Professor Suzanne Richards
- Position: Professor of Health Services Research
- Areas of expertise: primary care; ageing research; design & evaluation of complex interventions; ageing research; clinical trials; process evaluation; qualitative methods; mixed method research; systematic reviews
- Email: S.H.Richards@leeds.ac.uk
- Phone: +44(0)113 343 9815
- Location: 1037, Level 10, Worsley Building
- Website: LUCID | Twitter | Googlescholar | Researchgate | ORCID
Profile
Professor Richards is a graduate member of the British Psychological Society and a member of the Division of Health Psychology. After completing her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Cardiff University (1993), she undertook a PhD (2001) in Social Medicine at the University of Bristol. Her early career involved managing clinical trials in applied health care settings at the Universities of Bristol and Birmingham, before moving to the University of Exeter (2003-16). Here she widened her expertise in other applied methodologies (systematic reviews, intervention development and process evaluation, psychometrics & survey design), and was appointed the Deputy Director of the Exeter Clinical Trials Unit (2015). In 2016, she joined the Division of Primary Care, Palliative Care and Public Health at the Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (LIHS). Her role is to develop research around 'Ageing Well', as well as providing mixed-method methodological support for applied health care research within the Institute. She was appointed to Research Lead for the LIHS (2017-2020) and in 2019 she established the Leeds Unit for Complex Intervention Development (https://medicinehealth.leeds.ac.uk/directory_record/1238/leeds_unit_for_complex_intervention_development_lucid).
Prof Richards is a member of the National Executive Committee of the Society for Academic Primary Care and is a national lead for career support for Primary Care Scientists.
Responsibilities
- Head of the Leeds Unit for Complex intervention Development
Research interests
Prof Richards specialises in developing, optimsing and evaluating the quality and effectiveness of complex interventions aimed at improving the health and well-being of older people in primary and acute care settings. She has worked on intervention design and testing across a diverse range applied health and social care settings, examples of which include the provision of mental health care in cardiac rehabilitation settings and community mentoring to alleviate social isolation and loneliness.
Qualifications
- BSc Hons Psychology
- PhD Social Medicine
Professional memberships
- Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society
- Member of the Society for Academic Primary Care
Research groups and institutes
- Leeds Institute of Health Sciences
- Division of Primary Care, Palliative Care and Public Health
- Complex interventions
- Successful ageing
- Surgical technology