The Glasgow School of Art

Tara is Programme Director for Health and Wellbeing Innovation employing design innovation practice in response to complex, societal challenges. Her research is situated in the context of health, care and wellbeing where she deploys her skills in facilitating multidisciplinary collaborations to address current and future challenges using a design-led approach. With interdisciplinary expertise in psychology and design innovation she is highly skilled in combining mixed methods and creative approaches in research design and has extensive experience of engaging a diverse range of stakeholders in the design process, from people with lived experience to government policy makers. Her design research interests are centred on the role of design in supporting and embedding a culture of innovation and resilience in complex contexts (e.g. health and care) and meaningfully engaging diverse communities to support strategic transformation at multiple system levels in the context of health and wellbeing.

Tara leads projects across a range of health and wellbeing areas which are centred on enhancing wellbeing and quality of life, but has a specialist interest in mental health, palliative care, social and community care contexts. Tara is interested in the conditions, which create and cultivate resilience and eudaimonic wellbeing both personally and collectively, and is interested in how we can support people to achieve a ‘full life’ and positive human flourishing.

Tara is a Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on a number of funded projects in the contexts of mental health, palliative care and health and social care integration. She is an active supervisor on the MRes and PhD programmes at the Innovation School.

After completing her degree in Psychology at the University of Glasgow, Tara was awarded a PhD studentship from Glasgow Caledonian University. Her PhD research employed a mixed methods approach to explore the role of music in supporting psychological wellbeing and quality of life. Tara previously held the position of Lecturer of Psychology and Applied Music at the University of the Highlands and Islands where she taught and supervised projects across the Social Sciences. She was also a guest lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Tara is a regular invited speaker and has presented her research at conferences both nationally and internationally and has collaborated with the music department at the University of Western Australia.

In 2010, Tara was awarded a Magnus Magnusson scholarship which allowed her to establish a community choir, Sing for Life Speyside, which aims to promote health and wellbeing through singing.

Tara's profile on Academia can be viewed at http://gsa.academia.edu/TaraLFrench