Episode 9: This is How You Can Improve Your Quality of Life

“The concrete steps women can do [to ensure their lifestyle affects their quality of life] is really a goal setting for wellness. Setting goals for wellness allows you to focus on the desired outcomes as well as allowing women yo measure any changes and see those differences” -Debra Anderson

In this episode of Women’s Health Interrupted, we are joined by Dr. Debra Anderson to discuss how you can improve your quality of life. Dr. Anderson delves into health behaviors like diet sleep, stress, exercise, and other lifestyle choices that can impact your quality of life, especially for women. She will specifically address how this can improve your life if you are dealing with a chronic disease like cancer, heart disease or diabetes.

Links to resources mentioned in this episode:

• Prevalence and predictors of sleep problems in women following a cancer diagnosis: results from the women’s wellness after cancer program
• Characterizing Relationships Among the Cognitive, Physical, Social-emotional, and Health-related Traits of Military Personnel
• Deconstructing type 2 diabetes self-management of Australian Pacific Islander women: Using a community participatory research and talanoa approach
• Self-efficacy and social support as mediators of mental health among abused women
• Cultural Adaptation of the Younger Women’s Wellness After Cancer Program for Younger Chinese Women With Breast Cancer
• Sleep and health-related quality of life in women following a cancer diagnosis: results from the Women’s Wellness after Cancer Program in Australia
• A multi-component evaluation framework of a state-wide preventive health program: My health for life

Guest Biography

Dr. Debra Anderson is Dean of the Faculty of Health at the University of Technology Sydney. She joined in late 2019 as Associate Dean of Research where she was responsible for leading the faculty’s research function. She is also the Founding Director of the Women’s Wellness Research Collaborative. In this role, she has mentored a growing network of researchers, spread across six countries and almost a dozen universities, researching a wide gamut of women’s health issues. Her vision is to enable colleagues to work towards transforming health and wellbeing across the lifespan, influencing policy and clinical practice.