  The RPA long range correlations are known to play a significant role in
understanding the depletion of single particle-hole states observed in (e, e')
and (e, e'p) measurements. Here the Random Phase Approximation (RPA) theory,
implemented using the D1S force is considered for the specific purpose of
building correlated ground states and related one-body density matrix elements.
These may be implemented and tested in a fully microscopic optical model for NA
scattering off doubly-closed-shell nuclei. A method is presented to correct for
the correlations overcounting inherent to the RPA formalism. One-body density
matrix elements in the uncorrelated (i.e. Hartree-Fock) and correlated (i.e.
RPA) ground states are then challenged in proton scattering studies based on
the Melbourne microscopic optical model to highlight the role played by the RPA
correlations. Effects of such correlations which deplete the nuclear matter at
small radial distance (r $<$ 2 fm) and enhance its surface region, are getting
more and more sizeable as the incident energy increases. Illustrations are
given for proton scattering observables measured up to 201 MeV for the
$^{16}$O, $^{40}$Ca, $^{48}$Ca and $^{208}$Pb target nuclei. Handling the RPA
correlations systematically improves the agreement between scattering
predictions and data for energies higher than 150 MeV.
