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Leanne Shearsmith

Leanne Shearsmith

  • Position: Research Assistant
  • Areas of expertise: Psychology; Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs); quality of life; cancer; dementia; RCTs; applied health research; qualitative research methods.
  • Email: L.Shearsmith@leeds.ac.uk
  • Phone: +44(0)113 343 9669
  • Location: 10.38, Level 10 Worsley Building Worsley Building
  • Website: Twitter | ORCID

Profile

I am currently a Research Assistant working within the Academic Unit of Primary/Palliative Care, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences. I’m working on the MODs study, an NIHR-funded multi-centre randomised controlled trial which aims to develop and evaluate a psychological intervention to manage depression among older people with long term physical health conditions.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic began I have been working on an adapted version of MODs: the Behavioural Activation in Social IsoLation (BASIL+) study. This programme of research aims to evaluate a brief psychological intervention for older people to mitigate depression and loneliness during the Covid-19 pandemic. BASIL+ has been classed as an Urgent Public Health study by the Department of Health and Social Care and the National Institute for Health Research.

Prior to this I worked for 3 years in the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Group at St James’ Hospital, working as a Research Assistant across several projects. My role involved participant recruitment in outpatient clinics, the collection and analysis of PROMs and quality of life data, and conducting qualitative interviews with oncology patients. The projects I worked on primarily focused on the feasibility of online symptom reporting in cancer patients on active treatment, routine follow up or early phase clinical trials. I also worked on the DECIDE project, developing a reliable and valid measure to assess the needs of carers of people with dementia who are living in the community. 

In addition to my academic expertise, I have experience of delivering brief psychological interventions for depression in older adults, and I previously worked as a care assistant providing personal care, companionship, and administering medication for vulnerable clients in a community setting. 

Research interests

  • Chronic illness and multimorbidity

  • Psychological interventions for mental health problems

  • Psychosocial determinants of outcomes in long-term illness

  • Eating behaviour

  • Behaviour change

  • Quality of life

  • Randomised Controlled Trials

  • Qualitative Research Methods

  • Dementia

Qualifications

  • BSc Psychology (Industrial)

Research groups and institutes

  • Leeds Institute of Medical Research at St James's
  • Patient Centred Outcomes
  • Leeds Institute of Health Sciences