Based at Flinders’ Renmark campus, Jim Dollan supports early career academics and partners with local communities to co-design research that addresses rural health challenges. With a background in exercise physiology and a strong focus on social determinants of health, he’s passionate about place-based wellbeing and promoting active lifestyles in rural settings.
What is your role and what does your work focus on?
My role at Flinders University is to facilitate the development of a research footprint in rural health, based primarily but not confined to the Renmark campus. Specifically, I will be mentoring early career academics in RRHSA as they navigate the challenges of embarking on a research career, as well as exploring connections with community organisations and entities to facilitate ‘home grown’ solutions to local health-related challenges, to ensure our research efforts have maximum relevance and impact.
Where did you work and / or study before joining CMPH / Flinders?
From 1975 to April 1993 I was a biology teacher at Prince Alfred College, interrupted only by a year on teacher exchange (1989) at Bedford School in England. From 1993 to 2021, I enjoyed a balanced academic role at the University of South Australia, where I taught extensively in the field of exercise physiology. My research has broadly explored associations of sociodemographic factors and health and health-related behaviours. Over the last 15 years I have focused on how rural Australians make choices that impact their lifestyle behaviours and utilisation of health services.
What inspired you to pursue a career in your current field, and how has your passion evolved over time?
Growing up in the Riverland region of South Australia instilled in me a strong connection with rural communities. Through my overall research focus on health disadvantage, I have developed a strong interest in the relationships between place and wellbeing and the social determinants that mediate these associations and that offer opportunities for tailored intervention.
Can you share a memorable experience or project from your career that had a significant impact on you or the community?
A research highlight for me has been a Heart Foundation-funded project that investigated a novel way of promoting regular walking among rural adult South Australians. We found that if people are free to ‘self-select’ how vigorously they exercise, they are much more likely to become ‘hooked’ on the experience and maintain that activity over the longer term. The same study also identified that even low-intensity activity can result in substantial health benefits, thereby encouraging daily movement among people who might otherwise think that exercise is ‘not for them.’
How do you like to relax or spend your spare time?
My spare time is spent chasing my two grandchildren, tinkering in my local community garden, walking my border collie and helping out in the kitchen at the Hutt Street Centre. In the summer months I enjoy my coaching role with the Barmera Pelicans Cricket Club!