Research

Advocacy research has a specific purpose and that is to influence the formal and informal policies established by policymakers and others in power.

Advocacy research influences policy through a variety of ways including:

  • Filling an evidence gap that specifically addresses your advocacy ask
  • Developing evidence to influence policy makers on how to address an issue
  • To show there is a need to fund a service or program
  • To highlight an issue that has been poorly addressed or ignored within the policy context

Below are some of the students who are being supervised by PHAI, working towards an advocacy related Masters or PhD.

Melinda Edmunds

In 2022, Melinda commenced her Doctor of Philosophy – Public Health (Curtin University) to continue to expand her research skills and contribution to the field. Melinda believes good research involves the community from the beginning and delivers good outcomes for the community. Translating research outcomes into practical, systemic change is critical.

Supervisor: Prof Christina Pollard

Isabelle Chiera

Isabelle is completing her Masters by Research. Her research project is investigating the unique barriers, challenges, enablers and opportunities that government and community food security initiatives in the Great Southern region of Western Australia encounter to service delivery. Additionally, it is exploring how these factors influence whether and how service delivery improvements are made, to address food security issues more effectively.

Supervisor: Dr Mel Stoneham

Liyuwork Dana

Liyuwork has over 10 years of work experience in research and academics in the field of health sciences. She previously worked on various projects at WA Cancer Prevention Research Unit (Curtin University), including public health nutrition, food labelling, and healthy ageing, and led about 20 campaign and program evaluation reports over the last 5 years. Liyuwork has led her research project grant on helping consumers to make healthy food choices (2021-2023). Her PhD focuses on ‘Food Insecurity in Children’ and has been awarded a prestigious Forrest Research Foundation scholarship. Liyuwork currently works on the Act Belong Commit Campaign project at Public Health Advocacy Institute WA (PHAI).
To contact Liyuwork, please email liyuwork.dana@curtin.edu.au

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Christina Pollard

Advocacy articles published by the PHAI team

If you are interested in some of the published articles that describe some of the advocacy projects undertaken by PHAI, here is a list categorised under our priority issues.

Food Security

The illusion of choice: an exploratory study looking at the top 10 food companies in Australia and their brand connections published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

Evidence for initiating food safety policy: An assessment of the quality and safety of donated food at an Australian food bank published in Food Policy

Food security definition, measures and advocacy priorities in high-income countries: a Delphi consensus study published in Public Health Nutrition

South West Food Community: A Place-Based Pilot Study to Understand the Food Security System published in Nutrients

Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption: success of the Western Australian Go for 2&5® campaign published in Public Health Nutrition

Ultra-processed family foods in Australia: nutrition claims, health claims and marketing techniques published in Public Health Nutrition

Protocol for the Development of a Food Stress Index to Identify Households Most at Risk of Food Insecurity in Western Australia published in Environmental Research and Public Health

The Nutritional Quality of Kids’ Menus from Cafés and Restaurants: An Australian Cross-Sectional Study published in Nutrients

Global supermarkets’ corporate social responsibility commitments to public health: a content analysis published in Globalization and Health

Initiatives and partnerships in an Australian metropolitan obesity prevention system: a social network analysis published in BMC Public Health

Government and foodbank food security policy governance: Australians and United States COVID-19 responses published in Handbook of Food Security and Society

Food and nutrition standards to address food insecurity published in Handbook of Food Security and Society

Perspectives of food insecurity and service delivery amongst emergency food relief clients in a regional city in Victoria, Australia published in Health & Social Care in the Community

General Advocacy

Enable, mediate … but don’t advocate! Published in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

Changing the knowledge translation landscape through blogging published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

Timely and significant call for planetary health promotion published in Global Health Promotion

Policy, legislation and environmental change – a book chapter in Health Promotion in the 21st Century