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DSC3356_Ruth_photoMBChB, MPH, FNZCPHM, PhD
Research Associate Professor, Public Health Physician, Director of the EleMent research group.

Teaches: Public Health Ethics; public health for medical student.

Contact details

Tel +64 4 385 5541
Email ruth.cunningham@otago.ac.nz

Research interests and activities

Ruth is a public health physician and epidemiologist working in the areas of mental health research, social epidemiology, cancer epidemiology and health services research. The main focus of her current work is mental health epidemiology and the physical health of people with experience of mental health conditions.

Ruth leads the Electronic data for Mental health research (EleMent) group: Te Raraunga Hinengaro. EleMent are a multidisciplinary research group bringing together expertise in epidemiology, public health and data science with clinical and lived experience of mental distress. The group use routinely collected electronic data from health and other sources to understand the distribution and determinants of mental health and mental distress, with a focus is on making the best use of available information to improve the mental health of New Zealanders.

Ruth is principal investigator the Tupuānuku research project funded by the Health Research Council to investigate the factors contributing to inequities in physical health outcomes for people with experience of mental illness or addiction in Aotearoa. Ruth is also working on a number of projects using routine data on mental health service use in New Zealand (PRIMHD) linked to other datasets, including projects examining mental health service use in later life, mental health care in emergency departments, and mental health service provision for Māori. Ruth is also working with Dr Paula King on the health and wellbeing impacts of incarceration for Māori.

Ruth welcomes expressions of interest form Masters and PhD students.

Publications

Monk, N. J., Cunningham, R., Stanley, J., Fitzjohn, J., Kerdemelidis, M., Lockett, H., McLachlan, A. D., Porter, R. J., … Lacey, C. (2024). Inequity in cardiometabolic hospital admissions and blood screening in New Zealand Indigenous Māori with psychosis. BJPsych Open, 10, e159. doi: 10.1192/bjo.2024.759 Journal - Research Article

Monk, N. J., Cunningham, R., Stanley, J., Crengle, S., Fitzjohn, J., Kerdemelidis, M., Lockett, H., McLachlan, A. D., Waitoki, W., & Lacey, C. (2024). The physical health and premature mortality of Indigenous Māori following first-episode psychosis diagnosis: A 15-year follow-up study. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 58(11), 963-976. doi: 10.1177/00048674241270981 Journal - Research Article

Kuehl, S., Freeland, A., Stanley, J., & Cunningham, R. (2024). Almost one in five emergency department presentations are by mental health clients: A secondary data analysis. New Zealand Medical Journal/Te ara tika o te hauora hapori, 137(1595), 13-38. Retrieved from https://www.nzmj.org.nz/ Journal - Research Article

Peterson, D., Imlach, F., & Cunningham, R. (2024). Mental health and aging in New Zealand: mixed-methods analysis of experiences of healthcare from a survey of older adults with mental health conditions. Kōtuitui, 1-15. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/1177083X.2024.2344511 Journal - Research Article

Cunningham, R., Stanley, J., Imlach, F., Haitana, T., Lockett, H., Every-Palmer, S., Clark, M. T. R., Lacey, C., Telfer, K., & Peterson, D. (2024). Cancer diagnosis after emergency presentations in people with mental health and substance use conditions: A national cohort study. BMC Cancer, 24, 546. doi: 10.1186/s12885-024-12292-9 Journal - Research Article

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