Dr Prince Atorkey

Prince Atorkey

What are your research interests?

  • Health risk behaviours/factors
  • Multiple health behaviour change
  • Preventive Medicine/Lifestyle Medicine
  • Mental health
  • Digital interventions to improve mental and physical health.
  • Implementation science
  • Non-communicable diseases

Why did you get into research?

I love doing research and I got into research because I want to understand why people engage in health risk behaviours and to develop health interventions that would encourage the engagement in health promoting behaviours.

What would be the ultimate goal for your research?

My goal is to see the outcome of my research help people change their health risk behaviours to improve their overall well-being.

Biography

Prince is a Lecturer in the Discipline of Psychological Science at, Australian College of Applied Professions, Sydney and an Adjunct Lecturer in the School of Medicine and Public Health, the University of Newcastle, Australia. He is a Clinical Psychologist and Behavioural Scientist by training. Prince’s research focuses on multiple health risk factors (i.e. smoking tobacco, fruit intake, vegetable intake, risky alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, and obesity/overweight), mental health and the development of interventions to promote healthy living.

Prince completed a PhD (Behavioural Science In Relation to Medicine) at the University of Newcastle, Australia. His PhD thesis examined multiple health risk factors (smoking tobacco, inadequate fruit intake, inadequate vegetable intake, risky alcohol intake, physical inactivity, obesity/overweight, anxiety and depression) among Technical and Further Education (TAFE) students. Prior to commencing his doctoral studies, Prince completed a Master of Philosophy degree (Clinical Psychology) at the University of Ghana and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Psychology at the University of Cape Coast.

Future Focus

My future focus is to continue doing research that modify individual, community and organisation health risk behaviours through the application of psychological and behavioral science techniques.

Specialised/Technical Skills

  • Implementation science
  • Randomised controlled trials.
  • Psychological assessment
  • Systematic reviews
  • Validation studies
  • Digital health interventions

Affiliations

  • Australian Psychological Society
  • Australasian Society of Behavioural Health Medicine (ASBHM)
  • Ghana Psychological Association
  • Ghana Psychology Council
  • Population Health Research Program
  • Hunter Medical Research Institute