Mental Health and Wellbeing SIG

Mental health research has grown rapidly over the past decade, becoming an area of priority for many countries across the world. There is also now strong recognition that lifestyle behaviours such as physical activity, nutrition, sleep and sedentary behaviours play an important role in preventing and managing mental health conditions and promoting holistic wellbeing. This has led to greater emphasis on mental health populations and outcomes as well as multidisciplinary collaborative approaches within research.

The emergence of dedicated funding streams and targeted research calls continues to drive advancements in this field and support translation into clinical practice and public health initiatives. This SIG provides a platform for physical activity, nutrition, and lifestyle behaviour researchers interested in mental health populations and outcomes to come together and advance this field.

SIG Mission

The Mental Health and Wellbeing SIG serves to facilitate collaboration and communication between ISBNPA members with expertise and interest in behavioral and lifestyle interventions for mental health and wellbeing.

Goals

  1. Foster international and interdisciplinary collaboration in mental health and wellbeing research
  2. Provide a platform to unite and strengthen international research on lifestyle behaviors and mental health
  3. Actively encourage engagement in impact activities
  4. Create opportunities for research, education, implementation and dissemination

Become a member

Join the Mental Health and Wellbeing SIG mailing list and we’ll keep you up to date with when we’re hosting webinars, social events at the Annual ISBNPA conference and other exciting news via our newsletter.
Alternatively, you can become a member of this SIG by going to your membership profile and adding the SIG to your preferences
 

Contact us

You can get in touch with us at Mentalhealth_wellbeing@isbnpa.org

Newsletters

Access all SIG newsletters here:

SIG Leadership Team

Co-Chairs

Dr Jacinta Brinsley | Adelaide University, Australia
Dr Jacinta Brinsley is an Exercise Physiologist and Postdoctoral Researcher in the Alliance for Research in Nutrition, Exercise and Activity (ARENA) group at UniSA. Her work focuses on the design and implementation of behavior-based interventions that address both physical and mental health holistically.

Masha Remskar | Arizona State University, USA
Masha is a researcher at Arizona State University. She researches ways of helping people live more active and happier lives, principally through digital interventions and wearable technology.

Secretary

Communications

Dr Natalie Lister | University of Sydney, Australia
Dr Natalie Lister is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, Australia. She is co-lead of the EDIT (Eating Disorders in weight-related Therapy) Collaboration research group. Natalie has a background as a clinical dietitian and her current research investigates the intersection of mental health and higher weight, focusing on individuals seeking obesity treatment.

Dr Jasmine Petersen | Adelaide University, Australia
Dr Jasmine Petersen is a Research Fellow in the Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University. She has a background in health psychology and has been involved in projects spanning mental health, physical activity, sport, eating behaviour, obesity and body image.

Events

Victoria Whiteford | University of British Columbia, Canada (Webinars)
Victoria is in the final months of her PhD at the University of British Columbia where her project focused on the development, implementation, and evaluation of a community-based exercise treatment program for women with depression. She is excited to be a part of the Mental Health & Wellbeing SIG Team, to learn from experts in the field through collaboration, and to help advance the growing field of mental health and wellbeing research in physical activity and nutrition.

Dr Nicola Gillies | University of Auckland, New Zealand (Conference)
Nicola is a mixed-methods health researcher and Registered Dietitian at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Nicola’s research explores the intersect between diet and mental wellbeing for young people, using participatory research methods to understand what is important to young people and co-create solutions to their challenges. Her recent work has shown that food relationships are a central piece of this puzzle for young people, and she is looking forward to starting co-design research in this area soon.

Engagement

Grace Ike | University of Queensland, Australia (Membership)
Grace is an Exercise Physiologist and PhD candidate at the University of Queensland. Her work focuses on designing trauma informed practice training programs for exercise service providers to improve the use of trauma informed approaches within the industry.

Founding Members

MC Frazier | Virginia Tech, USA
Frazier is a PhD Candidate in the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Program at Virginia Tech where she works in the Physical Activity and Community Implementation (PARCI) lab. Her research focuses on using dissemination and implementation science for equitable translation of yoga principles and lifestyle behavior-change strategies to improve holistic health in underserved communities.

Dr Gareth Jones | Sheffield Hallam University, UK
Dr Gareth Jones is a Research Fellow at the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, England. Gareth’s research interests are in health behaviour change, physical activity, mental health, and whole system approaches to enable folk to lead physically active lives. Gareth’s experience includes developing projects and research to benefit children and young people and adults with severe mental ill health.