Dr Helen Owen
| Position | Assistant Research Fellow |
|---|---|
| Qualifications | BSc(Hons) Psychology (First Class) PhD |
| Research summary | Mental health outcomes post-injury, healthcare integration and access inequities, provider burnout |
| Teaching | Formerly a laboratory demonstrator for PSYC111 and PSYC112, guest lectured in PUBH 304 (Māori Health Research) and PSYC 426 (Social Cognition) |
| Memberships | Co-chair for DSM Postgraduate and Early Career Research Committee (PERC) |
Research
I have a background in Psychology, and my research was originally focused in the areas of human-technology interactions, person perception, and social behaviour, communication, and well-being of older adults. After completing my PhD, I worked for two-years as a paid Associate Editor for Social Behaviour and Personality: An International Journal but have since returned to research.
I feel privileged to be contributing to research that aims to reduce healthcare access inequities, improve outcomes following injury, and improve healthcare service integration. I am project manager on three externally funded longitudinal cohort studies exploring long-term injury outcomes: the New Zealand Prospective Outcomes of Injury, ten-year follow-up Studies (POIS-10 and POIS-10 Māori) and the Trauma Outcomes Project. My more specific research areas include:
- Exploring long-term psychological distress following injury in New Zealand
- Māori experiences accessing injury-related health services long-term
- Interviewers’ experiences conducting follow-up interviews with injured New Zealanders
- Health provider perceptions of care integration, teamwork, and burnout during the Primary and Community Care Strategy roll-out
- Integration of mental health services and associated health and well-being outcomes for service users and staff
Additional details
Examples of previous media contributions (from PhD):
- What is the ‘Johnny Depp effect’? New Zealand Herald, 2 March 2016
- Making writing seem more honest Radio NZ National: Our Changing World, 9 April 2015
- Male and Female Faces Radio NZ National: Our Changing World, 29 November 2013
Awarded grants
- Accelerator Grant (Early Career), Division of Health Sciences (2022)
- Collaboration of Ageing Research Excellence (CARE) Early Career Researcher Conference Scholarship (2019)
Publications
Owen, H. E., & Licorish, S. A. (2020). Game-based student response system: The effectiveness of Kahoot! on junior and senior information science students' learning. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 19, 511-553. doi: 10.28945/4608
Licorish, S. A., Owen, H. E., Daniel, B., & George, J. L. (2018). Students’ perception of Kahoot!’s influence on teaching and learning. Research & Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, 13, 9. doi: 10.1186/s41039-018-0078-8
Owen, H. E., Halberstadt, J., Carr, E. W., & Winkielmann, P. (2016). Johnny Depp, reconsidered: How category-relative processing fluency determines the appeal of gender ambiguity. PLoS ONE, 11(2), e0146328. doi: 10.1371/journal. pone.0146328
Owen, H. E., & Halberstadt, J. (2014). Truth in text: The influence of language complexity and style on perceived self-reflection and truthfulness. In S. R. Nasato (Ed.), Advances in social cognition research. (pp. 199-213). New York: Nova Science.
