The University of Sheffield
Public Health

Dr Rachel O'Hara BSc, MSc, CPsychol

Section of Public Health
School of Health and Related Research
University of Sheffield
Regent Court
30 Regent Street
Sheffield
S1 4DA

Tel: (+44) (0)114 2220680
Fax: (+44) (0)114 2720791

Room: 2037, 2nd Floor, Regent Court

email : r.ohara@sheffield.ac.uk

Biography

I am a Chartered Occupational Psychologist with a specific interest in occupational health and safety. My first degree was in Human Communication, followed by a postgraduate diploma in Psychology and an MSc in Occupational Psychology. In 1999 I completed a part-time doctorate at the University of Sheffield, studying the management of musculoskeletal pain at work.

I joined the Section of Public Health in April 2006 as a Lecturer, having previously worked at the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) conducting research on risk management, perceptions of occupational health and safety, and the effectiveness of interventions to reduce exposure to work related hazardous substances. Prior to that I was employed as lecturer in Psychology and Communication Skills at Imperial College School of Medicine.

Research Interests

My current research interests include:-

I am interested in supervising Research students in topics/areas such as Patient Safety, Organisational Culture and Safety Culture in Healthcare.

Teaching Interests

My current teaching responsibilities include:

My teaching interests and activities are in the areas of Psychology Applied to Medicine and Health Behaviour, Patient Safety, Evidence Based Medicine and Critical Appraisal.

Professional Activities

Member of steering group for Yorkshire & Humber HIEC (Health Innovation & Education Cluster) on Patient Safety.

Member of the Yorkshire & Humber/East Midlands Mental Health and Employment Academics Network.

Member of the British Psychological Society.

Member of the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology.

Associate Member of the Ergonomics Society.

Current Projects

Key Publications

O'Hara R, O'Keefe C, Mason S, Coster J and Hutchinson A.
Quality and Safety of Care Provided by Emergency Care Practitioners.
(2010) Emergency Medical Journal 2012; 29:327-332.

Mason S, O’Keefffe , Knowles E, Bradburn M, Campbell M, , Coleman P, Stride C, O’Hara R, Rick J, Patterson M.
A pragmatic quasi-experimental multi-site community intervention trial (NEECaP) evaluating the impact of Emergency Care Practitioners in different UK health settings on patient pathways.
Emergency medicine Journal, (2012) 29:47-53

Alonzai M, Hutchinson A, O'Hara R, Freeman J.
Cross cultural challenges in the use of patient safety climate questionnaires: a case study from Saudi Arabia. 
Healthcare Systems, Ergonomics and Patient Safety (HEPS) International Conference Proceedings, Oviedo, Spain.
(2011) June

Cooper R and O’Hara R.
Automated Telephone Services and Health: Patients and staffs experiences of an automated telephone weather forecasting service.
(2010) Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 15 (Supplement 2): 41—46.

Lunt J, O’Hara R and Cummings R
'Which mask would you prefer': Changing Occupational Health Behaviour.
In Occupational Health Psychology: European Perspectives on Research, Education and Practice (Vol.2).
(2007) ISMAI Publishing: Portugal

O’Hara R, Dickety N, & Weyman A.
Good Practice in Assessing Workplace Risks by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
(2005) Risk Management: An International Journal, 7, (1), 31-41.

Weyman A K, O'Hara R, Jackson, J A.
An investigation into issues of egress in the Ladbroke Grove rail disaster.
(2005) Applied Ergonomics. Nov;36(6):739-48.

Elms J, O’Hara R, Pickvance S, Fishwick S, Hazell, Frank T, Marlow P, Henson M, Harvey P, Evans G and Curran A.
The perceptions of occupational health in primary care.
(2005) Occupational Medicine. Oct;55(7):523-7.