Erin Whittle
Research Areas: Disability, Measures of Social Inequality & Wellbeing
Co Supervisor: Julian Trollor
The aim of this PhD is to examine the intersection of gender and disability as determinants of access to mental health care via a mixed method design. This project will examine and document the ways in which gender plays a mediating role on access for men and women with an intellectual disability, focusing on both the lived experience and associated patterns of service usage.
People with intellectual disability experience substantially higher rates of mental and physical health conditions, and far lower rates of service usage. In the general population men and women access mental health services in different ways, at different times and for different reasons, so that gender acts as both a barrier and facilitator to access in distinctive ways. To date, the effect the gender has on access mental health services for people with intellectual disability has not been examined. This PhD will investigate the intersection between gender and intellectual disability and their relationship to accessing mental healthcare. The project will draw on social constructionist understandings of gender, disability and mental health to investigate how these determinants interact to impede or facilitate access, using a mixed method approach. The project seeks to generate new knowledge about these intersections and develop a gendered account of access issues.
Bio
Erin holds a Masters of Public Health from UNSW, and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Sociology and Gender Studies from the University of Sydney. Her research interests are gender, qualitative research methods, the social determinants of mental health and wellbeing and health inequities. She works as a research officer at 3DN (The Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry), UNSW.
Publications
Journal Articles
Orman, Jan, Clark, Janine, Whittle, Erin, Anonuevo, Cesar, Proudfoot, Judith. “A diabetes-specific e-mental health tool: Development, acceptability and outcomes of a feasibility study” Australian Family Physician, in press
Shand, Fiona L., Proudfoot, Judy, Player, Michael J., Fogarty, Andrea, Whittle, Erin, Wilhelm, Kay, Hadzi-Pavlovic, Dusan, McTigue, Isabel, Spurrier, Michael and Christensen, Helen. "What might interrupt men's suicide? Results from an online survey of men." BMJ open 5, no. 10 (2015): e008172.
Proudfoot, Judy, Fogarty, Andrea S. McTigue, Isabel, Nathan, Sally, Whittle, Erin L. , Christensen, Helen, Player, Michael J., Hadzi-Pavlovic, Dusan, and Wilhelm, Kay. "Positive strategies men regularly use to prevent and manage depression: a national survey of Australian men." BMC public health 15, no. 1 (2015): 1.
Fogarty, Andrea S., Proudfoot, Judy, Whittle, Erin L., Player, Michael J., Christensen, Helen, Hadzi-Pavlovic, Dusan, and Wilhelm, Kay. "Men's use of positive strategies for preventing and managing depression: A qualitative investigation." Journal of affective disorders 188 (2015): 179-187.
Player, Michael J., Proudfoot, Judy, Fogarty, Andrea, Whittle, Erin, Spurrier, Michael, Shand, Fiona, Christensen, Helen, Hadzi-Pavlovic, Dusan and Wilhelm, Kay. "What interrupts suicide attempts in men: a qualitative study." PloS one 10, no. 6 (2015): e0128180.
Whittle, Erin Louise, Fogarty, Andrea Susan, Tugendrajch, Siena, Player, Michael J. , Helen Christensen, Wilhelm, Kay, Hadzi-Pavlovic, Dusan and Proudfoot, Judith. "Men, depression, and coping: Are we on the right path?." Psychology of Men & Masculinity 16, no. 4 (2015): 426.
Wilhelm, Kay, Gillis, Inika, Schubert, Emery, Whittle, Erin Louise. "On a Blue Note: Depressed Peoples’ Reasons for Listening to Music." Music and Medicine 5, no. 2 (2013): 76-83.
Conference Papers and Presentations
“Partnerships for better health – improving mental health outcomes for people with an intellectual disability” at the ACI Patient Experience Symposium, Sydney NSW, 5th May 2016 (presentation)
“Doing What Comes Naturally”: positive strategies used by men to manage their mental health” Symposium presentation at SMHR 2014 Conference, Adelaide December 3rd -5t h 2014 (presentation)
“Predicting social exclusion and housing instability in women over 45” at the PHAA National Social Inclusion and Complex Needs Conference, Canberra, 15-16 April 2013 (presentation)
“The Social Inclusion Measure” Poster session at the 21st St Vincent’s & Mater Health Sydney Research Symposium at the Garvan Institute, Sydney September 2013 (poster)
“Pathways to Mental Health Care in Diabetes” at the ACU Nursing Research Symposium 2011 Forging Ahead With Multidisciplinary Research, Sydney, November 2011 (presentation)