Collaboration to develop healthy communities : promoting population health and community sustainability

CQU Healthy Communities is a new initiative at Central Queensland University which aims to draw together researchers and research centres from across the University, in collaboration with community and industry partners, to deliver research that directly contributes to the health and well-being of the communities in which we operate. Utilising a population health framework, CQU Healthy Communities research is centred on the identification, development and maintenance of factors which contribute to sustainable healthy communities, both within the population as well as within high risk samples, particularly in relation to regional needs. Research is being undertaken at the individual, family, group and population levels within three inter-related research programs: Mental & Psychosocial Health, Lifestyle Behaviour & Environment, and Human Services & Community Safety. The most important feature of the Healthy Communities research initiative is its partnership building approach with local communities, industries and service providers. This paper provides an overview of the inception of Healthy Communities at CQU and discusses some of the current, and planned, research projects being undertaken in collaboration with community and industry partners. One predominant focus across all three of the programs is on prevention-based research. Current exemplars include the effects of prevention programs aimed at helping communities prepare effectively for large scale disasters, parenting and systems interventions for young children at risk of various disorders, and the effects of early family-based psycho-educational interventions in early psychosis.