Mental Health & Exercise Research Group (MHEX)
Exercise in the treatment and management of mental health and illness
This research group is exploring exercise in the management of physical and mental health outcomes for those living with, or at risk of, mental ill health. Exercise is beneficial and therapeutic for patients across multiple areas of health and wellbeing, but how to support individuals to be active, improve health outcomes and embed exercise within care pathways is yet to be established.
Furthermore, the mechanisms by which exercise impacts outcomes across varied disorders and settings is yet to be established.
Specific projects include substance use disorders and addiction rehabilitation services; severe mental illnesses in inpatients and community healthcare services; supporting the mental wellbeing of tertiary students; mental health of at-risk children and young people; and exercise and eating disorders, and exercise and gender diversity.
Current projects include:
- Move your mind: exercise to support the physical and mental health outcomes of individuals living with severe mental illness
- Stride: An on-campus referral-based exercise program from students with mental health problems
- Exercise and gender diversity
- Human Thriving in Recurring Potentially Traumatic, Elevated Threat and High Stress Work Environments
- Exercise interventions to support youth with mental illness transitioning between child, adolescent, and adult mental health services.
- Exercise for those with disordered eating.
- Eating Disorder Treatment Models for Trans and Gender Diverse People.
Current PhD students:
- Felicity Austin
- Kai Schweizer
- Sally Edmonson
- Ben Kramer
- Caleb McMahen
- Anna Hilyard
Completed PhD students:
MHEX is currently open to accepting new Honours, Masters and PhD students, with a range of projects available broadly focused around:
- Investigating the role of exercise in the management of physical and mental health outcomes in individuals with common and severe mental illness (in various settings)
- Establishing evidence-based practices for the promotion and delivery of exercise for mental health/illness in varied settings (e.g community health care, hospitals, universities, workplace rehabilitation
- Developing innovative strategies and programs to support the health and wellbeing outcomes of individuals at risk of, or living with mental illness
News + Updates
Guidelines and Tool for Triaging Mental Health Consumers into Exercise
A recent project by PhD Candidate Caleb McMahen and colleagues, explored strategies to triage patients into exercise therapy within hospital based mental health care. As part of the project outcomes, and based on expert consensus, a number of tools were developed for use by exercise professionals and mental health services.
These tools are available free of charge via the MHEX webpage (www.thrivinginmotion.org/mhex)
The peer reviewed, open access publication detailing tools development is available from journal:
Featured MHEX Publications
- Austin, F., Wright, K., Jackson, B., Lin, A., Schweizer, K., & Furzer, B. (2024). A scoping review of trans and gender diverse children and adolescents’ experiences of physical activity, sport, and exercise participation. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 26, Article 100576
- Simpson, A., Teague, S., Kramer, B., Lin, A., Thornton, A. L., Budden, T., Furzer, B., Jeftic, I., Dimmock, J., Rosenberg, M., & Jackson, B. (2024). Physical activity interventions for the promotion of mental health outcomes in at-risk children and adolescents: a systematic review. Health Psychology Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2024.2391787
- Almarjawi, A., Wright, K., Buist, B., Cairney, J., Ton, T., & Furzer, B. (2023).Reliability of Fitness Assessments in Children With Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties. Pediatric Exercise Science, 35(4), 206-213
- Jeftic, I., Furzer, B., Dimmock, J., Wright, K., Boyd, C., Budden, T., Rosenberg, M., Kramer, B., Buist, B., Fitzpatrick, I., Sabiston, C., de Jonge, M., & Jackson, B. (2023).Structured exercise programs for higher education students experiencing mental health challenges: Background, significance, and implementation. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1104918. Article 1104918
- Jeftic, I., Furzer, B., Dimmock, J., Wright, K., Budden, T., Boyd, C., Simpson, A., Rosenberg, M., Sabiston, C., de Jonge, M., & Jackson, B. (2023). The stride program: Feasibility and pre-to-post program change of an exercise service for university students experiencing mental distress. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 69, Article 102507
- Wright, K., Jackson, B., Licari, M., Dimmock, J., & Furzer, B. (2023). Thriving families: The feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a multi-component physical literacy program for children with neurodevelopmental, emotional, or behavioural problems. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 25, Article 100558
- McMahen, C., Wright, K., Stanton, R., Lederman, O., Rosenbaum, S., McKeon, G., & Furzer, B. (2022).Outcome assessments used in studies examining the effect of prescribed exercise interventions for people living with severe mental illness, a scoping review. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 22, Article 100438
- Furzer, B., Rebar, A. L., Dimmock, J., More, A., Thornton, A., Wright, K., Colthart, A., & Jackson, B. (2021). Exercise is medicine … when you enjoy it: exercise enjoyment, relapse prevention efficacy, and health outcomes for youth within a drug and alcohol treatment service. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 52, Article 101800
- More A, Jackson B, Dimmock J, Thornton A, Colthart A, Furzer B. (2018) “It's like a counselling session… but you don't need to say anything:" Exercise program outcomes for youth within a drug and alcohol treatment service. Psychol Sport Exerc. 2018; 39; 1-9
Research team leaders:
Associate Professor Bonnie Furzer (she/her) – Accredited Exercise Physiologist
- Associate Professor - UWA (School of Human Sciences(
- CEO - Thriving in Motion
- Senior Exercise Physiologist and Service Coordinator - Fremantle Hospital Mental Health Service
- Honorary Research Associate, The Kids Research Institute
Dr Kemi Wright (she/her) - PhD/Accredited Exercise Physiologist
- Senior Lecturer and the Program Authority for Exercise Physiology, UNSW (School of Health Sciences)
- COO - Thriving in Motion
Collaborations
Research Collaborators:
- Fremantle Hospital Mental Health Service (South Metropolitan Health Service)
- Psychology of Active, Healthy Living Group
- Thriving In Motion
- The Kids Research Institute
- James Cook University
- UWA Exercise and Performance Centre
- Perth Children's Hospital
- UNSW
Media
- UWA media article - Exercise physiology students use telehealth to help community
- Exercise & Sport Science Australia's Move Magazine - Exercise outcomes for youth within a drug and alcohol treatment service
- Perth Now -Thriving DAYS program proves successful in helping a 19yo with drug addiction
Keen to join MHEX?
Check criteria for admission to UWA as a research student
- To be accepted into the Doctor of Philosophy or other research pathways, an applicant must demonstrate they have sufficient background experience in independent supervised research to successfully complete, and provide evidence of English language proficiency
- Check your eligibility
- Expertise and experience that supports a good fit with MHEX projects include:
- Allied health training with relevance to working in the area of mental health (e.g. exercise physiologist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, clinical psychologist)
- Experience working with vulnerable or at-risk populations
Submit enquiry to research team leader
- Contact the research team leaders via email ([email protected]) with a short description of your interest and background, and CV
- After you have discussed your project with the research team leader, proceed with your application via Graduate Research School
Scholarships
- Domestic students
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All domestic students may apply for Research Training Program and University Postgraduate Awards (UPA) scholarships
- International students
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A range of scholarships are available from international organisations and governments. The full list, organised by country, is available on the Future Students website.
In addition, all international students may apply for International Research Training Program scholarships.
- Indigenous students
- Indigenous students are encouraged to apply for Indigenous Postgraduate Research Supplementary Scholarships.
- Forrest Foundation scholarships
- All international and Australian students who wish to study towards the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at The University of Western Australia may apply for Forrest Scholarships.
