Biography

Dr Elaine Toomey is a Lecturer in the School of Allied Health in the University of Limerick. She is also a Health Research Board 'Applying Research into Policy and Practice' Research Fellow. She is a Cochrane Ireland Research Associate and a member of both the Health Research Institute (University of Limerick) and the Health Behaviour Change Research Group (National University of Ireland Galway). Elaine is a Chartered Physiotherapist and obtained her PhD from University College Dublin (2016) and her MSc and BSc from the University of Limerick (2012, 2010). Until April 2020, Elaine was Associate Director of Cochrane Ireland within Evidence Synthesis Ireland and led the implementation of the Evidence Synthesis Ireland Fellowship Scheme. Previously, Elaine was a Health Research Board (HRB) Interdisciplinary Capacity Enhancement Post-doctoral Research Fellow (2016-2019), where she co-led the development of a complex behaviour change childhood obesity prevention intervention, with a specific focus on process and implementation outcomes. Elaine was a Visiting Researcher at Hunter New England Population Health Service/Newcastle University (Newcastle, Australia) in 2018, the Centre for Studies in Family Medicine in Western University (Ontario, Canada) in 2018, and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Ontario, Canada) in 2017 and 2018.

Elaine's research has two main strands - 1) utilising health behaviour change for chronic disease prevention and management, and 2) enhancing the methods used for the implementation of health research into policy and practice. She has specific methodological expertise in evidence synthesis, implementation science/knowledge translation, process evaluation and fidelity/adaptation of behaviour change interventions. In 2016 Elaine was awarded a Leamer-Rosenthal Prize for Open Social Science for Emerging Researchers from the University of California Berkeley for her work in fidelity and transparency of behaviour change interventions. She is also a Catalyst for the Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS), a member of the Health Research Board Open Research National Steering Committee and a keen advocate for open science. She is a recipient of the Irish Canadian University Foundation James M. Flaherty Early Career Scholarship (2017), the UK Society for Behavioural Medicine Early Career Award (2020), the European Health Psychology Stan Maes Early Career Award (2020) and a Euroscience European Young Researcher Award (EYRA) finalist (2020). She has published over 60 peer-reviewed journal publications as well as numerous blogposts and alternative research outputs and has secured over €3.7million in national and international research funding as Principal Investigator or co-applicant/collaborator.

Research Interests

Health behaviour change for chronic disease prevention and management.
Implementation science/knowledge translation and informed decision-making in health policy and practice.
Health research methods, e.g. evidence synthesis, fidelity and adaptation of complex behavioural interventions, process evaluations, and behavioural intervention development and evaluation.
Open science and health research transparency, stakeholder involvement and citizen science.

Professional Activities

Award

  • 2020 - UK Society for Behavioural Medicine Early Career Award
  • 2020 - Applying Research into Policy and Practice Fellowship (€249,518.92)
  • 2020 - European Health Psychology Society Stan Maes Early Career Award
  • 2020 - European Young Researcher Award (finalist)
  • 2017 - James M. Flaherty Early Career Research Award (€7200)
  • 2016 - Leamer-Rosenthal Emerging Researcher Prize for Open Social Science ($10,000)
  • 2015 - Early Career Researcher Travel Award
  • 2014 - Early Career Researcher Travel Award
  • 2013 - Early Career Researcher Travel Award
  • 2009 - HRB Summer Student Scholarship

Association

  • Member, Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists
  • Co-Chair, European Health Psychology Society Open Science Special Interest Group

Publications

Peer Reviewed Journals

2021

Enhancing the translation of health behaviour change research into practice: a selective conceptual review of the synergy between implementation science and health psychology.

Presseau J;Byrne-Davis LMT;Hotham S;Lorencatto F;Potthoff S;Atkinson L;Bull ER;Dima AL;van Dongen A;French D;Hankonen N;Hart J;Ten Hoor GA;Hudson K;Kwasnicka D;van Lieshout S;McSharry J;Olander EK;Powell R;Toomey E;Byrne M; (2021) Enhancing the translation of health behaviour change research into practice: a selective conceptual review of the synergy between implementation science and health psychology.. Health Psychology Review

2020

Feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial evaluating a theory-driven group-based complex intervention versus usual physiotherapy to support self-management of osteoarthritis and low back pain (SOLAS).

Hurley DA;Jeffares I;Hall AM;Keogh A;Toomey E;McArdle D;McDonough SM;Guerin S;Segurado R;Matthews J; (2020) Feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial evaluating a theory-driven group-based complex intervention versus usual physiotherapy to support self-management of osteoarthritis and low back pain (SOLAS).. Trials

2020

A collaborative approach to developing sustainable behaviour change interventions for childhood obesity prevention: Development of the Choosing Healthy Eating for Infant Health (CHErIsH) intervention and implementation strategy

Toomey, E,Matvienko-Sikar, K,Doherty, E,Harrington, J,Hayes, CB,Heary, C,Hennessy, M,Kelly, C,McHugh, S,McSharry, J,O'Halloran, J,Queally, M,Heffernan, T,Kearney, PM,Byrne, M (2020) A collaborative approach to developing sustainable behaviour change interventions for childhood obesity prevention: Development of the Choosing Healthy Eating for Infant Health (CHErIsH) intervention and implementation strategy. HOBOKEN : WILEY British journal of health psychology

2020

Extended use or reuse of single-use surgical masks and filtering face-piece respirators during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: A rapid systematic review.

Toomey EC;Conway Y;Burton C;Smith S;Smalle M;Chan XS;Adisesh A;Tanveer S;Ross L;Thomson I;Devane D;Greenhalgh T; (2020) Extended use or reuse of single-use surgical masks and filtering face-piece respirators during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: A rapid systematic review.. Infection Control And Hospital Epidemiology

2020

Promoting scientific integrity through open science in health psychology: results of the Synergy Expert Meeting of the European health psychology society.

Kwasnicka D;Ten Hoor GA;van Dongen A;Gruszczyńska E;Hagger MS;Hamilton K;Hankonen N;Heino MTJ;Kotzur M;Noone C;Rothman AJ;Toomey E;Warner LM;Kok G;Peters GJ;Luszczynska A; (2020) Promoting scientific integrity through open science in health psychology: results of the Synergy Expert Meeting of the European health psychology society.. Health Psychology Review

2020

Exploring healthcare professionals' views of the acceptability of delivering interventions to promote healthy infant feeding practices within primary care: a qualitative interview study.

Toomey E;Flannery C;Matvienko-Sikar K;Olander EK;Hayes C;Heffernan T;Hennessy M;McHugh S;Queally M;Kearney PM;Byrne M;Heary C; (2020) Exploring healthcare professionals' views of the acceptability of delivering interventions to promote healthy infant feeding practices within primary care: a qualitative interview study.. Public Health Nutrition

2020

The Efficacy of Workplace Interventions on Improving the Dietary, Physical Activity and Sleep Behaviours of School and Childcare Staff: A Systematic Review.

Nathan N;Murawski B;Hope K;Young S;Sutherland R;Hodder R;Booth D;Toomey E;Yoong SL;Reilly K;Tzelepis F;Taylor N;Wolfenden L; (2020) The Efficacy of Workplace Interventions on Improving the Dietary, Physical Activity and Sleep Behaviours of School and Childcare Staff: A Systematic Review.. International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health

2019

Physician-reported barriers to using evidence-based recommendations for low back pain in clinical practice: a systematic review and synthesis of qualitative studies using the Theoretical Domains Framework.

Hall AM,Scurrey SR,Pike AE,Albury C,Richmond HL,Matthews J,Toomey E,Hayden JA,Etchegary H, (2019) Physician-reported barriers to using evidence-based recommendations for low back pain in clinical practice: a systematic review and synthesis of qualitative studies using the Theoretical Domains Framework.. Implementation Science : Is

2018

Intervention Fidelity Within Trials of Infant Feeding Behavioral Interventions to Prevent Childhood Obesity: A Systematic Review

Toomey, Elaine,Matvienko-Sikar, Karen,Heary, Caroline,Delaney, Lisa,Queally, Michelle,B Hayes, Catherine,M Kearney, Patricia,Byrne, Molly,Choosing Healthy Eating for Infant Health (CHErIsH) study team (2018) Intervention Fidelity Within Trials of Infant Feeding Behavioral Interventions to Prevent Childhood Obesity: A Systematic Review. Annals Of Behavioral Medicine

2018

The CHARMS pilot study: A multi-method assessment of the feasibility of a sexual counselling implementation intervention in cardiac rehabilitation in Ireland

Murphy, P, Noone, C, D�Eath, M, Casey, D, Doherty, S, Jaarsma, T, Murphy, A, O�Donnell, M, Fallon, N, Gillespie, P, Jalali, A, McSharry, J, Newell, J, Toomey, E, Steinke, E, Byrne, M (2018) The CHARMS pilot study: A multi-method assessment of the feasibility of a sexual counselling implementation intervention in cardiac rehabilitation in Ireland. Pilot And Feasibility Studies

Books

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Book Chapters

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Edited Books

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Other Journals

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Conference Publications

2017

Psychology, Health and Medicine

Toomey, E, Kearney, P, Matvienko-Sikar, K, Queally, M, Hayes, C, Doherty, E, Harrington, J, McHugh, S, Kelly, C, McSharry, J, Delaney, L, Heary, C, Byrne, M. (2017) Psychology, Health and Medicine. Psychology, Health and Medicine

2016

OARSI World Congress on Osteoarthritis

Hurley, D.A., Currie-Murphy, L., Hayes, D., Hall, A.M., Toomey, E., McDonough, S.M., Lonsdale, C., Walsh, N.E., Guerin, S. and Matthews, J. (2016) OARSI World Congress on Osteoarthritis. OARSI World Congress on Osteoarthritis

2013

29th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis, 18th Annual Conference of Rehabilitation in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS)

Toomey, E, Coote, S (2013) 29th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis, 18th Annual Conference of Rehabilitation in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS). 29th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis, 18th Annual Conference of Rehabilitation in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS)

Conference Contributions

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Editorials

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Book Reviews

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