Research team
Research investigators
- Dr Dick Saarloos, UWA
- Professor Steve Zubrick, UWA
- Asst Professor Lisa Wood, UWA
- Dr Hayley Christian, UWA
- Professor Billie Giles-Corti, UWA
- Professor Matthew Knuiman, UWA
- Dr Kimberly Van Niel, UWA
Little is known about the influence that different aspects of the built environment have on population sub-groups across the life-course. This project examines the relative impact of the built environment on people at a certain life stage (children, young adults, adults, and older adults), and explores how the impact of these environmental features varies across the life stages in terms of individual, social and environmental factors. 
In addition to addressing self-reported physical activity and body mass index, the project will investigate cardiovascular events, respiratory problems, anxiety and depression in relation to the built environment, based on objective medical records.
The Life course project will concentrate on the metropolitan Perth population using existing data sources obtained from the Health and Wellbeing Surveillance System (HWSS) that is administered by the Department of Health of the Government of Western Australia and the Western Australia Data Linkage System (WADLS). Furthermore, geographic information systems (GIS) will be used to generate objective measures to summarise the physical characteristics of each participant’s neighbourhood.
The findings will inform policy and practice about how neighbourhood design can be optimized to meet the needs and preferences of various age groups in the population.
University information
CRICOS Code: 00126G
