Dr Dean Stevens
Researcher
Biography
I have an extensive background in the Fire and Rescue Services over a thirty-year career, starting as an operational firefighter in Essex and finishing as a Brigade Manager in the role of Director for Prevention and Protection in Staffordshire, including a two-year secondment to the National Fire Service College as a tutor. Following this, I was employed as a strategic change programme manager for a large multi-agency partnership within a local authority to help redesign how the services delivered to local populations could be improved in a more integrated way using 'systems-thinking' methodology. I joined the University of Chester in 2019 as a researcher within the Centre for Ageing and Mental Health. My work at the University involves a range of research projects and service evaluations including work with the third-sector, local authorities, fire and rescue services and the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
Research and Knowledge Exchange
My PhD focused on levels of public trust in the Fire and Rescue Service, how it links to prevention and whether opportunities exist to extend the role of firefighters to include health and social care prevention as a non-traditional provider of health and social care services. Further research in this area includes the Fire and Rescue Service delivering low-level mental health interventions in older adults, a community-based falls assist programme and a home from hospital discharge service. Other research interests include ageing, public health, and the use of the Mass Observation Project.