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Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research Home Research Centres and groups Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research Themes Health, Wellbeing and Education Summary We pride ourselves on the applied nature of our research work. We are a vibrant community of psychologists with a clear focus on ensuring that our work has meaning for the academic community as well as for those whom we research, practitioners, patients, policy makers and the wider public. Our aim The Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research (SCPR), established in 2016, conducts socially relevant research which has a positive impact on psychological health. The SCPR collaborates with industry, the NHS, service users, policy-makers and global academic partnerships. Our work corresponds with the following UN Sustainable development Goals: 3 - Health and Well-being: ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages 4 - Good quality education: ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 10 - Reduced inequalities – reduce inequality within and among countries We have two key strengths: The applied nature of our work: for example, we work on generating insights and understanding to support and encourage health behaviour change, coping with long term conditions, creativity in children and healthy ageing. The methodological approaches we employ, which unusually for a psychology department recognise the value of innovative qualitative approaches. In addition to the more traditional approaches to psychological research (e.g. surveys, eye-tracking, photo-elicitation, interviews), the SCPR has strength in the application of novel research methodologies. For example, SCPR members use drawing, art, photography, and facial ageing software in their work. In using more novel approaches, participation in our research is made more accessible to those with different needs. Group leader Professor Richard Cooke Professor Of Health Psychology Richard’s main research interest is applying psychological models to predict health behaviours. He also works to develop and evaluate interventions to promote positive changes in health behaviours. Richard's profile Researchers within Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research Dr Claire Barlow Course Director Claire's research is primarily focused on children's drawings with further projects focussing on the development of expressive drawing, and more specifically how this compares to the development of representational drawing skill, longitudinal de… Claire's profile Dr Emily Buckley Senior Lecturer Emily is the Admissions Tutor for Health Psychology, alongside being a registered Health Psychologist with a background in health promotion. Emily's profile Dr Amy Burton Associate Professor Dr Amy Burton is a Health Psychologist registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and a chartered psychologist with the British Psychological Society. Amy's profile Lisa Cowap Lecturer My expertise is within Health Psychology and conducting research employing both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Lisa's profile Dr Sarah Dean Senior Lecturer I am a Chartered Health Psychologist with an interest in Participatory Action Research methods. I have carried out research using both quantitative and qualitative methods on a range of topics relevant to health psychology. Sarah's profile Dr Justine Drakeford Senior Lecturer I joined Staffordshire University as a senior lecturer in January 2012. My research interests are in the areas of cognitive neuropsychiatry and cognitive neuropsychology. Justine's profile Dr Daniel Herron Senior Lecturer I am an applied psychologist with interests in dementia and the therapeutic role of nature. I am passionate about facilitating the development of students so they can apply psychological knowledge and skills in their everyday lives and future careers Daniel's profile Sarah Higgins Lecturer Sarah is a Lecturer in Psychology, teaching across a range of psychology modules at all levels. Her research interests include eating behaviours and psychological interventions. Sarah's profile Dr Erica Lucas Senior Lecturer Erica's research interests lie in the area of human reasoning. Her PhD work was on relevance and rationalisation processes on the Wason selection task. She is particularly interested in the use of different methodologies that can be utilised t… Erica's profile Dr Louise Humphreys Senior Lecturer I am a Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Psychological Research Methods. I am the course leader for the MSc Psychology (conversion) course. Louise's profile Dr Gemma Hurst Course Director I am the Course Leader for the MSc Health Psychology. My research focuses on measuring the impact of environment exposures on health and wellbeing and exploring the wider determinants of health in relation to health inequality. I am also experie… Gemma's profile Dr Richard Jolley Associate Professor My research interests mainly lie in children's use and understanding of representation, particularly in their making and understanding of pictures. Richard's profile Dr Yvonne Melia Interim Course Lead I am the Acting Programme Director and Academic Director of the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. I am a HCPC-registered Clinical Psychologist with expertise working with children in care, adopted children, their carers and professional networks. Yvonne's profile Dr Alison Owen Lecturer Dr Alison Owen is a Lecturer in Health Psychology, with an interest in research related to body image and appearance, and using appearance concern as a tool for health promotion. Alison's profile Dr Rachel Povey Associate Professor I'm the course leader for the Health Psychology Professional Doctorate. My areas of expertise are healthy eating, dietary change and psychological aspects of diabetes. Rachel's profile Dr Sarah Rose Associate Professor I love inspiring students at all levels about child development and how we can share our psychological expertise to make a difference to children and their families. My research focuses on education, children’s wellbeing and children’s use of tech. Sarah's profile Dr Jennifer Taylor Senior Lecturer Jennifer is a senior lecturer in qualitative psychological research methods. Jennifer is a qualitative researcher with research interests in several areas but mainly body image, maternal health, breastfeeding, and mindfulness. Jennifer's profile Dr Romina Vivaldi Senior Lecturer Romina's research interests are focussed on symbolic development as it relates to pictures and occupational gender stereotypes. Romina's profile Dr David Gordon Senior Lecturer David is a senior lecturer in psychology. His main areas of research are the evolution of human cooperation, life-history theory and human decision-making, and the psychology of conspiracy theory beliefs. David's profile Dr Simon Stewart Lecturer Simon is a Lecturer in Psychology with specialist interests in social, health, and developmental psychology. He specialises in discourse, critical discourse, and conversation analysis. Simon's profile External links Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research website