Maria Pierce

I am Assistant Professor in Social Policy in the Department of Applied Social Studies. I joined the Department in August 2024. I graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science degree (Social Policy and Sociology) from UCD in 1997 and received a PhD in Social Policy and Ageing from TCD in 2010. I have also held academic positions in UCD, Trinity College Dublin and Dublin City University. I have worked as a researcher in the private sector and in the community and voluntary sector. My main research interests are in the areas of health and social care policy and I have a particular interest in ageing, dementia, disability and family care. My research is focused on producing evidence to inform the development and implementation of health and social care policy. I have had a longstanding interest in including the voices of people from marginalised groups in research and policy development and implementation. In 2012, I was a co-author of 'Creating Excellence in Dementia Care: A Research Review for Ireland's National Dementia Strategy, which was influential in setting the agenda for and content of Ireland's National Dementia Strategy (2014). It has been followed up with a report on 'Developing and Implementing Dementia Policy' (2017), In recent years, my research had focused on policy implementation and service reform. I have led/co-led several research projects in the area of dementia including an Evaluation of the HSE's Dementia Post-diagnostic Support Grant Scheme overseen by the National Dementia Service, a study on the role and contribution of dementia-specific day care in the evolving care landscape for the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, and a review of the implementation of the HSE's Dementia Care and Support: Home Care Education Programme.