Pamela Attree* arrived at Lancaster University in 1992, to study social policy in the Department of Applied Social Science. Following graduation in 1994 she began her ESRC-funded doctoral research on the topic of women's drug and alcohol use, resulting in a book entitled Women's Perspectives on Drugs and Alcohol: The Vicious Circle, published by Ashgate in 2001.

Since completing her PhD in 1999, Pamela has worked on a number of health-related research projects, alternating between the Division of Health Research and the Department of Applied Social Science. These include an evaluation of a trailblazer Sure Start programme in the North West of England, an evaluation of Age Concern North West's Thematic Healthy Living Centres for older people, and a systematic review of community engagement in initiatives which aimed to address the social determinants of health, commissioned by NICE.

From 2002 to 2005 Pamela held a postdoctoral research fellowship, funded by the Department of Health, which involved carrying out systematic reviews of evidence on the topic of childhood disadvantage and health inequalities.She has recently worked with colleagues in Lancaster and Liverpool Universities on a public health scoping study, commissioned by primary care trusts in the North West, mapping initiatives which aim to address health inequalities in disadvantaged areas.

Her recent publications include:

(2005) Parenting support in the context of poverty: a meta-synthesis of the qualitative evidence. Health and Social Care in the Community 13(4): 330-337.

(2005) Low-income mothers, nutrition and health: a systematic review of qualitative evidence. Maternal and Child Nutrition 1, 227-240.

(2006) A critical analysis of UK public health policies in relation to diet and nutrition in low-income households. Maternal and Child Nutrition, 2:67-78.

(2006) The social costs of poverty: a systematic review of the qualitative evidence. Children & Society, 20:54-66.

(2006) (with B, Milton) Critically appraising qualitative research for systematic reviews: defusing the methodological cluster bombs. Evidence and Policy, 1:109-26.

(2007)Diet and nutrition in low-income families: a question of choice? In Carter, L.V. (ed.) Child nutrition research advances. New York: Nova Science Publishers Inc.

(2010) (with Morris, S. Payne, S. Vaughan, S. & Hinder, S.) Exploring the influence of service user involvement for cancer. Health Expectations. Published online August 2010.

Publications Available for Download

Childhood Disadvantage and Health Inequalities: A Systematic Review of the Qualitative Evidence

Parenting in Disadvantage: A Meta-Synthesis of the Qualitative Evidence