Victoria Chinn
Doctor of Philosophy, (Public Health)
Study Completed: 2019
College of Health
Citation
Thesis Title
Next Level Health: The Design, Implementation and Evaluation of a Programme to Empower Women Over Their Health
Read article at Massey Research Online: 
New Zealand women often experience a narrow focus on weight or body size as a barrier to health. The dominant Western 'weight-centred' discourse conflates health with weight and disempowers women from gaining control over their health. Ms Chinn designed, implemented and evaluated a health programme, Next Level Health (NLH), to empower women over their holistic wellbeing. After delivering the programme to a group of 60 women, she found that the women were empowered by increasing their capacity for health-promoting behaviours, adopting and experiencing a holistic health approach and enhancing their autonomy regarding their health-promoting behaviours, health development, and ability to generate a sense of success. Additionally, she identified eight key attributes of NLH that either contributed to women's empowerment or were significant for evaluating their success. This research offers a novel programme and comprehensive evaluation providing evidence for a small, yet growing body, of empowerment research to promote women's health.
Supervisors
Dr Eva Neely
Professor Roger Hughes
Professor Rozanne Kruger
Associate Professor Sarah Shultz
Dr Michelle Thunders