McCaughey Centre : The University of Melbourne

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Dr Deborah Warr

VicHealth Public Health Research Fellow

Ph: +61 3 8344 0833
Fax: +61 3 9348 2832
Email: djwarr@ unimelb.edu.au

Deborah is a VicHealth Research Fellow with the McCaughey Centre, and her work is primarily aimed at understanding socio-economic contexts for health inequalities in developed nations.

With degrees from Deakin, Monash, and LaTrobe universities, her academic association with the University of Melbourne spans her time as an NHMRC post-doctoral research fellow with the School of Population Health's Centre for Health and Society, and in a variety of other lecturing and teaching roles as a sociologist in the Faculties of Arts and Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.

Deborah has published widely and is recognised internationally for work that includes reports of empirical findings and articles exploring theoretical and methodological issues. She has long-standing commitment and expertise in collaborative, participatory and community based research methods and ensuring that the findings of research are accessible for implementation in policy and practice.

Areas of expertise include:

Social capital
Social processes for health
Place-based health processes
Evaluating community interventions
Participatory research methods

Recent research support:

As principal (sole) investigator:

VicHealth Public Health Fellowship (2007-2011)
Project: Pathways to inclusion: the contribution of community participation and networks to improved health and wellbeing outcomes.

R. Douglas Wright Fellowship, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne (2006)
Project: It’s not what you know but who you know’: building social networks for health in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

As co-investigator:

DHS Public Health grant (2006-2007)
Project: Responding to health inequalities: evaluating the impact of Neighbourhood Renewal on health and well-being in disadvantaged Victorian communities.

Working in collaboration with colleagues and residents to undertake local Neighbourhood Renewal Community Surveys in the Fitzroy, Collingwood, Broadmeadows, East Reservoir and Heidelberg West NR sites.

Supervision

Current and recently supervised projects include PhD research exploring the health of call-centre workers; men caring for family members with a mental illness; and the meaningfulness of community participation in place-based strategies addressing health and social inequalities.

Recent publications:

Warr, D., Tacticos, T., Kelaher, M. and Klein, H. (2007) ‘Money, Stress, jobs’: residents’ perceptions of health-impairing factors in ‘poor’ neighbourhoods. Health & Place. 13:743-756.
Warr, D. Gender, class and the art and craft of social capital. The Sociological Quarterly. 47, 497-520.
Warr, D.J. (2005) Social networks in a ‘discredited’ neighbourhood. Journal of Sociology 41 (3), 287-310.
Warr, D.J. (2005) ‘It was fun … but we don’t usually talk about these things’: analysing sociable interaction in focus groups. Qualitative Inquiry. 11 (2), 200-225.
Warr, D.J. (2004) Stories in the flesh and voices in the head: reflections on the context and impact of qualitative research with disadvantaged populations. Qualitative Health Research. 14:578-587..
Warr, D.J. (2001) The importance of love and understanding: speculation on romance in safe sex health promotion. Women’s Studies International Forum. 24:241-252.
Warr, D.J. and Pyett, P.M. (1999). Difficult relations: sex work, love and intimacy. Sociology of Health and Illness, 21:290-309.
Pyett, P.M. and Warr, D.J. (1999). Women at risk in sex work: strategies for survival. Journal of Sociology, 35:183-197.
Warr, D.J. (1999). Personal troubles, public issues and the reflexive practice of research. Annual Review of Health Social Sciences, 9:21-31.
Hillier, L., Warr, D. and Haste, B. (1998). Rural youth: HIV/STD knowledge levels and sources of information. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 6:18-26.
Hillier, L., Harrison, L. and Warr, D. (1998). ‘When you carry condoms all the boys think you want it’: negotiating competing discourses about safe sex. Journal of Adolescence, 21: 15-29.
Warr, D. and Hillier, L. (1997). ‘That’s the problem with living in a small town’: privacy and sexual health issues for young rural people. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 5:132-139.
Pyett, P. M. and Warr, D.J. (1997). Vulnerability on the streets: female sex workers and HIV risk. AIDS Care, 9: 539-547.

Community reports:

Warr, D. (2007) Outside the school gates: tackling disadvantage at an early learning centre. Centre for the Health & Society, University of Melbourne
Pope, J. & Warr, D. (2005) Strengthening local communities. An overview of research examining the benefits of Neighbourhood Houses. Department of Victorian Communities, Melbourne.
Warr, D.J. (2004) ‘There’s good and bad everywhere you go: exploring local contexts for social capital. Report for the Community, Centre for the Study of Health & Society, University of Melbourne.

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