EducationHealth and Wellbeing

Our Health and Wellbeing research theme focuses on improving mental, emotional, and physical health and wellbeing throughout life. It involves research amongst children, adolescents, adults, carers, and educators, as well as marginalised and neurodiverse groups. We investigate how the different forms of health in each group affect learning and occupational outcomes and consider the impact of educational environments, such as schools or universities, on students' wellbeing. We further explore physical education, socioemotional learning programmes, preventive health, and support for students with chronic conditions or disabilities.

Our research informs strategies for promoting mental health, wellbeing, and healthy behaviours through supportive educational and occupational ecosystems. It further helps foster resilient and thriving communities through synthesising evidence on the integral role of wellbeing in education and employment. Finally, we identify evidence-based practices that schools, higher education institutions, employers, and other healthcare organisations can use to promote healthy development.

Co-leads

Subthemes

School attendance is a critical determinant of academic success and personal development, yet absenteeism remains a persistent challenge with far-reaching implications. This research theme examines the complex web of factors that influence attendance, the consequences of absenteeism, and strategies to promote regular school participation.

Determinants of school absenteeism often involve an interplay of individual, familial, and systemic factors. Health issues, mental well-being, family instability, socioeconomic hardships, and experiences of bullying or exclusion in schools contribute significantly to missed days. Furthermore, structural issues such as inadequate transportation, inequitable access to resources, and cultural or linguistic barriers exacerbate absenteeism in many communities. Understanding these influences is critical to identifying at-risk groups and addressing root causes effectively.

Absenteeism carries profound consequences for both students and society. Chronically absent students frequently experience lower academic performance, higher dropout rates, and diminished opportunities for post-secondary education or stable employment. School absenteeism is further linked to increased risks of mental health struggles, substance abuse, and involvement in the juvenile justice system, underscoring the broader social costs of this issue.

Efforts to reduce absenteeism focus on dismantling barriers to attendance and implementing targeted interventions. Addressing transportation challenges, providing access to health care, creating inclusive and safe school environments, and engaging families in the educational process are key strategies. Additionally, evidence-based interventions such as mentorship programs, early warning systems, and community collaborations have shown promise in improving attendance rates.

By exploring these dimensions, researchers in this theme aim to develop holistic and sustainable solutions that not only improve attendance but also foster equity and inclusion. This theme underscores the importance of collective action to ensure every child has the opportunity to learn, thrive, and achieve their full potential.

Lead
Subtheme members
  • Samara Marta

The subtheme provides a focus on the pedagogical aspects of physical education and sport. Research projects include girls, gender and physical education (including studies in Pakistan and China), critical pedagogies of effect, trauma-informed pedagogy, CHAT and artefacts in physical education, LGBTQ+ pupils’ experiences of physical education, policy and physical education, after-school clubs and vulnerable youth, outsourcing of physical education, play and physical education in the early years.

Leads
Subtheme members
  • Mykola Sainchuk
  • Stephanie Hardley
  • Jordan Flynn
  • Elise Houssin
  • Jing Yang
  • Ross Matheson
  • Aimee McDonald
  • David Mitchell
  • Carolyn Wilson-Walker
  • Jiayi Du
  • Shawana Imtiaz
  • Stella Gkegka
  • Haseena Gul

The impact trauma has on learning, and healthy development is recognised by practitioners and policy stakeholders. This subtheme provides a forum for researchers and scholars with an interest in Trauma Research and the fundamental role this plays in mental health education. Our research explores and provides insights into how painful experiences shape mental health throughout the life course. 

Trauma Research embodies a comprehensive field offering transformative answers to sensitive questions. Therefore, trauma-based sensitivity and ethics are paramount. We examine trauma vulnerability of those from disadvantaged and marginalized groups (i.e. encompassing, but not inclusive, people with addictions, those from adverse childhood experiences, such as poverty, care-experienced, survivors of abuse, whilst others including LGBTQ+, disabled, and neurodivergent communities). Our research has a strong emphasis on participatory methodologies that seek to involve people with lived experience in every stage of the research process. 

Trauma can be healed with the right approach, help and time, with some therapeutic interventions proving to be particularly successful in helping trauma survivors recover. Our research spans Trauma-Informed Pedagogy, from teaching approaches and potential paths to resiliency, as well as Healing-Centered Engagement, from approaches that invoke culture, spirituality, civic action, and collective healing.
Our goal is to conduct impactful research and knowledge exchange to empower educators, therapists, and individuals to understand trauma and how to respond to trauma survivors.

Leads
Subtheme members