It is my pleasure to introduce Dr. Edward McCann, guest editor of this special issue on mental health issues and people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning. Dr. McCann is an Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. His niche of research focuses on promoting health equality for marginalized individuals, including those with intellectual disabilities or severe mental illness, as well as those who are marginalized because of their sexual orientation. Threaded through all of his work are his deep concern for providing effective mental health services to individuals (and their families) and his conviction that services should be developed based on the perspectives of users themselves.
Dr. McCann received his early preparation as a registered nurse at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland, followed by receipt of additional credentials from King's College London (a diploma in psychosocial interventions as well as a Master of Science degree in mental health studies). His PhD degree in Mental Health was conferred by City University London in 2004.
A prolific author, Dr. McCann has published in a wide variety of nursing and interdisciplinary journals, including Journal of Advanced Nursing, British Medical Journal, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, Sexual and Marital Therapy, Journal of Interprofessional Care, Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, and Issues in Mental Health Nursing. He has provided yeoman service to the profession as a reviewer for more than a dozen journals. Papers have been presented by Dr. McCann at conferences in Australia, Sweden, England, Czech Republic, and Ireland.
I greatly appreciate Dr. McCann's service to Issues in Mental Health Nursing through serving as guest editor for the special issue that you are about to read, a responsibility that requires many months of (unpaid) work. I know you will enjoy reading the informative and interesting set of papers he has gathered for the issue. This journal grows and thrives because of the contributions of colleagues like Dr. McCann.