Supporting the Health and Wellbeing Workforce | Workforce

Our programme team aims to support change by thinking about how to best support those who support our communities. This includes the health professional workforce, community workers, and whānau and friends/caregivers. Current project work that supports our programme aspirations:

• The emerging workforce supporting long term conditions care in the community (Summer research internships 2025/26)
• Educating future workforce in long term conditions care (Honours project 2025)
• How and what do physiotherapists draw upon to offer support to people living with long term conditions? (Honours project 2026)

Examples of our published past work

Dobson, S., Hargest, C., Keen, D., & Hale, L. (2026). Exploring the experiences of individuals living with neurological conditions in UMove: A physiotherapy student-led physical activity program. Physiotherapy Theory & Practice. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/09593985.2026.2709087

Orpwood, B., Wilkinson, A., Perry, M., Keen, D., & Hale, L. (2026). Understanding New Zealand physiotherapy scholars’ philosophies and practices of supported self-management: a qualitative study. Disability and rehabilitation, 1-16.

Gudgeon, M., Wilkinson, A., & Hale, L. (2022). Healthcare professional students' perceptions of supporting patient self-management: A mixed method study. Chronic Illness.  19(2), 395-408. doi: 10.1177/17423953211073367

McConnell L, Hale L. (2024). Undergraduate physiotherapy students’ perspectives on optimising the curriculum for supported self-management education. New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy, 52(1), 17–25. https://doi.org/10.15619/nzjp.v52i1.359

Areli, E., Godfrey, H. K., Perry, M. A., Hempel, D., Saipe, B., Grainger, R., Hale, L., & Devan, H. (2020). 'I think there is nothing.. that is really comprehensive': Healthcare professionals' views on recommending online resources for pain self-management. British Journal of Pain.  15(4):429-440. doi: 10.1177/2049463720978264

Hale, L. A., Jenkins, M. L., Mayland, B., Buttery, Y., Norris, P., Butler, M., … Kayes, N. (2019). Living with dementia: The felt worth of support workers. Ageing & Society. 1-21. doi: 10.1017/S0144686X19001636

Wilkinson, A., Atlas, J., Nelson, K., & Mulligan, H. (2020). Client perceptions of engaging with a health and social care navigation service: A qualitative study. Chronic Illness. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/1742395320937046

Research opportunities

Graduate research:

We currently have a call for PhD and Masters Candidates open: https://www.otago.ac.nz/postgraduate-study/research-opportunities/reframing-health-and-wellbeing-self-management-support-together

Working with us:

We are interested in hearing from anyone who works in paid and unpaid roles supporting people and communities to live well with long-term conditions.

We are open to discussing ideas for future study or to develop collaborative research projects. Our team can support you when applying for funding to support aligned research such as; HRC Clinical Training Fellowships and HRC Activation Grants.

For a chat, contact: supportedselfmanagement@otago.ac.nz