Critical Health Psychology | Critical Approaches to Health and Health Care

Consumer Leadership of Health Services | Allyship to Marginalised Groups in Health Care

Dr Brett Scholz is a Research Fellow in the Medical School, ANU College of Health and Medicine. He is Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Adelaide Medical School at The University of Adelaide and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health at the University of Canberra. Prior to his current position, he held a Research Fellowship in the SYNERGY Nursing and Midwifery Research Centre at the University of Canberra and ACT Health, was a Lecturer in the Centre for Applied Psychology at the University of Canberra, and completed his PhD in the School of Public Health at the University of Adelaide. Brett has served as a Board Member for the ACT Mental Health Consumer Network, and has been involved as Co-Founder and Chief Research Officer for Spur Projects. He is currently an Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing.

As a critical health psychologist, Brett's research often focuses on ways in which health and health services can be more equitable, challenging power norms, and lead by consumers. He has published refereed journal articles in Palliative Medicine, Health Psychology, Health Policy, Health Expectations, Health Promotion International, Qualitative Health Research, International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, Journal of Mental Health, among others.

Brett is an Executive Committee member of the International Society of Critical Health Psychology, a Scientific Committee member of the European Conference on Mental Health, and an Organising Committee member of the Service Users in Academia Symposium. He is co-editor of The Operative Word, the podcast of the International Society of Critical Health Psychology.

1. Critical approaches to health care

2. Allyship to marginalised groups in health and health care

3. Consumer leadership of health care systems

I am willing to contribute to the supervision of postgraduate students in critical health psychology, critical approaches to health services, and allyship to marginalised groups in health service provision.

Current PhD Supervision

• Julia Bocking (ANU Medical School), Teaching from lived experience perspectives
• Marguerite Kelly (ANU Medical School), Critical approaches to the understandings of death and dying
• Stephanie Stewart (Psychology, The University of Melbourne), Consumer leadership in mental health
• Phoebe Drioli-Phillips (Psychology, The University of Adelaide), Men's experiences of anxiety
• Kristi Urry (Psychology, The University of Adelaide), Sexual health in the mental health setting: Perceptions of Australian mental health clinicians
• Joshua Bishop (Psychology, University of Canberra), Improving mental health services for LGB people
• Karen Demmery (Health, University of Canberra), Importance of family connection in healing intergenerational trauma

Current Research Project Students, ANU Medical School

• Callum Bowles, Mental health service use for rural LGBTQI+ communities
• Torniké Janjgava, Attitudes towards mental ill health

Current Masters Supervision

• Riya Jose (Psychology, University of Canberra), Bereaved family members reflections on palliative care provision
• Rebecca Greenwood (Psychology, University of Canberra), Psychology academics' attitudes to coproducing teaching with conusmer academics

Current Honours Supervision

• Yin Chan (ANU Research School of Psychology), Evaluatintg a consumer-led health service in Hong Kong
• Jody McPhee (ANU Research School of Psychology), Exploring the benefits of consumer representatives on non-consumer health service providers

PhD Completions

• Josie Larkings (Psychology, University of Canberra), Mental health professionals' and consumers' causal beliefs about mental illness: Impact on perceptions of mental illness and the treatment process
• Lucetta Thomas (Faculty of Health, University of Canberra), An exploration into the psychotherapeutic needs of males who have been sexually abused by their biological mother in Australia: A qualitative description study

Masters Completions

6 completions in Psychology

Honours Completions

6 completions in Psychology

Research Mentorship Completions

2 completions from ANU internship programmes; 1 completion from the ACT Health vacation program