Psychology and Health Research Group

The Psychology and Health Research Group (PaHRG) at The Ottawa Hospital uses theory and methods from psychology and behavioural medicine to understand and promote behaviour change in health and health care.

Our vision: to assemble and train researchers to leverage and contribute to theory, methods and evidence from the behavioural sciences to support health improvement in patients and the public and support health care professionals in delivering high quality health care through behaviour change.

Based in Ottawa (Canada), our vibrant research group emphasizes rigorous development and application of theory and methods that underpin three core pillars of research activity focused on evidence synthesis of health behaviour research, multi-method approaches to identifying factors associated with health-related behaviours, to inform the development and evaluation of health-related behaviour change interventions. Our research is rooted in behaviour and behaviour change theory, applying contemporary approaches while pushing the boundaries of current theories to contribute to a cumulative and generalizable understanding of behaviour change in health. Such approaches are underpinned by a commitment to rigorous application of methods from health psychology and behavioural medicine.

PaHRG emphasizes education and training, providing pathways to research and employment for applied psychologists and health researchers through supervision and support at the Bachelor, Masters, Doctorate, and Post-Doctoral levels, supported through our faculty appointments in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health and School of Psychology.

PaHRG is based at The Ottawa Hospital’s Centre for Practice-Changing Research and the University of Ottawa. We work closely with members of The Ottawa Hospital’s Methods Centre, Centre for Implementation Research and Clinical Epidemiology Program, Our research involves local, national, and international collaborations including the Carleton Health Psychology Lab, the Montreal Behavioural Medicine Centre, the NUIG Health Behaviour Change Research Group, and the UCL Centre for Behaviour Change, and links to disciplinary organizations including the Canadian Psychological Association, the International Behavioural Trials Network, and the European Health Psychology Society.

We are a research group and do not provide clinical psychological services to patients. If you require clinical advice, please contact your health care provider. Also see Psychology Services at The Ottawa Hospital.