Dr Karen Nobes

Karen Nobes is a Research Associate at the Caring Futures Institute, Flinders University. Her work focuses on social determinants of health and systemic barriers to diversity, equity and inclusion, with current research examining inequities in palliative care. She uses community-embedded and participatory approaches to engage underserved and seldom-heard populations and ensure their experiences inform health policy and service delivery.

Her research draws on an interdisciplinary background combining a PhD in media communications with 25 years of professional experience as a documentary director and producer in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. Karen has a Masters in International Development and worked in public health communication and development programs across the Pacific and remote Australia, including with the Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation and the NZ Ministry of  Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) in the Cook Islands. Her feature length documentary White Noise (2020), created as part of her practice-based PhD and broadcast on National Indigenous Television (NITV) and SBS On Demand, demonstrates her use of narrative and visual methods as powerful forms of Knowledge Translation - a methodological approach she continues to apply in her qualitative health research.