PAHL Community Programs
Our Community Programs
- Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in Marine Science
- Courses
- Future Students
- Current Students
- Research and Teaching
- Partners and Community
- About JCU
- Reputation and Experience
- Celebrating 50 Years
- Academy
- ALTAR
- Anton Breinl Research Centre
- Agriculture Technology and Adoption Centre
- Living on Campus
- Advanced Prawn Breeding Research Hub
- Advanced Analytical Centre
- Applying to JCU
- Alumni
- AMHHEC
- JCU Aquaculture Solutions
- AusAsian Mental Health Research Group
- ARCSTA
- Area 61
- Association of Australian University Secretaries
- Australian/NZ Students
- Australian Lions Stinger Research
- Boating and Diving
- JCU-CSIRO Partnership
- Employability Edge
- Career Ready Plan
- Australian Tropical Herbarium
- Careers at JCU
- Careers and Employability
- Australian Quantum & Classical Transport Physics Group
- Centre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology
- CITBA
- Chancellery
- CMT
- CASE
- College of Business, Law and Governance
- College of Healthcare Sciences
- WHOCC for N&M Education and Research
- College of Medicine and Dentistry
- College of Science and Engineering
- CPHMVS
- COVID-19 Advice
- Centre for Disaster Solutions
- CSTFA
- Cyclone Testing Station
- The Centre for Disaster Studies
- Daintree Rainforest Observatory
- Diploma of Higher Education
- Discover Nature at JCU
- Research Division
- Services and Resources Division
- Education Division
- Division of Tropical Environments and Societies
- Division of Tropical Health and Medicine
- Economic Geology Research Centre
- Elite Athletes
- eResearch
- ERC
- Estate
- Financial and Business Services Office
- Fletcherview
- Foundation for Australian Literary Studies
- Gender Equity Action and Research
- GetReady4Uni
- Give to JCU
- Governance
- Information for JCU Cairns Graduates
- Graduate Research School
- Graduation
- Indigenous Education and Research Centre
- Indigenous Engagement
- Indigenous Legal Needs Project
- Inherent Requirements
- IsoTropics Geochemistry Lab
- IT Services
- International Schools
- International Students
- JCU Connect
- JCU Eduquarium
- JCU Events
- JCU Global Experience
- JCU Ideas Lab
- JCU Job Ready
- JCU Motorsports
- JCU Prizes
- JCU Sport
- JCU Turtle Health Research
- Language and Culture Research Centre
- CEE
- LearnJCU
- Library
- Mabo Decision: 30 years on
- MARF
- Marine Geophysics Laboratory
- New students
- Off-Campus Students
- Office of the Vice Chancellor and President
- Virtual Open Day
- Orpheus
- Outstanding Alumni Awards
- Parents and Partners
- Pathways to university
- Planning for your future
- Placements
- Policy
- PAHL
- Publications
- Professional Experience Placement
- Queensland Research Centre for Peripheral Vascular Disease
- Rapid Assessment Unit
- RDIM
- Researcher Development Portal
- Safety and Wellbeing
- Scholarships
- Contextual Science for Tropical Coastal Ecosystems
- Staff
- State of the Tropics
- Strategic Procurement
- Student Equity and Wellbeing
- Student profiles
- SWIRLnet
- TARL
- TESS
- TREAD
- TropEco
- TQ Maths Hub
- TUDLab
- Unicare Centre and Unicampus Kids
- UAV
- VAVS Home
- Work Health and Safety
- WHOCC for Vector-borne & NTDs
- Media
- Copyright and Terms of Use
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine
Given PAHL’s focus on improving people’s physical and mental health, the group has developed - and continues to oversee - various successful community health programs. PAHL’s stepped approach to the development of its programs starts with community consultation – listening to people about the health issues that matter to them. PAHL then designs program drafts based on best-practice psychology principles, and/or the testing of methods in lab- or field-based settings. Programs are then provided via a soft-launch in order to establish feasibility and preliminary efficacy.
Once programs are shown to be feasible and likely to be effective on a broad scale, the group works with various stakeholders to embed them throughout the community. PAHL continues to test the efficacy of its programs after their main launch, and builds participant, stakeholder, and community input into every stage of a program’s life.
PAHL’s current community programs are detailed below. If you or your organisation are interested in participating in these programs, please reach out via our ‘Contact Us’ page.
Psychological distress is prevalent among, and can be debilitating for, new mothers. In 2017, PAHL developed the Mummy Buddy Program--a program in which experienced mums received communication and social support training before becoming a “Buddy” to a new mum. The aim was to help those new mums make a happy and healthy transition to parenthood. As part of a 2-year pilot trial funded by Healthway, nearly 70 new mums and Mummy Buddies took part in the program through 2018 and 2019. Initial results showed that the program had strong positive effects for all involved.
In 2022, the Mummy Buddy program was re-branded as 'Bamboo'. The re-branded program will be accompanied by new program materials and training resources. For more background information about the program, see here.
Over 70 per cent of Australian men are overweight or obese, accounting for substantial health, economic, and social costs. What’s more, it’s common that men bury their head in the sand – it’s hard to ‘activate’ them to make a positive health change. MAN v FAT Soccer is a fun program that wraps weight loss help, support, and advice around a weekly soccer match. In the UK, over 100 MAN v FAT leagues have opened since 2016, and despite interruptions associated with COVID-19, participating men have collectively lost over 165,000kg.
With support from Healthway, Sport Australia, and UWA Sport, PAHL opened the first Australian MAN v FAT Soccer league at UWA in 2018. At the end of the first 15-week season, the 80 men lost an incredible 515kg. In addition to obtaining substantial weight loss, players have reported substantial lifestyle and mental health improvements’. Visit the Man V Fat YouTube channel, and follow the Man V Fat twitter feed for info, media coverage, and inspiring player stories.
Teaching is a high-stress, high-churn job, and school principals are seeing too many burned-out staff leaving the profession.
PAHL’s GRIT program is a social support, resilience-building, and coping initiative designed for, and with, school teachers. The GRIT program has been successfully delivered and embedded into numerous Australian high schools. Please contact us if you would like to implement the GRIT program in your school.
Due to the success of the GRIT Program, the PAHL group extended the principles and methods of GRIT into a program for employees at various organisations. This new program, GROW, is designed to be a flexible offering to organisations of various types and sizes.
University life provides opportunities for social, personal, and academic growth; however, it does not insulate students against mental health problems. In fact, it may actually exacerbate the likelihood of young people facing mental health problems. Conservative estimates indicate that more than 200,000 Australian students may experience mental health problems in any given year.
In 2020, alongside UWA Sport and Thriving, PAHL helped to launch the Stride program – a structured, 12-week, mentor-led exercise program for students with mental health problems. Stride is provided as a complement to existing psychological therapy and counselling options, with a focus on enjoyable exercise options and long-term activity promotion. Stride is the first program of its kind in Australia and promises to provide a blueprint for campuses across the country. Please see here for more information on Stride.
