About us

Active Living and Rehabilitation: Aotearoa New Zealand (ALARA) is a research cluster that sits within the Health and Rehabilitation Research Institute (HRRI) at Auckland University of Technology (AUT).

ALARA is a multidisciplinary research group comprised of researchers, academics and clinicians who have a research interest in individuals, communities and populations living well through activity and rehabilitation.

Vision

The vision of ALARA is to improve the lives, health, function and wellbeing of people within New Zealand through our research and networks.

Aims

ALARA aims to:

1. Provide a network for researchers, to encourage and support research within AUT's School of Clinical Sciences
2. Foster national and international research collaborations
3. Promote the clinical research performed by members within the group.
4. Build research capacity through our undergraduate, postgraduate and post-doctoral students
5. Support clinicians and service leaders within clinical practice based on best current evidence.
6. Optimise research-informed teaching for health professionals in Aotearoa New Zealand

Research themes

Optimising clinical care and decision making

Our research within this theme seeks to improve clinical reasoning and decision-making, leveraging a better understanding of diagnostics, medical screening, systems processes, and medical imaging as they relate to professional practice. Our research explores musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory wellbeing and dysfunction to explore clinical assessment and management methods, coupled with professional practice factors that will ultimately enhance decision-making and health outcomes.

Understanding long-term health conditions

This theme aims to further research to promote health and wellbeing for people with long-term conditions. Our research within this theme seeks to better understand the lived experience of people faced with long-term conditions, for example, arthritis (including osteoarthritis, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.), and chronic spinal pain. Furthermore, this theme captures research that seeks to understand the professional insights and perspectives of clinicians and stakeholders who work with and alongside people and their whānau faced with long-term conditions.

Health service delivery in Aotearoa

Our research within this theme seeks to better understand contemporary models of care and care delivery for a broad range of health conditions that commonly affect the lives of whānau in Aotearoa New Zealand. Our research aims to be translational and influence healthcare and clinical practice in an impactful way. Physiotherapy and podiatry research form the genesis of our research, nested within a more comprehensive interprofessional and international research network.