Senior Lecturer
Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology RG Bomont Building, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA
I joined the University of Stirling as a lecturer in sociology in August 2016. Prior to this I was at the University of Sheffield, where I completed a PhD in the Department of Sociological Studies and worked as a research associate. I have an MA in folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland and a BA in history from the University of York.
I have three main research interests (which often overlap):
Ageing, the life course and time: Sociology of ageing; critical gerontology; cultural gerontology; time - particularly future perceptions of time in older age; fictional representatives of ageing and the life course.
Sociology of health and illness: Experiences of health and illness; lay epidemiology - particularly in the context of risk and public health; alcohol; death and dying; relationships in the context of health and illness; how illness is experienced and constructed differently at different stages of the life course.
Home, relationships and families: Particularly in the context of older age, health and illness, death and dying.
Methods and approaches: I predominantly use qualitative methods, although I have worked on mixed methods projects. Material and sensory approaches. I am also interested in narrative approaches.
I am interested in supervising doctoral students on any of the above or related topics and would welcome speculative enquiries.
Waste/Land/Futures: intergenerational relations in places of abandonment and renewal across Europe.
PI: Dr Melanie Lovatt
Funded by: Volkswagen Stiftung
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BSG Small Event
PI: Dr Melanie Lovatt
Funded by: British Society of Gerontology
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Designing homes for healthy cognitive ageing: co-production for impact and scale (DesHCA)
PI: Professor Alison Bowes
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council
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Reimagining the Future in Older Age
PI: Dr Melanie Lovatt
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council
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Mercator Fellowship with the Doing Transitions research group
PI: Dr Melanie Lovatt
Funded by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
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Living Right Up To The End
PI: Professor Liz Forbat
Funded by: Strathcarron Hospice
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Article
Learning about design for dementia: lessons from a Japan–UK network
Bowes A, Dawson A, Copland F, Gibson G, Hotta S, Ishikawa S, Ito M, Kiuchi D, Koreki A, Lovatt M, McCall V, Palmer L, Quirke M, Phillips J & Rutherford A (2024) Learning about design for dementia: lessons from a Japan–UK network. Cogent Gerontology, 3 (1). https://doi.org/10.1080/28324897.2024.2397951
Article
Othering Older People’s Housing: Gaming Ageing to Support Future-Planning
McCall V, Rutherford AC, Bowes A, Jagannath S, Njoki M, Quirke M, Pemble CM, Lovatt M, Maginn K, Davison L, Scrutton P, Pengelly R & Gibson J (2024) Othering Older People’s Housing: Gaming Ageing to Support Future-Planning. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21 (3), Art. No.: 304. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21030304
Article
Narratives of Ageing and Materiality: The Experience of Home in Older People's Residential Care
Lovatt M (2023) Narratives of Ageing and Materiality: The Experience of Home in Older People's Residential Care. Anthropological Journal of European Cultures, 32 (1), pp. 108-124. https://doi.org/10.3167/ajec.2023.320107
Article
Understanding nuance and ambivalence in intergenerational relationships through fiction
French JE, Lovatt M & Wright V (2023) Understanding nuance and ambivalence in intergenerational relationships through fiction. The Gerontologist. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnad051
Article
Gibson G, Quirke M & Lovatt M (2022) The role of environmental design in enabling intergenerational support for people with dementia - what lessons can we learn from Japan. Working with Older People. https://doi.org/10.1108/WWOP-12-2021-0064
Article
Relationships and material culture in a residential home for older people
Lovatt M (2021) Relationships and material culture in a residential home for older people. Ageing and Society, 41 (12), pp. 2953-5970. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X20000690
Commentary
French J, Lovatt M & Wright V (2021) Through the Utopian Lens of Opportunity: Using fiction and theatre to reimagine the post-COVID-19 future. Sociological Review Magazine. https://thesociologicalreview.org/magazine/november-2021/methods-and-methodology/through-the-utopian-lens-of-opportunity/
Article
McCall V, Ziegler F, Robertson J, Lovatt M, Phillips J, Porteus J, Mcintyre Z, Rutherford A, Sixsmith J, Woolrych R, Eadie J, Wallman J, Epinosa M, Harrison E & Wallace T (2020) Housing and Ageing: Let's Get Serious-"How Do You Plan for the Future while Addressing Immediate Chaos?". Social Inclusion, 8 (3), pp. 28-42. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v8i3.2779
Research Report
Housing and Ageing: Linking future strategy to future delivery for Scotland, Wales and England 2030
McCall V, Phillips J, Lovatt M, Robertson J, Rutherford A, Woolrytch R, Sixsmith J, Macintyre Z, Porteus J, Ziegler F & Eadie J (2019) Housing and Ageing: Linking future strategy to future delivery for Scotland, Wales and England 2030. Scottish Universities Insight Institute and Social Policy Association. https://www.scottishinsight.ac.uk/Programmes/Scotland2030/HousingOlderPeople.aspx
Article
Becoming at home in residential care for older people: a material culture perspective
Lovatt M (2018) Becoming at home in residential care for older people: a material culture perspective. Sociology of Health and Illness, 40 (2), pp. 366-378. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12568
Commentary
Digital phenotyping and sociological perspectives in a Brave New World
Lovatt M & Holmes J (2017) Digital phenotyping and sociological perspectives in a Brave New World. Commentary on: Skinner A., Attwood A., Baddeley R., Evans-Reeves K., Bauld L., Munafò M. Digital phenotyping and the development and delivery of health guidelines and behaviour change interventions. Addiction 2017; https://doi.org/10.1111/add.13746. Lovatt M., Eadie D., Meier P. S., Li J., Bauld L., Hastings G. et al. Lay epidemiology and the interpretation of low-risk drinking guidelines by adults in the United Kingdom. Addiction 2015; 110: 1912–1919.. Addiction, 112 (7), pp. 1286-1289. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.13805
Article
Development of Trust in an Online Breast Cancer Forum: A Qualitative Study
Lovatt M, Bath PA & Ellis J (2017) Development of Trust in an Online Breast Cancer Forum: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19 (5), Art. No.: e175. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.7471
Article
Li J, Lovatt M, Eadie D, Dobbie F, Meier P, Holmes J, Hastings G & MacKintosh AM (2017) Public attitudes towards alcohol control policies in Scotland and England: Results from a mixed-methods study. Social Science and Medicine, 177, pp. 177-189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.01.037
Article
Buykx P, Li J, Gavens L, Hooper L, Lovatt M, Gomes de Matos E, Meier P & Holmes J (2016) Public awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer in England in 2015: a population-based survey. BMC Public Health, 16, Art. No.: 1194. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3855-6
Article
Ally AK, Lovatt M, Meier P, Brennan A & Holmes J (2016) Developing a social practice-based typology of British drinking culture in 2009-2011: Implications for alcohol policy analysis. Addiction, 111 (9), pp. 1568-1579. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.13397
Research Report
A new approach to measuring drinking cultures in Britain
Holmes J, Lovatt M, Ally AK, Brennan A & Meier P (2016) A new approach to measuring drinking cultures in Britain. Alcohol Research UK. Alcohol Insights, 133. University of Sheffield. http://alcoholresearchuk.org/downloads/finalReports/FinalReport_0133.pdf
Article
Lovatt M, Eadie D, Meier P, Li J, Bauld L, Hastings G & Holmes J (2015) Lay epidemiology and the interpretation of low-risk drinking guidelines by adults in the United Kingdom. Addiction, 110 (12), pp. 1912-1919. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.13072
Article
Lovatt M (2015) Charity Shops and the Imagined Futures of Objects: How Second-Hand Markets Influence Disposal Decisions when Emptying a Parent's House. Culture Unbound, 7, pp. 13-29. https://doi.org/10.3384/cu.2000.1525.157113
Article
Lovatt M, Nanton V, Roberts J, Ingleton C, Noble B, Pitt E, Seers K & Munday D (2015) The provision of emotional labour by health care assistants caring for dying cancer patients in the community: a qualitative study into the experiences of health care assistants and bereaved carers. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 52 (1), pp. 271-279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2014.10.013
Article
Food provision for older people receiving home care from the perspectives of home-care workers
Watkinson-Powell A, Barnes S, Lovatt M, Wasielewska A & Drummond B (2014) Food provision for older people receiving home care from the perspectives of home-care workers. Health and Social Care in the Community, 22 (5), pp. 553-560. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12117
Research Report
Munday D, Lovatt M, Roberts J, Nanton V, Noble B, Ingleton C, Pitt E & Seers K (2013) Receiving end of life care at home: experiences of the bereaved carers of cancer patients cared for by health care assistants. Dimbleby Cancer Care.
Research Report
The Housing Support Needs of Gypsies and Travellers in West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and York
Lovatt M (2006) The Housing Support Needs of Gypsies and Travellers in West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and York. Calderdale Council.
I coordinate the first year undergraduate module SPCU911 Social Differentiation and the honours module SPCU9JK Ageing, Society and Social Policy.
I also teach on the undergraduate modules SPCU912 Social Problems, SPCU9C5 Research Process 1 (Qualitative Methods) and the masters module ASRP002 Research Design and Process.
