Lifespan Resilience Research Group
The Lifespan Resilience Research Group has been instrumental in developing research and programs in the following three areas:
- Mental health and resilience across the lifespan.
- Development of evidence based practices.
- Enhancement of clinical services to families and individuals affected by mental illness.
Our focus links with the ECU Health and Wellness area of research strength as it focuses on preventative health, intervention and psychological rehabilitation. We are also aligned with the new broad health and wellness approaches to all aspects of mental health management that are emerging within the discipline of psychology.
Our strategically focused research has resulted in the establishment of strong professional relationships and engagement with community groups. For example, the group has been working closely with the Community Link and Network (CLAN) as an organisation. This has developed into a research and collaborative relationship which has resulted in the group being successful with two recent funding opportunities including an ECU Industry Collaborative grant. There has been further enhancement of the group through collaboration with The Smith Family over the last five years. Lynne Cohen has served as a Board Member for the Communities for Children and has engaged ECU as part of the evaluation of the initiative and success of developed interventions. Through these collaborations, postgraduate students have completed practicum placements; workplace integrated learning initiatives and students have obtained full-time employment with The Smith Family after graduating.
The ultimate success of these initiatives is that the group was approached in 2008 by Professor Michael Unger of Dalhousie University, Canada to participate in the International Resilience Project (IRP) and was nominated as the Australian site for the project. This development now places us at the forefront of international resilience research and will be collecting data nationally for the IRP. This has culminated in Professor Unger visiting Perth at the end of October 2008 to conduct workshops and seminars sponsored by the Resilience Lifespan group and ECU.
The academic staff who are part of the Resilience Lifespan Group have collaborated on applying for research grants, producing and publishing research journal articles and book chapters. A significant aspect of staff collaboration is co-supervision of postgraduate research students as evidenced by the list provided in this application. This has led to high quality research graduates at the honours, masters and doctoral level as well as staff mentoring newer staff and students.
Contact
Group leader
Associate Professor Julie Ann Pooley
Joondalup Campus: Building 30, Room 30.209
Telephone: (61 8) 6304 5591
Email j.pooley@ecu.edu.au