About
Catherine is Professor of Rehabilitation in Primary Care Clinical Sciences and an NIHR Senior Investigator. She has published nearly 100 papers and has major funding from NIHR streams. She is dedicated to clinical research career development for non-medical clinicians and has supervised many clinical therapists to achieve research degrees.
Catherine is a member of grant awarding panels and boards of the NIHR, Department of Health, Medical Research Council, Health Research Board Ireland, Stroke Association and the Dunhill Medical Trust. She is active within the UKCRN as Rehabilitation lead for the West Midlands Stroke Research Network Birmingham and Black Country lead for Age & Ageing and previously stroke rehabilitation CSG chair.
Qualifications
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Fellowship of the College of Occupational Therapy 2008
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PhD Rehabilitation Medicine 1991
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MSc Rehabilitation 1986
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Associateship in Physiotherapy 1982
Biography
Catherine Sackley qualified as a physiotherapist from Sheffield City Polytechnic in 1982. After a period of clinical practice in Lewisham she won a DHSS award to study for a Masters degree at Southampton University. She went on to study for a PhD in Rehabilitation Medicine in the Stroke Research Unit at Nottingham University. She continued combining research and practice in a primary care setting before winning a DH National Primary Care Researcher Development award which took her to the University of Oxford where she was the first Allied Health Professional (AHP) to win a DH Primary Care Career Scientist award. During this award she moved to her current post.
Catherine was awarded an honorary Fellowship of the College of Occupational Therapists in 2008 in recognition of her commitment to the development of AHP clinical researchers. The same year she was one of only 2 AHPs to be recognised as an international leader in her field with her appointment as one of the 100 inaugural NIHR Senior Investigators. She was reappointed in 2011.
Teaching
Postgraduate supervision
Catherine is currently supervising doctoral research students in the following areas:
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Rehabilitation for care home residents with stroke.
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Rehabilitation for Parkinson’s disease
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Exercise for people with neurological conditions
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Rehabilitation following lower limb joint replacement
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Constraint therapy for pre-school children with cerebral palsy
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Discreet event simulation modelling to improve cost utility estimation for rare neurological conditions
If you are interesting in studying any of these subject areas please contact Catherine on the contact details above.
Research
RESEARCH THEMES
Rehabilitation in community settings including care homes. Including people with stroke, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, other neurological conditions, joint replacement and age related frailty
CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY
Van Vliet P, Sackley C et al. NIHR RfPB 2010/13 Visual cue training to improve walking and turning after stroke: a pilot study. £212,298
Wing A, Sackley C, Pratt D. The Stroke Association 2009/06 Use of a metronome with variable beats to retrain walking in stroke survivors. £151,261 over 36 months
Van Vliet P, Sackley C et al. The Stroke Association 2009/10 Pilot study of arm training at home using tasks specifically related to reaching for objects. £159,448 over 26 months
Bhakta B, Sackley C, et al Does Levodopa drug treatment in combination with routine NHS OT & Physiotherapy, improve functional recovery after stroke including walking ability and arm function? NIHR EME £1,642,840 2009-2013
Lord J, Sackley C et al New Dynamics of Ageing Research Programme RES-356-25-0011Synergistic effects of physical and psychological stress upon immunesenescence 2009-2011 £438,065
Sackley C, McManus R, Mant J, Lasserson D Health outcomes of Transient Ischaemic Attack: a cohort study to inform evaluations of interventions NIHR School of Primary Care Research, 2009-2011, £75,000
Sackley C et al A cluster randomised controlled trial of an occupational therapy intervention for residents with stroke living in UK care-homes . NIHR HTA 2009-2013 £1,900,000
Clarke C, Wheatley K, Sackley C, et al Randomised controlled trial to assess the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of physiotherapy and occupational therapy in Parkinson's disease (PD REHAB) NIHR HTA 2009-2013 £1,623,580
Sackley C, Freemantle N, Calvert M, Yao G, et al., A systematic review and observational study of the epidemiology and natural history of progressive neurological disease, targeting user priorities and modelling the burden on health and social care. NIHR Policy Programme Grant 2008-11; £379,789.
Barker K, Sackley C, Murray D, and Campbell H, Evaluation of a specific physiotherapy programme following hip resurfacing arthroplasty – is it more effective at improving function and muscle strength than standard rehabilitation? NIHR Research for Patient Benefit 2008-11; £211,794.
Blom A, Beswick A, Gooberman-Hil R, et al., Improving patient's experience and outcome of total joint replacement. NIHR Programme Grant 2008-11 £1,977,971
Other activities
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Panel member NIHR / CNO Clinical Academic Training Programme for Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health Professionals
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Panel Member, Research Training Fellowship for Healthcare Professionals Committee, Health Research Board, Ireland.
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Honorary Professor, Chief Scientist Office Scotland & Stirling University NMAHP Unit
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Board Member NIHR SDO
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Chair, Stroke Research Network Clinical Studies Group, Rehabilitation
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Member, Grants and Research Committee, Dunhill Medical Trust
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Member, Research Awards Committee, The Stroke Association
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NIHR Senior Investigator
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BBC CLRN Age & Ageing Priority Lead
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WMSRN Board member
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WMSHA NMAHP Training awards panel member
Publications
C Sackley, TJ Hoppitt, S Patel, M van den Berg, K Lett, K Hollands, C Wright. Rehabilitation in care homes (RICH-T): a cluster-randomized controlled trial. BMJ 2009;339:b3123, doi: 10.1136/bmj.b3123
Winward C, Sackley C, Metha Z, and Rothwell P, A population based study of the prevalence of fatigue following transient ischaemic attack and minor stroke. Stroke, Mar 2009; 40: 757 - 761
Clarke C, Furmston A, Morgan E, et al., Pilot randomised controlled trial of occupational therapy to optimise independence in Parkinson's disease, the PD OT Trial. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry 2009; 80: 976-978
Sackley C, Brittle N, Patel S, et al., The prevalence of joint contractures, pressure sores, painful shoulder, other pain, falls and depression in the year following a severely disabling stroke. Stroke, Dec 2008; 39: 3329 – 3334
Lowe C J M, Barker K L, Dewey M, and Sackley C M, Effectiveness of physiotherapy exercise after knee arthroplasty for osteoarthritis: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. British Medical Journal 2007; 335: 812-815.
Legg L, Drummond A, Leonardi-Bee J, et al., Occupational therapy for patients with problems in personal activities of daily living after stroke: systematic review of randomised trials. British Medical Journal 2007; 335: 922-925.
Sackley CM, Disler P, Turner-Stokes L, Wade D, 2007 Rehabilitation interventions for foot drop in neuromuscular disease, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2
Sackley C, Wade DT, Mant D, et al Cluster Randomized Pilot Controlled Trial of an Occupational Therapy Intervention for Residents With Stroke in UK Care Home Stroke: 2006 37(9):2336-41