A NSW Government website
The Health Equity Research and Development Unit (HERDU) is a District Service in partnership with the Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity (CPHCE) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney.
HERDU work in partnership with health services, organisations and communities to identify and reduce existing inequities in health and to prevent inequities in health from arising in the future. We collaborate with staff, consumers and communities to conduct high quality research, develop skills and capacity, and support local health service policies and plans to improve health equity.
HERDU supports Sydney Local Health District and helps to facilitate its commitment to developing a local health system that is committed to equitable access to quality health services for the community, as well as creating opportunities and environments that improve health.
Sydney Local Health District's vision is to achieve excellence in health and health care for all. The HERDU partnership aligns with the District's strategic priorities to maximise the benefits derived from integrating systems to deliver truly integrated care.
HERDU conducts research across four strategic directions:
| Associate Professor Fiona Haigh | Director |
| Associate Professor Marilyn Wise | Senior Academic Advisor |
| Dr Christopher Standen | Research Fellow |
| Dr Esther Alloun | Research Associate |
| Wendy Jopson | Aboriginal Research Lead |
| Dr Cathy O'Callahan | Research Fellow |
| Amount awarded | Grant and project details |
|---|---|
| $46,579 | UNSW Cities Institute Big Transitions Seed Funding, 2024-2025 Eating in the city: Digesting diversity through migrant food environments. Investigators: Tordjmann E, Yashadhana A, Serovam N, Haigh F. |
| $40,000 | Public Health Wales, 2024-2025 Health in planning phase 1 and 2. Investigators: Haigh F, Standen C, Kim J. |
| $65,115 | NSW Health, 2024 Phase three of the Active Transport Health Model. Investigators: Moeller H, Standen CM, Veerman L, Haigh, FA. |
| $29,500 | Sydney Local Health District, 2023-2024 Evaluation of the Virtual Health Hub for Populations who Experience Homelessness. Investigators: O’Callaghan C, Barr M, Haigh F. |
| $2500 | Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, 2023-2024 Scoping review of interventions to improve the health focus of urban/transport planning education. Investigator: Standen C. |
| $20,000 | NSW Department of Communities and Justice, 2022 - ongoing Review of the Waterloo Human Services Action Plan. Investigators: Barr M, O'Callaghan, Willianson M, Haigh F. |
| $1,200,000 | NSW Health, 2022-2026 Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity Prevention Research Support Program. Investigators: Sitas F, de Leeuw E, Barr ML, Haigh FA, Spooner CJ, Harris PJ, Harris, MF. |
| $298,327 | The Australia and New Zealand School Of Government Limited, 2022-2024 Would adopting more co-governance arrangements with communities build public trust? Investigators: Li B, Raven M, Katz I, Haigh F, Bates S. |
| $1,004,341 | NHMRC, 2021-2026 Partnership Projects: Community Health workers Extending Care in the Community. Investigators: Harris MF; Aslani P, Levesque J, Barr ML, Sharma A, Harris-Roxas BF, Wright M, Osborne, R. |
| $306,155 | University of Sydney / NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence Shared Grant, 2021-2026 A Centre of Research Excellence for Integrated Community Care of People with Complex Multi-morbidities Investigators: Haigh FA, Eastwood J, Hiscock H, Goldfeld S, Gillespie J, Haber PS, Katz I, Page A, Huckel-Schneider C, Cunich M, Shaw M. |
| Cobbold A, Crane M, Greaves S, Standen C, Beck M, Rissel C. COVID-19 and working from home-related changes in physical activity in Sydney, Australia. Health Promot J Austr. 2024 Oct;35(4):1362-1371. doi: 10.1002/hpja.838. Epub 2024 Jan 9. |
| Parker SM, Aslani P, Harris-Roxas B, Wright MC, Barr M, Doolan-Noble F, Javanparast S, Sharma A, Osborne RH, Cullen J, Harris E, Haigh F, Harris M. Community health navigator-assisted transition of care from hospital to community: protocol for a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2024 Feb 2;14(2):e077877. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077877. |
| Macfarlane S, Haigh F, Woodland L, Goodger B, Larkin M, Miller E, Parcsi L, Read P, Wood L. Critical Success Factors for Intersectoral Collaboration: Homelessness and COVID-19 - Case Studies and Learnings from an Australian City. Int J Integr Care. 2024 May 28;24(2):19. doi: 10.5334/ijic.7653. |
| McDermott R, Douglas MJ, Haigh F, Takemon N, Green L. A systematic review of whether Health Impact Assessment frameworks support best practice principles. Public Health. 2024 Aug;233:137-144. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2024.05.008. Epub 2024 Jun 15. |
| Kim J, Dannenberg A, Haigh F, Harris-Roxas B. Let's Be Clear-Health Impact Assessments or Assessing Health Impacts? Public Health Rev. 2024 Aug 5;45:1607722. doi: 10.3389/phrs.2024.1607722. |
| Kim J, Green J, McIntyre E, Standen C. Considering Residents' Health and Well-Being in the Process of Social Housing Redevelopment: A Rapid Scoping Literature Review. J Urban Health. 2024 Oct;101(5):1000-1014. doi: 10.1007/s11524-024-00915-2. |
| O'Callaghan C, Clenaghan P, Putra ADM, Haigh F, Amanatidis S, Raffan F, Lynch N, Barr M. Evaluation of a Virtual Health Hub for People Experiencing Homelessness in Sydney, Australia: Ensuring Physical and Psychological Primary Health Care in Crisis Accommodation. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Nov 29;21(12):1593. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21121593. |
| Greaves S, Beck M, Cobbold A, Standen C, Rissel C, Crane M. Working from home, active travel, health and wellbeing: Legacies of a pandemic. Travel Behaviour and Society. 2024;34. |
| Green L, Murphy A, Ashton K, Standen C, Haigh F. Analysing the value, benefits and barriers to stakeholder and community participation in health impact assessments (HIAs) in Wales from 2005 to 2020. Environmental Impact Assessment Review. 2024;110, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107713. |
| Harris-Roxas B, Swann N, Parker S, Aslani P, Wright S, Barr M, Haigh F, et al. Community Health Navigator assisted transition of care from hospital to community: A randomised control trial. Int J Integr Care. 2024;24:2 pages. doi:10.5334/ijic.APIC3153. |
| Uribe G, Huckel Schneider C, Mukumbang F, Liu H, Woolfenden S, Jones T et al. Guiding research into integrated health and social care in Australia: suitability of three global frameworks for local adoption. Journal of Integrated Care. 2024 Dec;32(5):122-134. doi: 10.1108/JICA-05-2024-0022. |
| Reports |
| Bates S, Haigh F. Co-governance Case Studies: Waterloo Collaborative Group. 10.26190/unsworks/30312. Sydney: UNSW; 2024 2024/07/18/. |
| Alloun E and Haigh F (2024), Sydney Local Health District Peer Educator Program: Waterloo Pilot Program Evaluation Report. Sydney, SLHD and UNSW. |
| Lynch H, Holdroyd I, Barley M, Black D, Cave B, Douglas M, Haigh, F et al. Making Health in All Policies a reality: A call for Health Impact Assessments across government to improve health and address health inequalities. Heart Foundation; Queen Mary University; Health Equity Evidence Centre; 2024 2024. |
| Standen C. Submission to NSW Legislative Council: Inquiry into the impact of the Rozelle Interchange. 2024 2024/04/02/. |
| CPHCE. Virtual Health Hub for People Experiencing Homelessness: Evaluation Report. CPHCE, UNSW in consultation with SLHD and the Haymarket Foundation; 2024. |
| Van Kemenade C, Haigh F, Raffan F, Harris M: Pilot Health Literacy Needs and Responsiveness Project in Sydney District Nursing - Evaluation Report. Sydney, SLHD and UNSW (2024). |
| Williamson M, Meikle K, O'Callaghan C, Haigh F and Barr M (2024) Waterloo Public Housing Tenants Survey Report. Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, UNSW Sydney. |
| Blignault I, Saab H, Woodland L, O'Callaghan C. Cultivating mindfulness: Evaluation of a community-based mindfulness program for Arabic-speaking women in Australia. Current Psychology. 2023 Apr;42(10):8232-43. |
| Haigh F, Alloun E, Standen C, Olliek M, Page J, Wise M. An equity-focused health impact assessment of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Sydney Local Health District. Supplementary Material. Sydney, SLHD and UNSW; 2023. |
| Haigh F, Alloun E, Standen C, Olliek M, Page J, Wise M. An equity-focused health impact assessment of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Sydney Local Health District. Technical Report. Sydney, SLHD and UNSW; 2023. |
| Haigh F, Alloun E, Standen C, Olliek M, Wise M. An equity-focused health impact assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated response. Population Medicine. 2023 Apr 26;5(Supplement). |
| Haigh F, Crimeen A, Green L, Moeller H, Conaty SJ, Prior JH, Harris-Roxas B. Developing a climate change inequality health impact assessment for health services. Public Health Res Pract. 2023 Dec 6;33(4):3342336. doi: 10.17061/phrp3342336. |
| Haigh F, Douglas M, Mekel O, Green L, Hirono K. The future of health impact assessment- setting the Research Agenda. Population Medicine.5(Supplement); 2023. |
| Jaques K, Haigh F, Zapart S, Beer M, Peisley G, Calalang C, Thornell M, Conaty S, Harris P. Inter-sectoral policy partnerships: a case study of South Western Sydney's Health and Housing Partnership. International Journal of Housing Policy. 2023 Apr 3;23(2):381-402. |
| Lynch H, Holdroyd I, Black D, Cave B, Harris-Roxas B, Haigh F, et al. Sick Britain: A call for mandatory Health Impact Assessments across government with the support of a dedicated 'Health in All Policies' support unit (Evidence Brief). London: Queen Mary University of London for The Health Foundation; 2023. |
| Mengesha Z, Weber D, Smith M, Harris P, Haigh F. 'Fragmented care': Asylum seekers' experience of accessing health care in NSW. Health Promot Int. 2023 Oct 1;38(5):daad123. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daad123. |
| O'Callaghan C, Kearns R, Woodland L, Dharmagesan G, Harris-Roxas B. Extended caregiving arrangements in families from Chinese backgrounds: A qualitative research study from Sydney, Australia. Children and Youth Services Review. 2023 Feb 1;145:106795. |
| Standen CM, McIntyre E, Easthope H, Green J, Haigh F. Assessing tenant health amid social housing redevelopment: lessons from a pilot project. Public Health Res Pract. 2023 Dec 6;33(4):3342337. doi: 10.17061/phrp3342337. |
| Wanjau MN, Dalugoda Y, Oberai M, Möller H, Standen C, Haigh F, Milat A, Lucas P, Veerman JL. Does active transport displace other physical activity? A systematic review of the evidence. Journal of Transport & Health. 2023 Jul 1;31:101631. |
| Wanjau MN, Möller H, Haigh F, Milat A, Hayek R, Lucas P, Veerman JL. Physical Activity and Depression and Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review of Reviews and Assessment of Causality. AJPM Focus. 2023 Feb 4;2(2):100074. doi: 10.1016/j.focus.2023.100074. |
| Wanjau MN, Möller H, Haigh F, Milat A, Hayek R, Lucas P, Veerman JL. The Potential Impact of Physical Activity on the Burden of Osteoarthritis and Low Back Pain in Australia: A Systematic Review of Reviews and Life Table Analysis. J Phys Act Health. 2023 Jun 2;20(8):690-701. doi: 10.1123/jpah.2022-0541. |
| Yashadhana A, Alloun E, Serova N, de Leeuw E, Mengesha Z. Place-making and its impact on health and wellbeing among recently resettled refugees in high income contexts: A scoping review. Health Place. 2023 May;81:103003. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103003. Epub 2023 Mar 24. |
| Alloun E. Investigating Strength Based Approaches: A SLHD discussion paper (2022). HERDU |
| Anaf J, Baum F, Fisher M, Haigh F, Miller E, Gesesew H, et al. Assessing the health impacts of transnational corporations: a case study of Carlton and United Breweries in Australia. Globalization and Health. 2022;18(1). |
| Clifford B, Wood L, Vallesi S, Macfarlane S, Currie J, Haigh F, et al. Integrating healthcare services for people experiencing homelessness in Australia: key issues and research principles. Integrated Healthcare Journal. 2022;4(1):e000065. |
| Cobbold A, Standen C, Shepherd L, Greaves S, Crane M. Multimodal trips, quality of life and wellbeing: An exploratory analysis. Journal of Transport and Health. 2022;24. |
| Greaves S, Beck MJ, Cobbold A, Standen C, Rissel C, Crane M. Working from home, health and wellbeing consequences of a pandemic. ITLS Working Papers 2022. Sydney, Australia: The University of Sydney; 2022. |
| Haigh F, Williams C, Jacques M, Diablo T, Solar O, Lin V, et al. Subplenary - Improving Governance for Health: Can COVID-19 provide lessons for working across sectoral boundaries. 24th World Conference on Health Promotion. Online. |
| Harris, P., Harris-Roxas, B., Prior, J., Morrison, N., McIntyre, E., Frawley, J., Haigh, F. . . . Kwan, B. (2022). Respiratory pandemics, urban planning and design: A multidisciplinary rapid review of the literature. Cities, 127, 103767. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2022.103767 |
| Jaques K, Haigh F, Zapart S, Beer M, Peisley G, Calalang C, et al. Inter-sectoral policy partnerships: a case study of South Western Sydney's Health and Housing Partnership. International Journal of Housing Policy. 2022. |
| Mengesha Z, Alloun E, Weber D, Smith M, Harris P. "Lived the Pandemic Twice": A Scoping Review of the Unequal Impact of the COVID‐19 Pandemic on Asylum Seekers and Undocumented Migrants. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022;19(11). |
| Mengesha Z, Alloun E. Asylum seekers and undocumented migrants lived the COVID-19 pandemic twice but were left out to struggle. 2022. https://intouchpublichealth.net.au/asylum-seekers-and-undocumented-migr… |
| Mistry SK, Shaw M, Raffan F, Johnson G, Perren K, Saito S, et al. Inequity in Access and Delivery of Virtual Care Interventions: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022;19(15):9411-. |
| Nutbeam D, Harris E, Wise M. Theory in a Nutshell: a practical guide to health promotion theories. 4th edition. Sydney, Australia: McGraw Hill Education. 2022. |
| Page J, Broady T, Kumar S, de Leeuw E. Exploratory Visuals and Text in Qualitative Research Interviews: How Do We Respond? International Journal of Qualitative Methods. 2022;21. |
| Sitas, F., Harris-Roxas, B., White, S., Barr, M., Haigh, F., & Harris, M. (2022). Smoking cessation on discharge summaries. Medical Journal of Australia. doi:10.5694/mja2.51792 |
| Standen C. Interventions Designed to Support Physical Activity and Disease Prevention for Working from Home: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022;20(1). |
| Wanjau MN, Möller H, Haigh F, Milat A, Hayek R, Peta L, et al. Physical activity and depression and anxiety disorders in Australia: a lifetable analysis. AJPM Focus. 2022:100030. |
| Wise M, Harris E, Finlay P, Nutbeam D. Working together: collaboration for health: A practical guide. Sydney: Sydney Local Health District. 2022. |