Associate ProfessorHeather Shepherd

Associate Professor Heather Shepherd BA (Hons) RN DipHE PhD is Principal Research Fellow at the Sydney Health Literacy Lab and Co-Lead of theImplementation Science Academy at Sydney Health Partners focussed on capacity and collaboration building between academic and clincial services. Dr Shepherd is a core member ot the Implementation Science Academy Masterclass Faculty, and is regulary invited to deliver workshops on implementation science locally to health services development programs, nationally and internationally to research organisations. As Collaboration and Partnerships Lead, at SHP Implementation Science Academy, A/Prof Shepherd engages with leaders and professionals across the health sector to build motivation and opportunities for clinically led research.

 

Heather's research and teaching roles are founded on her expertise as a health communication and health services researcher and her clinical background in critical care, reproductive and sexual health nursing, and health services management; lead in teaching within the Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery on quality and safety in healthcare, social determinants of health, health systems and social sciences, and building curricula on health literacy, implementation science and quality improvement.

 

Heather's research focuses on implementation science, shared decision-making, health literacy, psycho-oncology, health communication, evidence-based practice, and development and evaluation tools to support health literacy and empowerment. She is engaged in research collaborations with the Sydney Health Literacy Lab, the NSW Health Agency for Clinical Innovation and the Psycho-oncology Co-operative Research Group. Her research skills include design and coordination of multicentre trials, qualitative and quantitative methods. A/Prof Shepherd shares her expertise through teaching and postgraduate supervision and through development of content within, public health and primary care and allied health curricula, and as a PhD Supervisor in the fields of health literacy, shared decision making and implementation science.

As an illustration of the impact of A/Prof Shepherd's work, she has contributed to state-based patient reported measures initiatives, the development of international reporting standards for Training in Dissemination and Implementation Research (TiDIRP)(Kings College, London), updating the International Patient Decision Aid Standards (IPDAS) guidelines for provision of information and spearheaded the AskShareKnow programwww.askshareknow.org.auwith major impact on international efforts to support shared decision making (UK, Europe, USA), and was used as one of the tools for the development by the Agency for Clinical Innovation 2021, of Finding Your Waya Shared Decision Making model for Aboriginal people.