Lorraine De Souza

Profile

I have a major research interest in the management of multiple sclerosis, an area I've been involved with for 14 years. My research focuses on how people with multiple sclerosis and their carers can adapt their lifestyles to maximise their strengths and abilities for daily living with this progressive and unpredictable condition and how health professionals can provide support. My other main interests lie in studying the disability caused by spinal pain, and its treatment in particular, as pain is experienced by people living with chronic back and neck problems.

Committee responsibilities

• Head of School
• Director of Research in Rehabilitation centre

PhD supervision

I supervise a number of research students carrying out research in rehabilitation and related areas of study. It's exceptionally rewarding to see students tackle difficult research questions successfully through their doctoral studies and achieve peer reviewed publications. My role is to support, guide and challenge students as they develop and polish their research skills and critical thinking. What excites me most is seeing them succeed.

Research interests

My research informs my teaching, and I contribute to undergraduate and postgraduate courses, mainly to the Master's course in Neurorehabilitation. As a health care practitioner, I bring a strong sense of clinical reality to both my research and teaching as I'm able to draw on my own clinical experience of treating people with chronic neurological conditions.

Research centres

• Centre for Child and Youth Research (CCYR)
• CCentre for Research in Rehabilitation (CRR)

Publications

Journal Papers

(2013) Tempest S., Harries, P., Kilbride, C. and DeSouza, L., Enhanced clarity and holism: the outcome of implementing the ICF with an acute stroke multidisciplinary team in England., Disabilty and Rehabilitation Download publication

(2012) O'Connell, NE., Cossar J., Marston L., Wand, BM., Bunce, D., Moseley, GL. and De Souza, LH., Rethinking clinical trials of transcranial direct current stimulation: Participant and assessor blinding is inadequate at intensities of 2mA, PLoS ONE 7 (10) : e47514 Download publication

(2012) Tempest, S., Harries, P., Kilbride, C. and DeSouza, L., To adopt is to adapt: The process of implementing the ICF with an acute stroke multidisciplinary team in England, Disability and Rehabilitation 34 (20) : 1686- 1694 Download publication

(2012) Georgiou, CE., Espahbodi, S. and de Souza, LH., Preparing for the world of work: An exploratory study of disabled students' experiences of work placement, Journal of Education and Work 25 (5) : 523- 536

(2012) Frank, AO., De Souza, LH., Frank, JL. and Neophytou, C., The pain experiences of powered wheelchair users, Disability and Rehabilitation 34 (9) : 770- 778

(2011) Cassidy, E., Reynolds, F., Naylor, S. and De Souza, L., Using interpretative phenomenological analysis to inform physiotherapy practice: An introduction with reference to the lived experience of cerebellar ataxia, Physiotherapy Theory and Practice 27 (4) : 263- 277 Download publication

(2011) Aluko, A., DeSouza, L. and Peacock, J., Evaluation of trunk acceleration in healthy individuals with those with Low Back Pain (LBP) and the test-re-test reliability of the Lumbar Motion Monitor (LMM) for a single task protocol, International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation 18 (1) : 18- 25

(2011) O'Connell, NE., Wand, BM., Marston, L., Spencer, S. and Desouza, LH., Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques for chronic pain. A report of a Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis, European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine 47 (2) : 309- 326

(2010) Hush, JM., Refshauge, KM., Sullivan, G., De Souza, L. and McAuley, JH., Do numerical rating scales and the Roland-Morris disability questionnaire capture changes that are meaningful to patients with persistent back pain?, Clinical Rehabilitation 24 (7) : 648- 657

(2010) Wand, BM., Chiffelle, LA., O'Connell, NE., McAuley, JH. and De Souza, LH., Self-reported assessment of disability and performance-based assessment of disability are influenced by different patient characteristics in acute low back pain, European Spine Journal 19 (4) : 633- 640

(2010) O'Connell, NE., Wand, BM., Marston, L., Spencer, S. and De Souza, LH., Non-invasive brain stimulation for chronic pain in adults (Protocol), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010 (1) : CD008208

(2009) Wand, BM., McAuley, JH., Marston, L. and De Souza, LH., Predicting outcome in acute low back pain using different models of patient profiling, Spine 34 (18) : 1970- 1975

(2009) Hush, JM., Refshauge, K., Sullivan, G., De Souza, L., Maher, CG. and McAuley, JH., Recovery: What does this mean to patients with low back pain?, Arthritis Care and Research 61 (1) : 124- 131

(2008) Evans, S. and De Souza, L., Dealing with chronic pain: giving voice to the experiences of mothers with chronic pain and their children, Qualitative Health Research 18 (4) : 489- 500 Download publication

(2007) De Souza, LH. and Frank, AO., Experiences of living with chronic back pain: The physical disabilities, Disability and Rehabilitation 29 (7) : 587- 596 Download publication

(2007) Evans, S., Frank, AO., Neophytou, C. and De Souza, L., Older adults’ use of and satisfaction with Electric Powered Indoor/outdoor Wheelchairs (EPIOCs), Age and Ageing 36 (4) : 431- 435 Download publication

(2004) De Souza, L., Bird, C., McAuley, JH. and Wand, BM., Early intervention for the management of acute low back pain: A single-blind randomized controlled trial of biopsychosocial education, manual therapy, and exercise, Spine 29 (21) : 2350- 2356

(2002) Ghinea, G., Gill, D., Frank, A. and De Souza, LH., Using geographical information systems for management of back-pain data, Journal of Management in Medicine 16 (2/3) : 219- 237 Download publication

(1996) McAuley, J., De Souza, L., Sharma, V., Robinson, I., Main, CJ. and Frank, AO., Self defined ethnicity is unhelpful. Comment on Describing race, ethnicity, and culture in medical research by K McKenzie and NS Crowcroft, published in BMJ 312(7038):1054, BMJ 313 (7054) : 425- 426

Conference Papers

(2008) Cassidy, E., Reynolds, F., Naylor, S. and De Souza, L., Inhabiting different worlds: clients and physiotherapists reflect on the experience of physiotherapy for ataxia (Abstract), , Psychology and Health (23) : 78-

(2008) Cassidy, E., Reynolds, F., Naylor, S., De Souza, L. and Khan, A., Shining a light on physiotherapy: the experiences of people with cerebellar ataxia (Abstract), , Clinical Rehabilitation (22) : 860- 861