Susan Tucker

Sue retired from the University of Manchester at the end of September, 2021, but remains an Honorary Research Associate at Social Care and Society (formerly the Personal Social Services Research Unit), an independent unit that conducts high quality research on the provision of health and social care with a view to informing policy and practice.

Having originally trained as a general and a mental health nurse, Sue specialised in the care of older people with mental health problems, and held a variety of clinical, managerial and research posts in the NHS before moving to the University.

After joining the University in 2003 Sue worked on a number of projects concerned with identifying the most appropriate and cost-effective ways of organising and delivering services for older people with mental health problems.  These included a series of ‘Balance of Care’ studies which aimed to identify the optimal mix of community and institutional, health and social care services to provide for this client group.   She also applied to the same methodology to explore the needs of working age adults with mental health problems, and people in prison, and more recently completed a series of studies on the services needed by prisoners with social care needs, in custody and on release.

Research interests

• The optimal mix of services to provide for older people with mental health problems
• The detection and management of mental health problems in care home residents
• The use of the ‘Balance of Care’ approach (a strategic service planning framework)
• The social care needs of people in prison and on release to the community

• PhD by Published Work 
• MSc Advanced Social Research Methods and Statistics
• Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resources Management
• B.A. Honours Degree in Business Studies
• Registered General Nurse
• Registered Mental Nurse