Aoife Price
ESR Project Title: Combining Voices: Coalition-building and Alliances with other Social Action movements
Email: aoife.price@edf-feph.org
Aoife is an Early Stage Researcher on the Disability Advocacy Research in Europe, part of the Marie Sokolowski-Curie Actions, and working with the European Disability Forum for the duration of the project. She will be researching women with disabilities and their participation in public life including the participation of women in the disability movement as well as the women’s movement. As part of this project Aoife will be completing a PhD at the National University of Ireland, Galway.
She graduated with a MSc in Applied Social Research from Trinity College Dublin and a BA in Politics and International Relation’s from University of Limerick. She is particularly interested in participatory research methods and ensuring that research is implemented in policy and practice.
Prior to working with the European Disability Forum, Aoife worked with the Union of Students in Ireland managing a Student Mental Health Project. A key part of this role was to carry out a comprehensive study into student mental health which resulted in the publication of the Union of Students in Ireland National Report on Student Mental Health. Aoife has been advocating the area of youth mental health for over 10 years. She was Welfare and Equality officer for the Irish Second Level Students Union from 2007-2009; Sat on the Specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service Advisory group from 2011-2013; Contributed to the establishment of the Youth Empowerment Service, an advocacy service for young people in St. Patrick’s Hospital, 2012- 2013; And was a member of Jigsaw’s Youth Advisory Panel from 2011-2016. Aoife is currently on the Executive of the International Association for Youth Mental Health and has been an active advocate in the area of youth mental health at national and international level.
Aoife completed a Graduate Internship Programme with the Centre for Effective Services.
The Centre for Effective Services connects research, policy and practice to improve outcomes for communities, children and young people across the island of Ireland. Here she worked on various projects focusing on implementation science.
She has an interest in different methods of communication and is conscious of inclusivity and the importance of accessibility. With this in mind she created a mental health project called SPARKS. It consists of a book, exhibition and animation. It is something that people can relate to regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, religion, disability or the difficulty being experienced.
AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS
2015: Awarded the Trinity Legacy Award for SPARKS.
2014: Placed on Trinity College’s Dean of Students’ Roll of Honor.
2014: Shortlisted for national student journalism award in area of mental health.
2013: Awarded University of Limerick’s Gold Award for Volunteers.
2013: Best portfolio documenting the Irish Presidency of the Council of The European Union (final year EU module).
2013: Participant in Wave Change Programme, which supported high potential social actors, social entrepreneurs and change makers aged 18-25 years.
2008: Scholarship to represent Ireland at Future World Leaders Summit, Washington D.C.
PUBLICATIONS
Price, A. and Smith, H. (2019) The Union of Students in Ireland National Report on Student Mental Health, Dublin: Union of Students in Ireland.
Price, A. (2018) Mental Health at Third Level: What are the issues facing students and what can we do about them?,Dublin: The Association for Higher Education Access and Disability.
Kennedy, L.A., Rafferty, M. and Price, A. (2017) Service user, family member and carer engagement in mental health services in Ireland – A review of the literature, Dublin: Mental Health Engagement Office, Health Service Executive.
Price, A. and Feely, M. (2017) Participation in a youth mental health organisation and its impact on resilience of young people, Dublin: Children’s Research Network.
Price, A. (2014) SPARKS, Dublin:Oonagh Young Gallery.
PRESENTATIONS
Presented to several audiences in the role of Student Mental Health Project Manager with the Union of Students in Ireland including at ministerial level, to national and international conferences, as well as to students and peers (2017-2019).
Presented a paper on youth participation and resilience at the Children’s Research Network for Ireland and Northern Ireland Conference (2017).
Presented SPARKS at several international conferences including an international children’s rights conference in Belfast (2014), an international youth mental health conference in Montreal (2015) and the women’s mental health world congress in Dublin (2017).
Presenting delegate on youth participation at the International Association of Youth Mental Health Conference in Brighton (2013) and Montreal (2015).