INRICH Member Profile Card

Clare Blackburn

University of Warwick


Clare Blackburn is an Associated Professor in the School of Health and Social Studies at the University of Warwick. She is interested in research aims to improve the social material circumstances and service provision for children and their families. She has published in the area of poverty and health, cigarette smoking in households with young children and children's exposure to tobacco smoke. With Nick Spencer and Janet Read, she is researching patterns, trends and predictors of childhood disability in the UK.


Type of member: Regular


Telephone: 0044 2476 524132

Email Address: c.m.blackburn@warwick.ac.uk

Mailing Address: School of Health and Social Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK


Collaborative Projects

Childhood disability and socioeconomic disadvantage: exploring patterns, predictors and trends with Nick Spencer and Janet Read. Childhood disability: measurement, prevalence and social circumstances in different national contexts with Nick Spencer, Dave Gordon, Doug Simkiss and Janet Read.

Current research interests
Research interests focus on the way that poverty and poor material circumstances shape health outcomes, health behaviour and caring routines in households with children. Current research is focusing on childhood disability: issues related to establishing the prevalence of childhood disability in the UK, the circumstances and characteristics of disabled children and their households and the predictors of childhood disability.

Research priorities
Pathways and mechanisms: Intergenerational influences. | Methodological issues: Need to study social gradients as well as poverty. Which indicators? for example, perception of health vs. objective measures of health (these may be more reliable in studying mechanisms).


Selected publications

Spencer, N. J., Blackburn, C. M., & Read, J. M. (2015). Disabling chronic conditions in childhood and socioeconomic disadvantage: a systematic review and meta-analyses of observational studies. BMJ Open, 5(9). doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-007062 http://www.centrelearoback.org/inrich/assets/documents/Spencer-DisablingChronicConditions_BMJOpen-2015.pdf

Read, J., Blackburn, C., & Spencer, N. (2010). Disabled children in the UK: a quality assessment of quantitative data sources. Child: Care, Health and Development, 36(1), 130-141. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2009.01017.x