Dr. Joanna McHugh Power

Maynooth University (MU)

I am an Assistant Professor in Psychology at Maynooth University. My research area is loneliness and social functioning in later life. I am interested in formulating definitions of loneliness, understanding its impact on health outcomes such as cognitive ageing and physical health, and evaluating interventions designed to reduce loneliness. I am a member of I-LINK (International Loneliness and Isolation Research Network), an international consortium of experts, the goal of which is to increase society’s ability through international collaboration to respond to loneliness throughout the life cycle by facilitating the sharing of knowledge and building of connections that will help improve the quality of research, policy, practice and overall understanding of loneliness.
I have received almost 500,000 euro in research funding in recent years, including receipt of the CARDI Leadership in Ageing Research Fellowship, and I have over 40 peer-reviewed publications in the field of gerontology and social functioning. I am particularly interested in collaborating with the voluntary and non-governmental sectors to evaluate services that aim to reduce loneliness. I am currently supervising 4 postgraduate students who are conducting research on areas related to loneliness and cognitive ageing.

 

Research Interests: Loneliness, Mental Health, Cognitive Ageing, Psychology of Ageing