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Contact Details

Email
helen.owen@otago.ac.nz

University Links

Position
Postdoctoral 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 am a mixed-methods researcher with a background in Psychology. Prior to working in public health, my research was originally focused in the areas of human-technology interactions, person perception, and the 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. My current public health research areas include:


  • Experiences and long-term health, disability, and wellbeing outcomes post-injury, especially for older adults and for Māori.
  • Māori experiences accessing injury-related health services long-term
  • Integration of primary, community and mental health services, and health provider burnout

I have also worked as the operations manager on the following grant-funded projects, including three externally funded longitudinal cohort studies: The HRC-funded New Zealand Prospective Outcomes of Injury, ten-year follow-up Studies (POIS-10 and POIS-10 Māori); the Trauma Outcomes Project (TOP), a collaboration with NZ Health Quality & Safety Commission; Benchmarking integrated care, teamwork & staff morale: Cross-sectional survey of health care providers in Southern NZ, following the roll-out of the PCCS (funded by Healthcare Otago Charitable Trust and WellSouth)

Additional details

Examples of previous media contributions (from PhD):

Awarded grants

  • Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Health Sciences Career Development, Division of Health Sciences (2023-2025)
  • Contributing Researcher to HRC funded grant: Hinapōuri ki Hīnātore: Improving mental health outcomes and services (2023-2025). PIs: Prof. Sarah Derrett & Prof. Emma Wyeth.
  • Accelerator Grant (Early Career), Division of Health Sciences (2022)
  • Collaboration of Ageing Research Excellence (CARE) Early Career Researcher Conference Scholarship (2019)

Publications

Derrett, S., Owen, H. E., Barson, D., Maclennan, B., Samaranayaka, A., Harcombe, H., & Wyeth, E. H. (2024). New Zealand’s Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study—10 years on (POIS-10): Descriptive outcomes to 12 years post-injury [Short report]. Injury Prevention. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1136/ip-2023-045058 Journal - Research Article

Owen, H. E., Wyeth, E. H., Maclennan, B., Barson, D., McBride, P., Gabbe, B. J., … Derrett, S. (2023). Cohort profile: The Trauma Outcomes Project, a prospective study of New Zealanders experiencing major trauma. BMJ Open, 13, e075480. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-075480 Journal - Research Article

Owen, H. E., Samaranayaka, A., Wyeth, E. H., & Derrett, S. (2023). Psychological distress 12 years following injury in New Zealand: Findings from the Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study: 10 years on (POIS-10). Injury Epidemiology, 10, 9. doi: 10.1186/s40621-023-00419-8 Journal - Research Article

Bourke, J. A., Owen, H. E., Derrett, S., & Wyeth, E. H. (2023). Disrupted mana and systemic abdication: Māori qualitative experiences accessing healthcare in the 12 years post-injury. BMC Health Services Research, 23(1), 130. doi: 10.1186/s12913-023-09124-0 Journal - Research Article

Owen, H., Wyeth, E., Samaranayaka, A., & Derrett, S. (2022). Prevalence and predictors of psychological distress at 12 years post-injury. Injury Prevention, 28(Suppl. 2), (pp. A53-A54). doi: 10.1136/injuryprev-2022-safety2022.160 Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

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