Rate My Professor Helen Owen

Helen Owen is a Lecturer in the Department of Marketing at the Otago Business School, University of Otago. She is a mixed-methods researcher with a background in social psychology and public health, having completed her BSc(Hons) in Psychology with First Class Honours and PhD at the University of Otago. Her PhD thesis, titled 'Truth in text: Why simple language is perceived as more credible' (2016), examined applications of fluency-of-processing theories to judgments of statement credibility and communicator honesty in contexts such as persuasive advertising. Following her doctorate, Owen worked for two years as a paid Associate Editor for Social Behaviour and Personality: An International Journal. Over the subsequent six years, she has focused on public health research, including a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Ngāi Tahu Māori Health Research Unit and serving as operations manager on major projects: the Health Research Council-funded New Zealand Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study ten-year follow-up (POIS-10), the Trauma Outcomes Project with the New Zealand Health Quality & Safety Commission, and a cross-sectional survey benchmarking integrated care, teamwork, and staff morale among healthcare providers in Southern New Zealand after the Primary and Community Care Strategy rollout. She has also acted as a laboratory demonstrator for PSYC111 and PSYC112, and guest lectured in PUBH304 (Māori Health Research) and PSYC426 (Social Cognition).

Owen's research interests include long-term health, disability, and wellbeing outcomes post-injury particularly for older adults and Māori; Māori experiences accessing injury-related health services; integration of primary, community, and mental health services; health provider burnout; and technology-enhanced learning. She serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Child & Adolescent Mental Health. Her awards and fellowships encompass the Division of Health Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2023-2025), contributing researcher on the HRC-funded grant 'Hinapōuri ki Hīnātore: Improving mental health outcomes and services' (2023-2025), Division of Health Sciences Accelerator Grant (Early Career, 2022), and Collaboration of Ageing Research Excellence Early Career Researcher Conference Scholarship (2019). Key publications include Owen, H. E., Wyeth, E. H., Samaranayaka, A., & Derrett, S. (2025). 'Describing long-term postinjury outcomes for older New Zealanders.' Australasian Journal on Ageing, 44, e13411; Derrett, S., Owen, H. E., et al. (2024). 'New Zealand’s Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study—10 years on (POIS-10): Descriptive outcomes to 12 years post-injury.' Injury Prevention, 30(3), 251-255; Craik, B., Owen, H. E., Derrett, S., & Wyeth, E. H. (2024). 'Interviewing injured New Zealanders for paired longitudinal studies: A qualitative exploration of interviewers’ experiences.' Quality & Quantity (advance online publication); and Owen, H., Wyeth, E., & Derrett, S. (2024). 'Long-term post-injury outcomes for older New Zealanders: Addressing the knowledge gap.' Proceedings of the 15th Australasian Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion Conference. She teaches MART112 Marketing, MART461 Marketing Theory, MART211 Products to Market, and MART305 Societal Issues in Marketing.