Schutze, Heike Dr

social determinants of health

Heike Schütze is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine at UNSW Australia and an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in the School of Medicine at the University of Wollongong. Her research interests include health services research and translational research; developing, implementing and evaluating interventions to improve health and social outcomes; health inequities, particularly in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, indigenous peoples and other minority populations; and educational interventions. Her teaching expertise in is public health, chronic disease management, research methods, evidence-based practice and cultural awareness/safety. 

She has recently been awarded over Million $2.5 accross three grants to improve recovery and resilience in two regional areas in rural NSW following the 2019-2020 Black Summer Bushfires. Other research projects she is currently working on include exploring the feasibility, safety and impact of transferring cancer patients with low risk of reoccurrence to continuing care to general practice and alternative models of care for primary care patients who present in the emergency department. Her previous research assessed the application of a novel research method as a quality improvement tool to improve the acceptability and quality of care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the primary healthcare setting, Equity Focused Health Impact Assessments, a number of NHMRC-funded randomised control trials on chronic disease prevention, and general practitioner education. In the teaching and learning space, Heike’s research is currently evaluating two higher education interventions she developed: a for-credit subject to improve the transition to university, and supporting undergraduate and postgraduate students in Academic Integrity.

In addition to her primary health care research and research evaluation experience, Heike has extensive experience in data collection techniques, particularly in qualitative research techniques. She has co-ordinated the data collection for significant Government (both State and Commonwealth) and private projects, examples of which include 36,000 telephone interviews per annum and 5000 multilingual interviews. Heike also spent time living with disadvantaged communities in Asia and Africa, which led to her interest in health equity for Indigenous, minority and marginalised populations. 

social determinants of health