MBChB, MPH, FNZCPHM, PhDResearch Associate Professor, Public Health Physician, Director of the EleMent research group.Teaches: Public Health Ethics; public health for medical student.
Contact details
Tel +64 4 385 5541
Email ruth.cunningham@otago.ac.nz
Research interests and activities
Ruth is a public health physician and epidemiologist working in the areas of mental health research, social epidemiology, cancer epidemiology and health services research. The main focus of her current work is mental health epidemiology and the physical health of people with experience of mental health conditions.
Ruth leads the Electronic data for Mental health research (EleMent) group: Te Raraunga Hinengaro. EleMent are a multidisciplinary research group bringing together expertise in epidemiology, public health and data science with clinical and lived experience of mental distress. The group use routinely collected electronic data from health and other sources to understand the distribution and determinants of mental health and mental distress, with a focus is on making the best use of available information to improve the mental health of New Zealanders.
Ruth is principal investigator the Tupuānuku research project funded by the Health Research Council to investigate the factors contributing to inequities in physical health outcomes for people with experience of mental illness or addiction in Aotearoa. Ruth is also working on a number of projects using routine data on mental health service use in New Zealand (PRIMHD) linked to other datasets, including projects examining mental health service use in later life, mental health care in emergency departments, and mental health service provision for Māori. Ruth is also working with Dr Paula King on the health and wellbeing impacts of incarceration for Māori.
Ruth welcomes expressions of interest form Masters and PhD students.
Publications
Manuel, J., Pitama, S., Clark, M., Crowe, M., Crengle, S., Cunningham, R., Gibb, S., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Porter, R. J., & Lacey, C. (2023). Racism, early psychosis, and institutional contact: A qualitative study of Indigenous experiences. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/00207640231195297
Journal - Research Article
Cunningham, R., Imlach, F., Lockett, H., Lacey, C., Haitana, T., Every-Palmer, S., Clark, M. T. R., & Peterson, D. (2023). Do patients with mental health and substance use conditions experience discrimination and diagnostic overshadowing in primary care in Aotearoa New Zealand? Results from a national online survey. Journal of Primary Health Care, 15(2), 112-121. doi: 10.1071/HC23015
Journal - Research Article
Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Kennedy, J. D., Stanley, J., Malihi, A., Gibb, S., & Cunningham, R. (2023). Health service utilisation by quota, family-sponsored and convention refugees in their first five years in New Zealand. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 47(3). doi: 10.1016/j.anzjph.2023.100064
Journal - Research Article
Buchanan, M., Newton-Howes, G., Cunningham, R., McLeod, G. F. H., & Boden, J. M. (2023). The role of social support in reducing the long-term burden of cumulative childhood adversity on adulthood internalising disorder. Proceedings of the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists (NZCCP) National Conference. Retrieved from https://www.nzccp.co.nz
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Manuel, J., Pitama, S., Clark, M. T. R., Crowe, M., Crengle, S., Cunningham, R., Gibb, S., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Porter, R. J., & Lacey, C. (2023). Racism, early psychosis and institutional contact: A qualitative study of Indigenous experiences. International Review of Psychiatry, 35(3-4), 323-330. doi: 10.1080/09540261.2023.2188074
Journal - Research Article
Cunningham, R., Peterson, D., & Collings, S. (2017). Like minds, like mine: Seventeen years of countering stigma and discrimination against people with experience of mental distress in New Zealand. In W. Gaebel, W. Rössler & N. Sartorius (Eds.), The stigma of mental illness: The end of the story? (pp. 263-287). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-27839-1_15
Chapter in Book - Research
Fleming, S. T., Sarfati, D., Kimmick, G., Schoenberg, N., & Cunningham, R. (2016). Impact of comorbidity on cancer screening and diagnosis. In B. Koczwara (Ed.), Cancer and chronic conditions: Addressing the problem of multimorbidity in cancer patients and survivors. (pp. 105-129). Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-1844-2
Chapter in Book - Research
Carr, G., Cunningham, R., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Manuel, J., Gibb, S., Porter, R. J., Pitama, S., Crowe, M., Crengle, S., & Lacey, C. (2023). Evolution of first episode psychosis diagnoses and health service use among young Māori and non-Māori: A New Zealand national cohort study. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 17(3), 290-298. doi: 10.1111/eip.13327
Journal - Research Article
Clark, M. T. R., Manuel, J., Lacey, C., Pitama, S., Cunningham, R., & Jordan, J. (2023). Reimagining eating disorder spaces: A qualitative study exploring Māori experiences of accessing treatment for eating disorders in Aotearoa New Zealand. Journal of Eating Disorders, 11, 22. doi: 10.1186/s40337-023-00748-5
Journal - Research Article
Cunningham, R., Imlach, F., Lockett, H., Lacey, C., Haitana, T., Every-Palmer, S., Clark, M. T. R., & Peterson, D. (2023). Do patients with mental health and substance use conditions experience discrimination and diagnostic overshadowing in primary care in Aotearoa New Zealand? Results from a national online survey. Journal of Primary Health Care, 15(2), 112-121. doi: 10.1071/HC23015
Journal - Research Article
Lian, A., Carr, G., Peterson, D., Jenkin, G., Lockett, H., Every-Palmer, S., & Cunningham, R. (2023). Still in the shadows: A national study of acute mental health unit location across New Zealand hospitals. BMC Health Services Research, 23, 21. doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-09004-z
Journal - Research Article
Manuel, J., Cunningham, R., Gibb, S., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Porter, R. J., Pitama, S., Crowe, M., Crengle, S., Carr, G., & Lacey, C. (2023). Non-Indigenous privilege in health, justice and social services preceding first episode psychosis: A population-based cohort study. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 57(6), 834-843. doi: 10.1177/00048674221119964
Journal - Research Article
Manuel, J., Pitama, S., Clark, M. T. R., Crowe, M., Crengle, S., Cunningham, R., Gibb, S., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Porter, R. J., & Lacey, C. (2023). Racism, early psychosis and institutional contact: A qualitative study of Indigenous experiences. International Review of Psychiatry, 35(3-4), 323-330. doi: 10.1080/09540261.2023.2188074
Journal - Research Article
Manuel, J., Pitama, S., Clark, M., Crowe, M., Crengle, S., Cunningham, R., Gibb, S., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Porter, R. J., & Lacey, C. (2023). Racism, early psychosis, and institutional contact: A qualitative study of Indigenous experiences. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/00207640231195297
Journal - Research Article
Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Kennedy, J. D., Stanley, J., Malihi, A., Gibb, S., & Cunningham, R. (2023). Health service utilisation by quota, family-sponsored and convention refugees in their first five years in New Zealand. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 47(3). doi: 10.1016/j.anzjph.2023.100064
Journal - Research Article
Werkmeister, C., Cunningham, R., Freeland, A., Stanley, J., Every-Palmer, S., & Kuehl, S. (2023). Missed presentations, missed opportunities: A cross-sectional study of mental health presentation undercounting in the emergency department. Emergency Medicine Australasia, 35, 276-282. doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.14114
Journal - Research Article
Cunningham, R., King, P. T., Telfer, K., Crengle, S., Carr, J., Stanley, J., Gibb, S., & Robson, B. (2022). Mortality after release from incarceration in New Zealand by gender: A national record linkage study. SSM Population Health, 20, 101274. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101274
Journal - Research Article
Cunningham, R., Milner, A., Gibb, S., Rijnberg, V., Disney, G., & Kavanagh, A. M. (2022). Gendered experiences of unemployment, suicide and self-harm: A population-level record linkage study. Psychological Medicine, 52, 4067-4075. doi: 10.1017/s0033291721000994
Journal - Research Article
Every-Palmer, S., Cunningham, R., Jenkins, M., & Bell, E. (2021). The Christchurch mosque shooting, the media, and subsequent gun control reform in New Zealand: A descriptive analysis. Psychiatry, Psychology & Law, 28(2), 274-285. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2020.1770635
Journal - Research Article
Cunningham, R., Crowe, M., Stanley, J., Haitana, T., Pitama, S., Porter, R., Baxter, J., Huria, T., Mulder, R., Clark, M. T. R., & Lacey, C. (2020). Gender and mental health service use in bipolar disorder: National cohort study. BJPsych Open, 6(6), 138. doi: 10.1192/bjo.2020.117
Journal - Research Article
Cunningham, R., Stanley, J., Haitana, T., Pitama, S., Crowe, M., Mulder, R., Porter, R., & Lacey, C. (2020). The physical health of Māori with bipolar disorder. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 54(11), 1107-1114. doi: 10.1177/0004867420954290
Journal - Research Article
Lacey, C., Cunningham, R., Rijnberg, V., Manuel, J., Clark, M. T. R., Keelan, K., Pitama, S., Huria, T., Lawson, R., & Jordan, J. (2020). Eating disorders in New Zealand: Implications for Māori and health service delivery. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 53, 1974-1982. doi: 10.1002/eat.23372
Journal - Research Article
Newton-Howes, G., Cunningham, R., & Atkinson, J. (2020). Personality disorder prevalence and correlates in a whole of nation dataset. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 56(4), 679-685. doi: 10.1007/s00127-020-01876-y
Journal - Research Article
Peterson, D., & Cunningham, R. (2020). Experiencing breast cancer in the context of mental illness in New Zealand. Kōtuitui, 15(1), 236-245. doi: 10.1080/1177083X.2020.1728346
Journal - Research Article
Petrović-van der Deen, F., Cunningham, R., Manuel, J., Gibb, S., Porter, R. J., Pitama, S., Crowe, M., Crengle, S., & Lacey, C. (2020). Exploring indigenous ethnic inequities in first episode psychosis in New Zealand: A national cohort study. Schizophrenia Research, 223, 311-318. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2020.09.004
Journal - Research Article
Richardson, A., Richard, L., Gunter, K., Cunningham, R., Hamer, H., Lockett, H., Wyeth, E., Stokes, T., … Cox, A., & Derrett, S. (2020). A systematic scoping review of interventions to integrate physical and mental healthcare for people with serious mental illness and substance use disorders. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 128, 52-67. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.05.021
Journal - Research Article
Cunningham, R., Peterson, D., & Sims, A. (2019). Specialist mental health care for older adults in New Zealand: An exploration of service models and routine data. New Zealand Medical Journal, 132(1489), 30-38. Retrieved from https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal
Journal - Research Article
Cunningham, R., Poppe, K., Peterson, D., Every-Palmer, S., Soosay, I., & Jackson, R. (2019). Prediction of cardiovascular disease risk among people with severe mental illness: A cohort study. PLoS ONE, 14(9), e0221521. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221521
Journal - Research Article
McLeod, M., King, P., Stanley, J., Lacey, C., & Cunningham, R. (2017). Ethnic disparities in the use of seclusion for adult psychiatric inpatients in New Zealand. New Zealand Medical Journal, 130(1454), 30-39. Retrieved from https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal
Journal - Research Article
Woodhead, C., Cunningham, R., Ashworth, M., Barley, E., Stewart, R. J., & Henderson, M. J. (2016). Cervical and breast cancer screening uptake among women with serious mental illness: A data linkage study. BMC Cancer, 16, 819. doi: 10.1186/s12885-016-2842-8
Journal - Research Article