Ms Sharon Parker

Qualifications:  RN, BhlthSci; MPH

Sharon Parker is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, the University of NSW, Australia. She has a clinical background in nursing and extensive experience managing complex multi-site research projects covering a variety of clinical areas including prevention, chronic disease, mental health and breast cancer. Her experience includes evaluation of different models of health service delivery, particularly in respect to the methods used to promote collaboration between service providers and promote access to services. She has a particular interest in the utilisation of evidence for clinical practice and has conducted a number of Cochrane systematic reviews in breast cancer, and others in psycho-oncology, mental health and primary care.

Sharon was a member of the Innovative Models Promoting Access-to-Care Transformation (IMPACT) team reviewing innovative models of access to primary care for vulnerable populations, an Australian/Canadian collaboration. Currently she coordinates the Health eLiteracy for Prevention in General Practice (HeLP-GP) trial, a NHMRC trial operating in New South Wales and South Australian general practices. This trial will evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of a primary care based, practice nurse led  preventive care intervention which aims to develop the knowledge and skills of overweight and obese patients with low health literacy.

Interests:

Primary Health Care; Mental health; Health services organisation and structure; Evidence Based Medicine and Knowledge exchange; Rural health