Dr Candice Oster

Research Biography

Dr Candice Oster (BA(Hons), PhD) is a Senior Research Fellow in the Caring Futures Institute at Flinders University. Prior to this Candice was a lecturer in the postgraduate Chronic Condition Management course in the Discipline of Behavioural Health at Flinders University, teaching theories and models of health behaviour change and Motivational Interviewing.

Candice has a psychology and behavioural health background and has undertaken research across the spectrum of behavioural health, from theories and models of health behaviour and individual-level interventions through to community, organisational, and policy/structural contexts. With diverse research interests from understanding consumer and provider experiences of health and healthcare through to contextual factors such as social determinants of health and organisational and system change, Candice has expertise in qualitative research methodologies, mixed methods research, digital health, and implementation science.

Her current research projects include developing sustainable models and mechanisms of social prescribing to address social determinants of health and the use of Artificial Intelligence, particularly Large Language Models, for health care, social support, and education applications.

Candice is a member of the expert panel of the Australian Social Prescribing Institute of Research and Education (ASPIRE), an affiliate of the Centre for Social Impact, a member of Open Door, and the College of Nursing & Health Sciences representative on the Flinders Digital Health Research Centre.

Research Impact

Social Prescribing: Dr Oster is a leader in social prescribing in Australia, with a program of work to co-design, implement, and evaluate social prescribing for various populations and communities. By convening and running a ‘Think Tank on the Future of Social Prescribing in South Australia’, this enables her to bring together industry decision-makers to advance action on social prescribing.

Digital Technology: Candice leads a multidisciplinary, cross-college research team – FlourishAI Collective - focusing on opportunities and risks of Artificial Intelligence for human flourishing. Dr Oster and her team were the 2024 winners of the Priority Digital Health Challenge (AWS, Cogniss, Validitron) for their Journey to Recovery app for stroke survivors.

Research Interests and Expertise

• Social prescribing
• Social determinants of health
• Chronic condition prevention and management
• Motivational Interviewing
• Generative Artificial Intelligence
• Digital health
• Implementation science
• Photovoice
• Co-design