Emerging Researcher Award

PhD student Sutthinan Codrington was awarded the Emerging Researcher Award by the New Zealand Association of Gerontology in Dunedin last week. The award was for his presentation “Health Behaviours and Experiences among Thai Immigrants: A Scoping Review”. His review identified five key themes: preventive health behaviours, health-risk behaviours, health-seeking behaviours, cultural and emotional responses, and navigating healthcare systems. Across these themes, he found that Thai immigrants face interconnected barriers related to cultural norms, language barriers, socioeconomic constraints, and psychosocial stressors. However, existing evidence remains fragmented, particularly in areas concerning older adults. No research has been conducted regarding the growing population of Thai immigrants in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Sutthinan’s PhD research is going to address this gap by using a mixed-methods approach. He is supervised by Rosemary Frey, Deb Raphael and Merryn Gott. Prior to joining us to study for a PhD, Sutthinan worked as a nursing instructor in the Department of Nursing Science, Faculty of Nursing, Chiang Mai University, Thailand.