BA (Hons), Registered Nurse
Lecturer
Contact Details
Email: Shandell.Elmer@utas.edu.au
Shandell is currently working in partnership with the Launceston General Hospital in relation to projects that have developed as a result of her involvement with the Evaluation of the GP-Hospital Integration Demonstration Site project 2002-2004.
Shandell is also a PhD candidate with the CRH.
Career Summary
While working in various areas of the health system as a registered nurse, Shandell obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in sociology and management. Her undergraduate degree sparked an interest in health sociology which has become the focus of her research efforts. Her interest in this area is sustained through involvement in the teaching of health sociology in Sociology, Social Work and Tourism where Shandell completed her honours degree. Her honours thesis focused on the participation experiences of a small community group involved in health services in rural Tasmania. Shandell is currently undertaking a PhD that aims to explore the relationship between social capital within health service organisations and their attempts at community engagement.
Shandell has a keen interest in fostering the development of community-based health services in accordance with primary health care principles. She has been able to pursue a career in this area through her work with organisations contracted to conduct reviews utilising standards for Home and Community Care and those developed by the Quality Improvement Council. Shandell has conducted reviews of a wide range of health services in Tasmania and interstate.
Research Interests
- Community participation
- Organisational development
Current and Supervised Project/s:
- Supporting newly arrived overseas-trained doctors at the Launceston General Hospital
- Evaluation of the Cancer Council Tasmania's Helpline and Cancer Connect programs
- MRSA Clearance in the Community
- Community participation in health care organisations
- Evaluation of GP-Hospital Integration Demonstration Site project: Launceston
