Richards wins HHS Faculty Engagement Award
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Elizabeth Richards, assistant professor of nursing, was named the 2018 winner of the HHS Faculty Engagement Award for her excellence in innovation and demonstrated impact of her efforts in the community.
Richards designed Purdue Health and Human Sciences Extension’s first email-mediated program, and in fall 2017, Get WalkIN’ was launched for statewide use by all branches of Extension. Get WalkIN’ was presented 30 times during the 2017-18 programming year. Preliminary data on the program indicate that post-intervention, the proportion of participants meeting physical activity guidelines significantly increased to 83 percent, and this was maintained three months post-program with 84 percent of participants meeting physical activity guidelines. These increases in physical activity can have a significant influence on the health and quality of life for residents across Indiana.
Richards has also been an active member of the Indiana Public Health Association (IPHA) since 2013 and currently serves as chair of the public health policy and advocacy committee. As chair, she has successfully written three policy resolutions on climate change, youth violence and substance use. All three were adopted and enacted by IPHA. She also has facilitated advocacy and engagement efforts of IPHA members across the state through email blasts and webinars.
Additionally, from 2013 to 2017, Richards was appointed to the American Public Health Association Action Board. She traveled to Washington, D.C., in this role to speak with legislators about public health policy priorities and became a founding member of the physical activity section within APHA. She was elected chair of this section in 2017. She mentors students and early career professionals in the areas of physical activity policy and research.
Richards was named a Purdue University Teaching Academy Fellow in 2017 and received the College of Health and Human Sciences Jane S. Link Outstanding Teaching Award in 2016.