Melissa Opozda

Dr Mel (Melissa) Opozda is an AHPRA registered Health Psychologist and Research Fellow in Men’s Mental Health within the College of Medicine and Public Health, on Kaurna land in Tarntanya/Adelaide. Her research relates to young men's and men's health:

• their experiences of mental and physical ill-health and wellbeing,
• their experiences of accessing (or not accessing) health care and supports,
• their health-related behaviours and behaviour change, e.g., eating, alcohol use, exercise,
• supporting health professionals and health promoters to provide effective assistance to men, and
• developing and evaluating health and wellbeing promoting programs that suit men's preferences, needs, and circumstances - especially in the e-health/m-health space.

She is particularly interested in these issues in marginalised and vulnerable populations including Indigenous males, GBTQI+ men, and new migrant men. Her current main role is evaluating a new social media-based mental health and social support program for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males in the Northern Territory (YBMenNT). She has recently worked on projects examining men's experiences of using telehealth services, men's alcohol use during COVID-19, African migrant men's perceptions of mental health care, and men's use of e-mental health interventions. She mainly uses qualitative, mixed, and review methods. She has co-supervised two PhDs to completion. Mel was previously at the Freemasons Centre for Male Health and Wellbeing at SAHMRI and has also worked in various teaching, health education, health promotion, and clinical settings.

Mel is available to supervise Honours, Masters, and PhD projects in her areas of research.

Current roles:

• FHMRI Health Equity Impact Program Lead, Digital Health and Wellbeing Cluster.
• Movember Institute of Men's Health Research Partner.
• Flinders University Project ECHO Men's Health Network Subject Matter Expert.
• Bellberry Limited Human Research Ethics Committee Member.
• ALIVE Centre for Mental Health Translation Next Generation Research Network Member.

Professional memberships:

• Australian Association for Psychologists Inc.
• International Society for Suicide Prevention Suicide Prevention for Boys and Men Special Interest Group.
• International Society for Research on Internet Interventions.
• Australian Health Promotion Association.