Dr Andrew Wormald

Andrew Wormald B.A. (Hons 1st Class) MSc. and has submitted his PhD thesis for examination. His ground-breaking study investigating loneliness in older people with an intellectual disability develops a model based on the Cognitive Discrepancy Approach to loneliness. This is the first research to produce a complete understanding of loneliness in this population, from the antecedents to the consequences of loneliness.

The study includes a number of firsts for loneliness research in this population including; determining which antecedent variables predispose which events will precipitate loneliness, and which variables represent precipitating events. This is the first research to investigate the role of attribution in loneliness in this population, and is the only research to have reported the longitudinal temporal trajectories of loneliness for older people with an Intellectual Disability.

This research is the first research to investigate the consequences of loneliness in this population and the strategies people with an Intellectual Disability utilise to cope with loneliness. Andrew originally worked in management roles in industry, and developed an award winning business to business sales and support company. Since his career change, Andrew has worked with the Cheshire Foundation as an Acquired Brain Injury Support Worker, and currently he works with the Brothers of Charity, as an Instructor for adults with an Intellectual Disability.

Andrew joined the IDS-TILDA team in 2010 as a Research Assistant and started as a part-time PhD student in 2013 on completion of his MSc. Andrew has presented findings at The International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics European Region Congress 2015, and has had findings presented at IASSIDD 15th World Congress, August 2016. Andrew's research interests include loneliness an ID ageing population, and statistical research methods, and he has talked on both topics in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick and Trinity College, Dublin respectively.