Rhiannon Barker Policy Fellow
Rhiannon joined the Health Foundation as a Policy Fellow in 2025.
Her current role focuses on NHS Reform involving projects informing a number of reforms signalled in the 10 Year Plan, including work to inform policy development of Integrated Health Organisations and strategic commissioning.
She has a diverse career spanning global development, health care research, and policy. Prior to her current position she was an Assistant Professor at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, teaching on the master’s programme in public health and conducting research with marginalised young people on mental health and serious youth violence. Her PhD examined the alignment between national policy on end-of-life care and patient experience, inspired by her time as a non-executive director at her local primary care trust and her observations about how NHS funds are distributed between prevention and cure at the end of life.
Rhiannon holds a BSc in Human Sciences, an MSc in Human Nutrition and a PhD in Social Policy.
Barker R, Burchett H, Ponsford R, Falconer J, Mak R. Children and young people’s (aged 10-24 years) accounts of their involvement in serious youth violence in the UK: systematic review and meta-ethnography. Youth Endowment Fund. 2026. https://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/id/eprint/4677659/
Barker R, Bonell C, Melendez-Torres G. ‘In it from the beginning’: How do young men and boys explain their entry into criminal gangs? Journal of Youth Justice. 2025 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14732254251333697
Barker R, Bonell C, Melendez-Torres G. (2024) ‘They don’t even teach you how to make money!’ What insights can marginalised young people provide into developing inclusive education policy? Equity Educ Soc.2024;23;27526461241293160. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/27526461241293160
Barker R, Plackett, R, Price A, Canvin K, Hartwell, G, Bonell C (2024) Ethical challenges confronted in non-clinical, public health research with young people in England. J Qual Res. 2024 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14687941241306241
Barker R, Bonell C and Melendez-Torres GJ. Hard to reach? Methodological challenges researching vulnerable, gang-involved, young people. Journal of Health Expectations 2024;27(3). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38837299/
Barker R, Hartwell G, Bonell C. Research priorities for mental health in schools in the wake of COVID-19. J Epidemiol Community Health Published Online First: 29 November 2021. doi: 10.1136/jech-2021-217902 Research priorities for mental health in schools in the wake of COVID-19 - PubMed
Barker, R., Wilson, P. and Butler, C. Does national policy in England help deliver better and more consistent care for those at the end of life? Journal of Health Services Research & Policy. 2020
Barker,R. Ford, K. The Case for Employee Engagement in the NHS. Point of Care Foundation. 2018. https://www.pointofcarefoundation.org.uk/evidence/the-case-for-employee-engagement-in-the-nhs-three-case-studies/
Farr,M. Barker, R. Can Staff Be Supported to Deliver Compassionate Care Through Implementing Schwartz Rounds in Community and Mental Health Services? 2017. Vol. 27(11) 1652– 1663 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1049732317702101
Barker, R, Cornwell, J. and Gishen, F. Introducing compassion into the education of health care professionals; can Schwartz Rounds help? Journal of Compassionate Health Care. 2016. 3(1), p.1. https://jcompassionatehc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40639-016-0020-0
Barker,R. Flanagan, E. Schwartz Rounds: What are they and how do they support all staff groups working in healthcare. 2016 In: Interprofessional Staff Supervision. In Adult Health and Social Care. Bostock, L (Ed)
Barker, R. A toolkit for monitoring and evaluation of community based projects UNESCO. 2009. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001862/186231e.pdf
Barker.R "Family Planning and Sexual Health" British Journal of Sexual Health Medicine. 1993.
Barker.R, Cook, B. "Diet Overweight and Obesity" Health Education Journal. 1992. 51/3.
Cross.N and Barker.R (Eds) (1991) "On the Deserts Edge" Panos Institute ISBN: 9781870670265