Paul Sharp joins the Males’s Well being Analysis Program as a Publish-doc

We’re excited to be sharing that Paul Sharp can be becoming a member of the Males’s Well being Analysis Program as a Postdoctoral fellow this summer time and had the pleasure to interview him to study extra about his work, analysis pursuits and extra!

 “…it’s my hope that this analysis contributes to the broader narrative and cultural paradigm shift wanted to
breakdown stereotypical gender norms and handle well being inequities. Extra instantly, I hope that this analysis will assist to tell service provision and spark the event and uptake of initiatives for males that help psychological well being and well-being.”

Are you able to inform me a little bit bit about your educational background?

I studied a Bachelor of Human Kinetics and Grasp of Science on the College of British Columbia, Canada. After finishing my MSc., I labored as a Analysis Assistant and Analysis Coordinator the place our crew designed, applied, and evaluated well being promotion interventions focused at smoking cessation, bodily exercise, wholesome consuming, and social connectedness. I additionally labored for a number of years within the public sector on homelessness and neighbourhood improvement, which helped me see the significance of utilized analysis and translating analysis proof into follow. Most just lately, I’ve been residing in stunning Sydney, Australia, finishing my PhD on the College of Know-how Sydney, exploring novel methods for enhancing males’s psychological well being via bodily exercise packages.

What are your analysis pursuits?

Within the broadest sense, I’ve all the time been all in favour of serving to individuals stay happier and more healthy lives. The complexity in carrying out this objective lies in understanding the precise boundaries and facilitators to behavior change that stem from particular person, environmental, social, and cultural components. Extra particularly, my analysis focuses on males, masculinities, and health-related behaviours and the way this data will be applied into community-based well being promotion initiatives focused at males’s well being and well-being.

What led you to pursue your work in males’s well being?

Males current distinctive challenges and alternatives for well being promotion and there are sociocultural and contextual influences which are evident in on a regular basis life. I discover it fascinating to think about how these components affect males’s lives, in addition to my very own. I’ve additionally been extremely fortunate to have educational mentors who’re distinguished males’s well being researchers and who’ve actually sparked my curiosity on this discipline.

Are you able to inform me a little bit bit concerning the analysis you’ll be doing with MHR within the coming months? How have you ever been concerned with MHR up to now?

I’ve labored peripherally with Dr. John Oliffe and the MHR crew for a number of years. I’ve contributed to the design and analysis of a number of packages together with QuitNow Males (quitnowmen.com), POWERPLAY at work (powerplayatwork.com), and HAT TRICK (hattrick.okay.ubc.ca). Within the coming months, I can be (1) analyzing males’s relationship providers and techniques to help males in constructing higher relationships, and (2) exploring the psychosocial impacts of the pandemic on males’s well being and novel approaches to participating males in help-seeking.

What do you hope will change because of this analysis? Or what do you hope to contribute to this physique of analysis?

Finally, it’s my hope that this analysis contributes to the broader narrative and cultural paradigm shift wanted to breakdown stereotypical gender norms and handle well being inequities. Extra instantly, I hope that this analysis will assist to tell service provision and spark the event and uptake of initiatives for males that help psychological well being and well-being. Notably within the wake of the pandemic, providers are urgently wanted that account for the altering panorama of males’s psychological well being with reference to rising psychosocial considerations and the necessity for novel service supply.

How has COVID-19 impacted your analysis in Australia? What sorts of issues have you ever carried out to adapt?

Because the COVID-19 scenario started to unfold right here in Australia in March 2020, we have been within the midst of recruiting and amassing baseline measurements for a face-to-face life-style intervention set to begin later that month. The introduction of stay-at-home orders meant that we needed to postpone the supply of the intervention and re-think how we interact with males. In doing so, we’ve undertaken extra qualitative analysis to additional discover novel methods for delivering males’s well being packages. What has been placing to me is a few males’s recognition and curiosity in psychological well being, revealing alternatives to focus on males’s psychological well being promotion in community-based settings.

Are there any hyperlinks that you simply wish to share? 

Study extra about me and my analysis beneath.