Professor Richard Osborne is a globally recognised leader in public health, health literacy, health equity and community-led health-system improvement. He pioneered the Ophelia (Optimising Health Literacy and Access) process: a systematic method that enables communities, health services and governments to co-design interventions that are needed, wanted, implementable and scalable.

His research brings together lived experience, rigorous measurement and health-system decision-making. He has developed internationally used clinical outcome assessments, patient-reported outcome measures and patient-reported experience measures. His methods and measurement tools have been translated, adapted or implemented in more than 100 countries to improve health, healthcare access and equity.

Professor Osborne holds an Australian Government NHMRC Investigator Grant at Leadership Level 3 (the scheme’s highest leadership level) to advance the scale-up of health literacy development for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases.

Global implementation

Professor Osborne works with governments, health services, NGOs and communities to turn evidence into practical and sustainable health-system improvements. He also works with United National agencies including the WHO and UNESCO. He serves as the Australian National Representative for the UNESCO Chair on Global Health and Education. 

He provides international scientific leadership to Work Package 6 Health Literacy and Awareness of JACARDI, the European Commission co-funded Joint Action on Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes. Working with Santé publique France and partners across Europe, he supports the application of health literacy and Ophelia in 24 implementation projects across 12 countries. These projects are developing locally relevant and equitable responses to cardiovascular disease, diabetes and their risk factors.

In collaboration with WHO, Professor Osborne and his team helped establish and operationalise the concept of Health Literacy Development. This work culminated in the four-volume 2022 WHO report Health Literacy Development for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases. The report provides countries with both the rationale for action and a practical pathway for implementation and has been designated a WHO Global Public Health Good.

He also established the WHO National Health Literacy Demonstration Projects, through which countries identify populations experiencing disadvantage, understand the barriers they face, and co-design locally appropriate actions. This approach has been applied in 17 countries and continues to inform national and regional health-literacy initiatives.

Community partnership and scalable impact

A defining feature of Professor Osborne’s work is his ability to connect community knowledge with health-service, policy and research expertise. His approach combines bottom-up co-design with top-down system engagement so that locally generated solutions can influence organisational, regional and national change.

He works directly with culturally, linguistically and geographically diverse communities in both high- and low-income countries. His success is grounded in sustained relationships, careful listening and a commitment to helping communities and organisations achieve their own priorities. He also provides international capacity development through Ophelia Masterclasses and training on health literacy and community co-design.

Professor Osborne advises governments, WHO and NGOs on health literacy, noncommunicable diseases, health surveys, intervention development and equitable health-system reform. He has been recognised as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher and holds honorary professorial appointments at the University of Copenhagen and NOVA University Lisbon.

He welcomes collaborations with governments, communities, health services and researchers seeking to develop, evaluate and scale equitable health improvements.

He supervises PhD candidates who aspire to become public health researcher leaders.

Selected methods and measures

Ophelia: Optimising Health Literacy and Access process

HLQ: Health Literacy Questionnaire

eHLQ: eHealth Literacy Questionnaire

CHAT: Conversational Health Literacy Assessment Tool

heiQ: Health Education Impact Questionnaire

FluiiQ: Influenza Impact and Intensity Questionnaire

RiiQ: Respiratory Intensity and Impact Questionnaire