ place for themselves and their families.
        • ENE 5 “Intercultural Education of Nurses and other healthcare providers in Europe” 2015 – 2017 Funded with support from the European Commission The project aims to increase the knowledge and skills of members of healthcare teams, in three major areas: Intercultural communication, Working in multicultural teams and Patient safety.The main project output is designing and delivery a MOOC, which currently being run.
        • IENE 4 “Intercultural Education of Nurses and other healthcare providers in Europe” 2014 – 2016 Funded with support from the European Commission This project aimed to improve the quality of training for nurses and health care professionals to deliver compassionate and cultural competent care, which responds to the healthcare sector needs.
        • IENE 3 “Intercultural Education of Nurses and other healthcare providers in Europe” 2013 – 2015 Funded with support from the European Commission This project aimed to develop and pilot tools which enable the implementation of the European PPT/IENE Model for intercultural education of nurses, created and developed by partners from five European countries in two previous Leonardo projects.
          More information about the IENE Project at www.ieneproject.eu.

        Alfonso is also working on a number of small scale projects on LGBT+ issues in health and social care and BAME studies.

        Research interests

        • Mental Health and wellbeing
        • Culturally competent compassion
        • Sexual identity, Sexuality and Gender and LGBT
        • The effects of Stress on health and wellbeing
        • Clinical and Health Psychology
        • Counselling Psychology, Psychotherapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

        Publication Feed

        Pedagogical principles and methods underpinning education of health and social care practitioners on experiences and needs of older LGBT+ people: findings from a systematic review

        Higgins, Agnes and Downes, Carmel and Sheaf, Greg and Bus, Elisa and Connell, Sandra and Hafford-Letchfield, Trish and Jurček, Anže and Pezzella, Alfonso and Rabelink, Irma and Robotham, George and Urek, Mojca and van der Vaart, Nina and Keogh, Brian (2019) Pedagogical principles and methods underpinning education of health and social care practitioners on experiences and needs of older LGBT+ people: findings from a systematic review. Nurse Education in Practice , 40 . ISSN 1471-5953 (Published online first)

        Exploring the educational experience of culturally and linguistically diverse students in Higher Education. Preliminary findings from a small scale project

        Foley, Laura and Dadzie, Lawrence K. and Pezzella, Alfonso and Lambert, Nicky (2019) Exploring the educational experience of culturally and linguistically diverse students in Higher Education. Preliminary findings from a small scale project. In: 6th International European Transcultural Nursing Association Conference, 19-21 Jun 2019, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.

        The development of a knowledge hub to support and provide culturally competent and compassionate psychological support for refugees in Europe

        Pezzella, Alfonso and Papadopoulos, Irena (2019) The development of a knowledge hub to support and provide culturally competent and compassionate psychological support for refugees in Europe. In: 6th International Conference of the European Transcultural Nursing Association, 19-21 Jun 2019, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.

        BEING ME: Promoting best practices in LGBT ageing care through inclusive professional and vocational education

        Hafford-Letchfield, Trish and van der Vaart, Nina and Rabelink, Irma and Bus, Elisa and Pezzella, Alfonso and O'Connell, Sandra and Higgins, Agnes and Keogh, Brian and Urek, Mojca and Jurček, Anže and Robotham, George (2019) BEING ME: Promoting best practices in LGBT ageing care through inclusive professional and vocational education. In: International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics European Region Congress 2019, 22-25 May 2019, Gothenburg, Sweden.

        BEING ME: Project report on best practices in learning and education to support LGBT ageing care and wellbeing

        Hafford-Letchfield, Trish and Pezzella, Alfonso and O'Connell, Sandra and van der Vaart, Nina and Rabelink, Irma and Bus, Elisa and Higgins, Agnes and Keogh, Brian and Robotham, George and Urek, Mojca and Jurček, Anže (2019) BEING ME: Project report on best practices in learning and education to support LGBT ageing care and wellbeing. Project Report. BEING ME Erasmus Plus, London, Netherlands, Dublin, Lubjiliana.

        View more publications

      • Funded Research &
        Knowledge Exchange Projects

        European Grants Awards

        • Grant awarded to Pezzella, A.
          Middlesex University
          Septmber 2019 – October 2021;
          Developing a culturally competent and compassionate LGBT+ curriculum in health and social care education (IENE9)
          Principle Investigator and Project Lead 
          Amount: €267,998 

        Small-scale grants

        • Grant awarded to Pezzella, A. and Carr, S.
          Middlesex University
          October 2016 – July 2017;
          LGB and T issues in health and social care professional education: An exploration of HEI educator perspectives on the learning and development needs of health and social care professionals
          Principal Investigator

        • Grant awarded to Pezzella, A., Foley, L. and Dadzie, L.
          Middlesex University
          October 2016 – July 2017; 
          MADD – Making a Difference through Diversity
          Principal Investigator

        • Grant awarded to Pezzella, A. and Papadopoulos, I.
          Middlesex University
          April 2016 – July 2015;
          Cultural competence and LGBT
          Principal Investigator

        • Grant awarded to Lewis-Brooke, S. and Pezzella, A.
          Addressing LGBTQ diversity in the social work curriculum: a pedagogical approach
          October 2015 - July 2016
          Joint Principal Investigator
        • Grant awarded to Price, D. and Pezzella, A.
          PMVA Training
          October 2015 - July 2016
          Joint Principal Investigator
        • Grant awarded to Pezzella, A. and Hafford-Letchfield, T.
          Responding to the Transgender challenge in professional education
          October 2013 - July 2014
          Joint Principal Investigator
        • Grant awarded to Pezzella, A. and Clancy, C.
          October 2012 - July 2013
          Sexuality and Sexual Identity in the Workplace
          Principal Investigator
        • Grant awarded to Papadopoulos, I. and Pezzella, A.
          2012 – July 2013
          Culturally Competent Compassion
          Joint Principal Investigator
        • Grant awarded to Clancy, C., Hafford-Letchfield, T., Collins, D. and Pezzella, A.
          October 2012 – July 2013
          Development of a Global Classroom in Addictions
          Research Associate

      • Engagement &
        Impact

        Professional Roles and Activities

        • Digital Committee
          Middlesex University
          2015 – Present
          Member

        Other Professional Practice and KT Activities

        Alfonso is the lead organiser for KT seminars in the Department of Mental Health, Social Work and Integrative Medicine, where he organises monthly evening seminar to disseminate the research undertaken in the department and involve colleagues from other disciplines, students and the local community.

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