University of the Sunshine Coast, The School of Health and Sport Sciences

Research Programs

Staff in the School of Health and Sport Sciences are active in public health research with a focus on holistic, ecological, salutogenic (health creating), equity-based research aimed at understanding and addressing public health issues. The School has research concentrations in the areas of health promotion, environmental health, and epidemiology and biostatistics. Our researchers work in a number of research centres and collaborations, primarily the Centre for Healthy Activities, Sport and Exercise (CHASE).

Current research areas

Health promotion
• Participatory theories of practice in the design, implementation and evaluation of social and environmental change strategies
• Socio-ecological evaluation
• Health promoting schools and universities
• Valuing body size diversity, health at every size
• Unhealthy weight control methods
• Size based discrimination and prejudice
• Public health education, workforce training and development
• Capacity building for health promotion

Environmental health
• Air pollution and health
• Environmental management
• Public health and urban development
• Integration of environmental and health risk assessment
• Environmental epidemiology
• Indicators of ecosystem health

Epidemiology and biostatistics
• Measurement of health
• Theory of measurement
• Development of robust quantitative evaluation tools