Professor Darren Flynn

Professor

School: Healthcare and Nursing Sciences

Professor of Applied Health Psychology; Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society (BPS); Associate Fellow of the BPS (AFBPsS); and Applied Psychology Practice Supervisor

I have over 20 years’ experience of providing health psychology expertise and leadership to complex multi-phase, multi-disciplinary applied and translational research across the entire sphere of influence in health psychology (i.e. application of psychological theory/methods to behavioural management of health conditions; health promotion; psychological factors associated with health; and quality improvement in both healthcare practice and policy) across a range of topics: acute stroke, type 2 diabetes, heart failure, fatty liver disease and mental health conditions.

I am a mixed methods researcher with expertise in complex systematic reviews, survey design, preference-based methods (Delphi technique and discrete choice experiments), qualitative interviewing, interactive group workshops, and statistical analysis (in particular time series analysis).

Email Darren

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

I am particularly interested in co-design and evaluation of person-centred care / personalised care interventions (shared decision making, social prescribing, personalised care planning, and supported self-management), complex health and lifestyle behaviour change interventions for people living with mental and physical health multimorbidity, delivery of training to healthcare professionals to equip them with the knowledge/skills to deliver behavioural interventions to their patients, risk communication, and health literacy.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Adapting and Co-Producing a Psychological First Aid Intervention for Care Home Staff: A Person-Based Approach to Enhance Workforce Resilience, Schoultz, M., Kirton, A., Scott, J., Flynn, D., Beattie, M., Denford, S., Dickens, G. 30 Mar 2026, In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Service User Experiences and Perspectives of Social Prescribing Services for Mental Health, Cooper, M., Flynn, D., Scott, J., Ashley, K., Avery, L. 1 Apr 2026, In: Community Mental Health Journal
Stakeholder perspectives on factors influencing the successful implementation of whole-school approaches to mental health, Spencer, L., Perkins, N., Flynn, D., Henderson, E., Maniatopoulos, G., Wood, M., Woodley, H., Newham, J. 1 Jun 2026, In: Health Education Journal
Classifying the Features of Digital Mental Health Interventions to Inform the Development of a Patient Decision Aid, Bradley, G., Rehackova, L., Devereaux, K., Bruce, T., Nunn, V., Gilfellon, L., Burrows, S., Cameron, A., Watson, R., Rumney, K., Flynn, D. 26 Mar 2025, In: PLOS Digital Health
Developing a Co-Produced Practice Framework to Support Personalised Safety Planning for Adults Experiencing Suicidality, McGleenan, K., Gordon, I., Smith, H., Barker, J., Lilley, R., Scott, T., Mart, P., Walker, V., Clibbens, N., Taylor, J., Fishburn, S., Ramtohul, A., Chidimma Nwokoroku, S., Flynn, D. 1 Oct 2025, In: Health Expectations : an International Journal of Public Participation in Health Care and Health Policy
Barriers and Facilitators to the Design and Delivery of Social Prescribing Services to Support Adult Mental Health: Perspectives of Social Prescribing Service Providers, Cooper, M., Flynn, D., Scott, J., Ashley, K., Avery, L. 30 Sep 2024, In: Health & Social Care in the Community
Conceptualising Social Prescribing in Urgent and Emergency Care, Cooper, M., Nazar, H., Flynn, D., Redelsteiner, C., Agarwal, G., Scott, J. 1 Dec 2024, In: Future Healthcare Journal
Exercise-based interventions targeting balance and falls in people with COPD: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Loughran, K., Emerson, J., Avery, L., Suri, S., Flynn, D., Kaner, E., Rapley, T., Martin, D., McPhee, J., Fernandes-James, C., Harrison, S. 2024, In: European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society
Exploring service providers’ perceptions of the barriers and enablers to recruitment of service users into social prescribing research, Cooper, M., Scott, J., Avery, L., Ashley, K., Flynn, D. 31 Dec 2024, In: Cogent Psychology
Identifying the active ingredients of training interventions for healthcare professionals to promote and support increased levels of physical activity in adults with heart failure: A systematic review, Ashley, K., Tang, M., Flynn, D., Cooper, M., Errington, L., Avery, L. 2 Apr 2024, In: Health Psychology Review

Current and Recent Projects

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Police involvement in interagency crisis mental health first response pathways in England: A realist and cost consequence analysis (PIONEER-MH), Clibbens, N. (Principal Investigator), Flynn, D. (Co Investigator), National Institute for Health Research, 01/04/25 - 30/11/27, £781,508.00
Developing an NIHR Health and Social care Delivery Research (HSDR) national evaluation team: InterDisciplinary Evaluation of complex innovations in heAlth and Social care (IDEAS) Centre, Bate, A. (Principal Investigator), Flynn, D. (Co Investigator), National Institute for Health Research, 01/02/25 - 31/01/30, £3,028,752.00

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Consultancy: Exploring the views of staff involved in the regional implementation of the personalised anticipatory care programme using the Year of Care approach: A mixed methods service evaluation 2023

PGR Supervision

Emma Quinn Developing a Personalised Patient Decision Aid for Ovarian Cancer Treatment Start Date: 01/10/2025

Qualifications