Kate Young

Dr Kate Young investigates how the diverse psychosocial health needs of women and children can be met within and outside of the Australian healthcare system. Kate’s background in psychology and public health informs her unique and creative approach to this research. From in-depth interviews and Photovoice to population-based surveys and randomised-controlled trails, she has wide range of skill and experience in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.

Kate is particularly interested in the production of knowledge about the human body, who defines which knowledge to be ‘true,’ and the influence of gender on these social processes. She has explored these interests within gynaecology, maternity, palliative, and paediatric cancer settings. Her recent doctoral research on the psychosocial aspects of endometriosis from the perspectives of women and their doctors—funded by competitive postgraduate scholarships from the National Health and Medical Research Council and Australian Rotary Health—resulted in six scholarly publications in esteemed Australian and international medical and health journals, has informed various translation pieces (e.g. Safe Work Australia’s, ‘Supporting workers with endometriosis in the workplace’), and was heavily featured in the recent popular press book, Pain and Prejudice, published by Allen & Unwin.

Kate’s current fellowship sits within the ‘Survivorship and Palliative Care in Child and Adolescent Brain Cancer’ project within the Centre for Child and Adolescent Brain Cancer Research. Working with families, she will use novel research methods to scope their psychosocial healthcare needs. This research will cumulate in the co-development of an intervention to improve family experiences and outcomes.