Our Platform is committed to working with its partners to improve the health of residents by shaping the health cityscape.
Urban planning and development for health (journal special issue)
To highlight the important findings and outcomes of the Healthy Urban Environments Seed Grant Program over the past five years by the universities, local health districts and other partners of SPHERE, we have collated 8 papers in an open access special issue published with the Sax Institute journal, Public Health Research and Practice. The collation includes papers that focus on different aspects of public, population, and planetary health, on different marginalised and less represented groups (covering social housing residents, LGBTQIA+ communities, First Nations Australians to name a few), and grassroots lessons and policy options to encourage and enhance implementation initiatives.
Read the open access special issue here
Assessing and addressing formal and informal care needs when diversities intersect
This project (funded by the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute as part of its 2023 seed grant program) identifies the care and support needs of older people at the intersection of age, ethnicity and sexuality, to uncover how their needs are currently supported by formal services and informal networks. This involves a mixed-method approach, by analysing and mapping data from the NSW Gay Asian Men Survey Series and the GEN Aged Care Data, and gaining insights into the through in-depth interviews with non-heterosexual men of Asian backgrounds living in Australia as well as stakeholders. The outcomes will inform government and industries on how they may develop strategies to better support diverse, ageing populations.
Check out our interactive maps here
A copy of the Project Information Statement can be downloaded here
Understanding reception of care technology for healthy ageing at home
This project (funded by the Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise, or SPHERE, under its 2023 Big Ideas grant program) aims to find out more about what every day ageing people think about the idea of technology (such as sensors and robots) being installed in their homes to support their ageing in place. It also seeks to know what carers and people's families think about the idea. It is delivered in partnership with the Healthy@Home initiative, and involves three other SPHERE Platforms and Clinical Academic Groups along with 10 industry partners.
Place-based planning for health precincts in NSW: Discussion paper
With support from HUE, the Institute of Sustainable Futures has developed a paper for Health Infrastructure NSW to facilitate discussions on NSW health precincts.
Assessing health precincts for health promotion
HUE has started research into health precincts in South West Sydney Local Health District, with the focus on: Does hospital/healthcare infrastructure, directly or indirectly, impact on the health of patients, staff, their social networks and the wider community?
Read our precinct audit tool report here
Read our open access journal article here
Place-based health interventions in NSW – A rapid review of evidence
This report describes a rapid review exercise on the place-based intervention approaches to improving the health and wellbeing outcomes of residents in the Australian state of NSW. The aim of this exercise is to inform the Cancer Institute NSW on their future policy and program developments in cancer prevention and screening. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following research questions:
What place-based interventions for health promotion and risk prevention and screening currently exist in NSW?
How effective have these interventions been in achieving their stated objectives?
Read the report here
Facilitating physical and non-physical connections to Country among older Aboriginal peoples living in urban Australia
This project (funded by the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute as part of its 2022 seed grant program) investigates how traditional walaays (ceremonial camps) and Augmented Reality technology may assist older, urban-living Aboriginal people to reconnect with Country, and contribute to cultural healing.
Read our open access journal article here
Land Use Planning for Equitable Health Outcomes (LUPEHO)
Partnering with UNSW Sydney's Centre for Health Equity Training, Research and Evaluation, this project (commissioned by the Western Sydney Health Alliance) reviews the development of healthy planning principles in Australia and internationally, assesses how land use planning instruments at the NSW State and local government levels align with and operationalise 12 healthy planning principles, and proposes a set of indicators that will assist the Alliance to benchmark and monitor health equity outcomes in the Western Parkland City.
The final report (3.2MB) and supplementary tables (1.4MB) are now available for downloads. Our Conversation article can be viewed online.
Inclusive place-based planning for LGBTQIA+ communities
This collaborative project involves researchers at the University of Technology Sydney, Western Sydney University, UNSW Sydney and Arup Australia. Funded by the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI), it investigates how city planning can help improve the senses of belonging, home and safety of our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Gender Diverse, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and other sexual minority (LGBTQIA+) communities living in the Six Cities Region.
