Dr Maria Brent

My professional values and commitment to anti-discriminatory practice and social justice are passions I bring to my role as an educator and researcher. Providing an inclusive learning environment where students feel valued, respected and academically stimulated motivates my approach. I am interested in pedagogical approaches that draw on performance, film, and alternative modes of creative spaces for experiential learning to foster spontaneity, break down barriers, and provide an inclusive and more profound meaning to learning. The videos of my work illustrate the range of events I have been involved with that promotes student and community engagement. My years in social work practice has also cemented my passion and enthusiasm for interdisciplinary teaching and learning, evidenced in the projects, events and new modules I have described that provide rich opportunities to work across disciplinary boundaries. My role as programme and module lead, particularly in my work in delivering Best Interest Assessors and Safeguarding Adults at Risk modules, have made positive contributions to professional subject networks. Social Work England have recently inspected our Best Interest Assessor module and approved the module with no conditions, commending the teaching team for the strength of our partnership relationships and quality of teaching.

Course director

• Social work (post-qualifying) credit-bearing short course

Courses taught

• Master of Social Work (MSW)
• Social Work BA (Hons)

My research interests include hoarding behaviours, self-neglect, safeguarding adults, mental capacity and how we support practitioners to develop their research capacity.  I am interested in how social workers experience and understand self-neglect and what support they may need in this area of practice. I am also interested in relationship-based practice and was involved in a study that explored how social workers construct their relationships with the people they work with. I have been the project lead in developing a range of learning materials and films which have been co-developed with people who have accessed services in mental health, substance misuse, children and families and adults' services. These films are used in the education of social workers as they provide an authentic lens into the experiences of people who access services.

Research projects

My doctoral thesis was an ethnographic study that explored social workers’ experience of working with self-neglect and this continues to be an area of research interest. I was a co-applicant on the NIHR study with King's College London which completed in September 2023 which examined the role of decluttering services with people who hoard. It explored the activity of professional decluttering services for people with hoarding behaviours, investigating contacts with councils, how help is organised, and what happens. I also interviewed people with hoarding behaviours exploring their experiences. Outputs from this study provides new information and good practice guidance for councils, practitioners, voluntary groups, and those supporting people using or thinking about decluttering services.

I am currently the operational project lead for the NIHR ARC South London Social Care Research Capacity Building Award Project,  supporting 11 social care practitioners to develop their research capacity Social Care Research Capacity Building Programme | ARC South London.  This is a two-year project supporting eleven practitioners from a range of settings, social workers, voluntary organisations such as St Mungo’s and the Alzheimer’s society. My role is to support them in developing their research skills and knowledge and how they can take this new knowledge forward into their workplace to improve outcomes for the people they support. 

Publications and current projects

Operational project lead 0.5 FTE on 220k NIHR ARC South London Social Care Research Capacity Building Award Project, supporting social care practitioners to develop their research capacity Social Care Research Capacity Building Programme | ARC South London. (2024 to March 2026).

Collaborator : A Centre of Research for Nurses and Midwives (ACORN) at GSTT has been developing the programme led by Dr Sam Irving KCATO. It is a new funded internship programme, hosted by ACORN at Guy’s & St Thomas’s and funded by the NIHR, will provide structured training and support for health and care professionals who are new to research or looking to develop their skill. Health and Care Professional Internship Programme | NIHR.

Brent, M. and Spencer-Lane, T. (2025) An interview with Tim Spencer-Lane: ‘perspectives on the development of social care law in relation to adult safeguarding’ Journal of Adult Protection.

Reviewer for the NIHR:  recently reviewed article. ‘Increasing research capacity in adult social care: a research capacity-building partnership in Kent and its theory of change’

Keemink JR, Hotham S, Zhang W, Mikelyte R, Smith N, Hashem F, Walton G, Charles A et al. Increasing research capacity in adult social care: a research capacity-building partnership in Kent and its theory of change. [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations] (10.3310/nihropenres.13890.2).

Contributor to the ‘Practitioner-Researcher Use of Evidence Scoping Study’ NIHR School for Social Care Research (SSCR). The theory of change workshops seeks to act as a standalone output for funders, organisations, and practitioners, and to provide the conceptual basis and guide methods and data collection for a grant proposal to an ECR funding programme (i.e. RPSC ECR stream). How do social care “practitioner-researchers” influence decision making within social care organisations? Research.

Co-Applicant with on a NIHR funded Study exploring the role of professional decluttering in supporting people with hoarding behaviours.(2023) NIHR study exploring how local authorities commission de-cluttering services.

Doctoral Research, Navigating the multi-dimensional landscape of self-neglect practice: An ethnographic study exploring social workers’ experiences. - Royal Holloway Research Portal (Brent 2022, unpublished).

Hood, Rick, Brent, Maria, Abbott, Simon and Sartori, Daniele (2018) An exploration of practitioner-service user relationships in social work. The British Journal of Social Work, ISSN (print) 0045-3102.

Since joining Kingston University, I have used my professional contacts to build relationships with fellow academics and partner agencies, resulting in new markets for our P.Q. programme. We continue to deliver our Best Interest Assessor (BIA) module, a statutory legal role in continuous high demand. Due to our module's positive reputation, we have expanded our market and work with a wide range of agencies, including Kent County Council, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth and Brent, and our local partner agencies. As part of the module, we offer a CPD BIA legal refresher where new research, practice innovations and case law are shared with agencies to develop good practice and foster a community of practice. This sustains a positive knowledge exchange network and enables us to keep connected to our past students, many of whom have returned to Kingston University to undertake further P.Q. modules. The new Approved Mental Capacity Act Professional role; see videos for the link to the webinar on 23/02/2022 that presents early findings on this research study. This project was paused due to government changes but is now due to be brought back to be discussed in parliament. 

I have also developed our 'Safeguarding Adults at Risk' P.Q. module. This is a professional issue that crosscuts all disciplines and has attracted a broad range of professionals, social workers, nurses, ambulance service, NHS safeguarding trust leads,  which has created a vibrant knowledge exchange and profitable collaborations. As Course Lead for P.Q. programmes, I am passionate about exploring new ways to work across disciplinary boundaries and delivering  with nursing to deliver a joint module on mentoring and coaching in November.

My doctoral thesis explored social workers' experiences of working with people who self-neglect. My findings contribute to pedagogical and practice l debates about working with self-neglect. I have used my knowledge to support further research projects and integrated this into my teaching.  I have been able to connect and share my findings with fellow academics and professionals nationally to develop professional practices, see below for a summary of presentations. The Teaching Partnership is a collaboration of partner agencies across southwest London where there is a reciprocal exchange of knowledge, skills and learning opportunities for both students and qualified staff in those agencies. I am the Academics in Practice workstream lead and was responsible for setting up the framework to connect academics with partner agencies to develop research ideas to exchange knowledge and improve professional practice. I have been the university representative on Kingston's Alzheimer's Dementia Friendly Community Group (DFCG), which focuses on raising awareness and developing the skills and knowledge of students and the local community in supporting people living with dementia.  I have and continue to lead on a range of interprofessional dementia raising awareness events (see videos for links to these events). 

Conference presentations

• 24th October 2024 Self-neglect and Hoarding Event Aberdeen Scotland Adult Social Care 4th July 2024
• UK National Hoarding Partnership, 24th October 2024
• 15 June 2023 – Online seminar/practice workshop with social work teams at Greenwich council, sharing my research findings and exploring the impact of working with self-neglect on practice.
• 23 May 2023 – Research Hub, online seminar workshop with social workers from our Teaching Partnership, exploring using research in practice.
• 17 May 2023 – Online Best Interest Assessor Legal Update and next steps following LPS
• 18 April 2023 – NIHR Social Care Research Annual Conference - Presenting the early findings of a joint study I am a co-applicant with King's College exploring the role of professional decluttering in supporting people with hoarding behaviours.
• 1 December 2022 – Interprofessional Event - Supporting Kingston's Alzheimer's Society Dementia Friendly Community.
• 11 November 2022 – Presentation at the London Ambulance Service Annual Safeguarding Conference - ‘Difficult conversations on safeguarding and self-neglect'.
• 24 November 2021 – Online presentation to Sheffield Hallam University, School of Social Work, with post-qualifying social workers exploring the impact of self-neglect on practice and my doctoral research
• 15 May 2021 – Teaching Partnership – Online presentation for Kingston Council and partner agencies on my doctoral research social workers experiences of self-neglect
• 12 October 2020 – Online presentation to Sheffield Hallam University, School of Social Work, with post-qualifying social workers exploring the impact of self-neglect on practice and my doctoral research
• 12 March 2020 –Teaching Partnership - Merton Council Offices. presentation on Self-Neglect and strengths-based approaches to social workers and managers across Southwest London and Surrey.
• 12 October 2020 – Sheffield Hallam University, School of Social Work, presentation, and workshop with post-qualifying social workers exploring the impact of self-neglect on practice and my doctoral research
• 7 November 2019 – Royal Holloway University of London, Senate House, Working with Self-Neglect: Social Work Research and Practice Seminar – Keynote speaker -  Presentation on my doctoral research on social workers experiences of self-neglect
• 9-10 September 2019 – Joint Social Work Education and Research Conference (JSWEC) Manchester. Presentation on my doctoral research on social workers experiences of self-neglect.
• 12 November 2018 – Croydon Safeguarding Event – Presentation on Self-Neglect to Social Work and Social Care Professionals and staff, Croydon Town
• 9 October 2018 – King's College London. Annual Conference from Making Research Count and the Social Care Workforce Research on Mental Health, Research findings informing practice and policy'. Speakers included Lyn Romeo, Chief Social Worker for Adults. I presented my research findings on self-neglect and discussed the impact on professional practice.
• 15th June 2018 – Action on Elder Abuse Annual Adult Safeguarding Conference – Presentation on my early finding of my doctoral research on social workers experiences of self-neglect in relation to safeguarding.

Professional and scholarly affiliations

• British Association of Social Workers
• Registered with Social Work England
• University Representative on the Alzheimer's Society's, Kingston Dementia Friendly Community