Dr Olive McKeown

Dr Olive McKeown is an experienced health professional, having worked in generic nursing, medical and surgical settings, as well as in most mental health settings. She went on to specialise in the dual diagnosis area (mental health and addiction) with a PhD in dual diagnosis. Having worked in the NHS for several decades, Olive's first academic post was in the early nineties as a researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry (King's College, London). Subsequently, she held senior academic positions in both nursing and medical education.

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Dr Olive Mckeown is an experienced health professional, who has worked in nursing, medical and surgical settings, as well as in most mental health settings. She went on to specialise in the dual diagnosis area (mental health and addiction) with a PhD in the subject. Having worked in the NHS for several decades, Olive's first academic post was in the early nineties as a researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry (King's College, London). Subsequently, she held senior academic positions in both nursing and medical education.

In 2009, Dr Mckeown moved to the Public Health academic field, where much of her work related to mental health, addiction and chronic health disorders. In 2017, she joined London Met to continue lecturing and researching within the public health domain at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In addition, Dr Olive Mckeown took on the role of Head of Student Experience and Academic Outcomes. Dr Mckeown also contributes to the Research Centre for Primary Health and Social Care where she continues to pursue her research interests. 

Dr Olive Mckeown has taught many undergraduate and postgraduate nursing modules and programmes. She was a Problem Based Teaching (PBT) lead for a fast track (four-year) medical degree, where she delivered modules in small groups and was responsible for staff training and supervision in teaching within a PBL curriculum framework. More recently, she has taught health promotion and policy, health service management, research methods and public health modules and programmes. In addition to teaching a range of modules, Dr Mckeown is also involved with recruiting and supporting PhD students.

Authored selected journal articles:

  • McKeown O, Forshaw D M, McGauley G, Fitzpatrick J, and Roscoe J. (1996) A New Forensic Addiction Unit Within A Special Hospital Setting. The Journal of Substance Misuse for Nursing and Health Care Professionals. Vol 1 no1.
  • McKeown O, McGauley, Forshaw DM, Fitzpatrick J and Carlyle J. (1996) A Therapeutic Community Approach in a Forensic Addiction Unit, within a Special hospital setting. The Journal Of Substance Misuse For Nursing And Health Care Professionals, Vol 1 no2
  • Rassool H and McKeown O (1996). Commentary on the ENB's Training Needs Analysis for Nurses in Substance Misuse. The Journal of Substance Misuse for Nursing and Health Care. Vol 1 no2.
  • McKeown O (1996) Letter in response to Mrs. Yvonne Moore's published letter regarding the government document, Tackling Drugs Together. The Journal of Substance Misuse for Nursing and Health Care, Vol 1 no2
  • Darling P, Lumsden J, Perkins D, Forshaw DM McKeown O (1996) Assessment of Patients in a Forensic Addiction Unit within a Special Hospital Setting. The Journal of Substance Misuse for Nursing and Health Care, Vol 1 no3.
  • Phillips P and McKeown O (1993) Working with Adult Abusers: Exploring Models of Care. Scutari Press / Nursing Standard, Oct.
  • John Connolly, Liam MacGabhann, Olive McKeown, (2015) Developing a dual diagnosis service in Cork, Ireland by way of participatory action research (PAR), Advances in Dual Diagnosis, Vol. 8 Issue: 1, pp.29-41.

Authored selected published books and book chapters:

  • McKeown O (1997) Interprofessional Collaboration in Substance Misuse In: H. Rassool and M. Gafoor (Eds). Addiction Nursing. Perspectives on Professional and Clinical Practice. Gloucester, Stanley Thornes.
  • McKeown O and Shepherd J (2007) Meeting the Specific Needs of Young People Attending the Accident and Emergency Department, K. Cleaver and J Webb (Eds) Accident and Emergency Care for Children, Blackwell Science
  • McKeown O Phillips P, and Sandford T [Eds] (2009) Dual Diagnosis in Context, Blackwell Wiley

Dr Olive Mckeown has presented at many conferences. 

Selected conference papers:

  • McKeown O (2013) The Historical Context of Dual Diagnosis Developments, Keynote Speech at a Dual Diagnosis conference at DCU, June 2013
  • McKeown O (2007) Moralistic Perspectives and Negativity Amongst Nurses who work with People with a ‘Dual Diagnosis’ of Substance Misuse and Mental Health Problems. The Fifth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, Paris.
  • McKeown O (2006) Harm McKeown O (2007) An Interdisciplinary Challenge: Barriers and Resistance to Developing Addiction, Harm-Reduction and Dual Diagnosis Curricula for Health Care Professionals (UK & USA experiences), Social Sciences Conference, Granada, Spain.
  • McKeown O (2006) The Challenge of Dual Diagnosis in mental health Settings, Key Note Speech, NPNR Conference September, Oxford
  • McKeown O (2006) NPNR Conference September, Oxford: Dangerous Detox: A Training Dilemma, Harm Reduction Conference, San Francisco, November: Harm Reduction and Dual Diagnosis
  • Meerabeau E. and McKeown O (2005) ‘If They Were Formal, We Would Be Able To Manage Them Better: The Challenges of Nursing Dual Diagnosis Patients’. The British Sociological Association Annual Conference, University of York.

Dr Olive McKeown
Senior Lecturer in Health
E: o.mckeown@londonmet.ac.uk
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