Improving health and wellbeing
Victoria University of Wellington is working to improve New Zealanders’ health and wellbeing, drawing on our research and connections with government, District Health Boards, and NGOs, including Māori and Pacific organisations.
What we do
Victoria University of Wellington researchers are improving health and wellbeing in communities through research and engagement—watch the video from the former chair Professor Gregor Coster.
Improving health and wellbeing in our communities
“Health and wellbeing” means much more than simply the absence of illness and infirmity, encompassing a broader state of mental and social wellbeing.
Victoria University of Wellington already has many academic units involved in health and wellbeing research. Thanks to our proximity to central government, District Health Boards, and many NGOs, we are also making major contributions to understanding how health outcomes can be improved by better policy settings, increased education, new technology, and reduced inequality.
Our capability is multidisciplinary. We are working to improve health and wellbeing in our communities by coordinating research and teaching across three key areas: Science, Engineering and Design; Health Services and Policy; Arts, Education, Business and Society.
Te Aukume—Improving Health and Wellbeing
The use of ‘au’ meaning current and movement and te aukume meaning to prolong or extend out and in this case, health and wellbeing.
Our research
Victoria University of Wellington’s health and wellbeing capability is wide-ranging—covering science, policy, education, business, the humanities and social sciences.
Find out more
Centres, institutes and schools
The multidisciplinary research centres, institutes and schools at Victoria University of Wellington provide a platform for our world leading researchers to collaborate and focus on significant research challenges related to Improving health and wellbeing in our communities.
Related stories
Accepting self-harm
8 October 2019
There is a fine line between sending the message of accepting a behaviour and encouraging it, writes Snita Ahir-Knight, a child and adolescent therapist who is a PhD student in Victoria University of Wellington's Philosophy programme.
Somewhere between art and mental health
3 October 2019
To capture and restore the vital complexities of living we must go beyond epidemiology, writes Professor Annemarie Jutel from Victoria University of Wellington's Faculty of Health.
Depression: it’s a word we use a lot, but what exactly is it?
25 September 2019
PhD student Samuel Clack and Professor Tony Ward from Victoria University of Wellington's School of Psychology propose a new way to understand a serious mental disorder that manifests itself in many different ways.