Detail

Keywords

HIV; Homeless Persons; Homosexuality; Mental Health; Occupational Health; Public Health; Social Discrimination; Social Stigma; Sports Medicine; Vulnerable Populations

Research group(s)

• Grabovac Group
  Head: Igor Grabovac
  Research Area: Our group within the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine focuses on health behavior and preventive measures in vulnerable populations (LGBTIQ+, homeless, refugees and displaced people among others).
  Members:
  Lisa Lehner
  Igor Grabovac
  Maren Jeleff
  Tobias Schiffler

Research interests

My research focus encompasses a variety of public health topics, mostly focusing on health behaviour and modification of health behaviour through individiually tailored interventions and environmental changes, as well as a need for social medical responsibility in achieving health in all communities. Within this topic I am mostly interested in discriminated and stigmatized communities such as people living with HIV/AIDS, LGBTIQ individuals, older adults, drug users, homeless people among others to see if they and how they achieve good health.

Techniques, methods & infrastructure

Our multidisciplinary team uses a variety of clinical medical tests such as body impendance analysis, accelerometer monitoring, heart variability, 24h ECG monitoring, cardiac stress testing, hand strength measuring. We also use a variety of questionnaires for different outcomes and qualitative interviews and focus group analysis. By accessing and evaluating data from large open datasets we examine various outcomes using a variety of statistical methods. 

Grants

• Cancer prevention and early detection among the homeless population in Europe: Co-adapting and implementing the Health Navigator Model (2020)
  Source of Funding: EU, Horizon 2020
  Coordinator of the collaborative project
• WE-Project: Promoting Workplace Equality for LGBT+Q+ Youth (2020)
  Source of Funding: EU, REC
  Coordinator of the collaborative project
• Pilot Study to Assess the Physical Performance and Work-Ability following Kidney Transplant (2018)
  Source of Funding: Medical Scientific Fund of the Mayor of the City of Vienna, Medizinisch-Wissenschaftlicher Fonds des Bürgermeisters der Bundeshauptstadt Wien
  Principal Investigator

Selected publications

1. Kim, J.H. et al., 2020. Environmental risk factors, protective factors, and peripheral biomarkers for ADHD: an umbrella review. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(11), pp.955–970. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30312-6.
2. Grabovac, I. et al., 2019. Health Care Providers’ Advice on Lifestyle Modification in the US Population: Results from the NHANES 2011-2016. The American Journal of Medicine, 132(4), pp.489–497.e1. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2018.11.021.
3. Grabovac, I. et al., 2019. Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection and Diverse Physical Health Outcomes: An Umbrella Review of Meta-analyses of Observational Studies. Clinical Infectious Diseases. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciz539.
4. Gil‐Salmeron, A. et al., 2021. Differences in health status, health behaviour and healthcare utilisation between Immigrant and native homeless people in Spain: An exploratory study. Health & Social Care in the Community. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13313.
5. Grabovac, I. et al., 2019. Well-Being Among Older Gay and Bisexual Men and Women in England: A Cross-sectional Population Study. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 20(9), pp.1080–1085.e1. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2019.01.119.