Exercise is beneficial for people across multiple areas of health and wellbeing, but how to support individuals to be active, improve health outcomes and build exercise opportunities within health and community care pathways is still being established.
The MHEX group conducts research, and supports researchers, whose focus is on individuals living with, or at risk of, mental ill health.
Our work includes:
New tools may help mental health hospitals close life expectancy gap through exercise MHEX PhD Candidate, Caleb McMahen, and team recently published their work around triaging and supporting exercise therapy
Exercise is an effective method for addressing mental illness and promoting wellbeing, yet widespread provision of structured exercise services to support treatment options for students with mental health challenges has
We conduct projects across a range of populations, presentations and alongside a variety of community partners – including health services, support organisations, Universities, and funding agencies.
Led by clinically-aligned exercise and health researchers at the University of Western Australia (UWA) and University of New South Wales (UNSW), with the aim to ensure that all knowledge is created in partnership with community and for the benefit of communities.
Projects Include:
Austin F, Wright K, Jackson B, Budden T, McMahen C & Furzer B. (2025). ‘They are More Than Just a Friend…it Feels Like we are Family:’ Exploring the Experiences of Individuals with Severe Mental Illness in Exercise Services. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. In press.
Simpson, A., Jackson, B., Willis, C., Lin, A., Thornton, A. L., Furzer, B., Dimmock, J., Jeftic, I., Rosenberg, M., & Budden, T. (2025). “That’s not fair on my kid”: Carers’ perspectives on sport participation and experiences for children in out-of-home care: Carers’ perspectives on sport participation and experiences for children in out-of-home care. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 78, 1-13.
Schweizer, K., Austin, F., Wright, K., Jackson, B., Lin, A., Strauss, P., & Furzer, B. (2025). Eating and exercise experiences of Australian trans and gender diverse folks: lived experience and stakeholder perspectives. International Journal of Transgender Health. In Press.
McMahen, C., Wright, K., Jackson, B., Stanton, R., Lederman, O., McKeon, G., Rosenbaum, S., & Furzer, B. (2024). The implementation of exercise therapy within hospital-based mental healthcare: Delphi study. BJPsych Open, 10(5), Article e147.
Full text: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2024.717
Recent grants that MHEX members are leading or contributing to include:
Associate Professor Bonnie Furzer (she/her)
Accredited Exercise Physiologist/Exercise Scientist
Associate Professor – University of Western Australia (School of Human Sciences)
CEO – Thriving in Motion
Senior Exercise Physiologist and Service Coordinator – Fremantle Hospital Mental Health Service
Honorary Research Associate – The Kids Research Institute
Accredited Exercise Physiologist/Exercise Scientist
Senior Lecturer + Program Authority (Exercise Physiology) – University of New South Wales (School of Health Sciences)
COO – Thriving in Motion
Adjunct Senior Lecturer – University of Western Australia
Clinical + Research Team
Research Students:
Completed PhD Students:
Research Partners
Community Partners
The MHEX Team acknowledges all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traditional Custodians of Country and recognises their continuing connection to land, sea, culture and community. We pay our respects to Elders past, and present.
We are committed to embracing diversity and eliminating all forms of discrimination through education and inclusive communities. We welcome all people and are respectful of individual identities.
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