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 Lifestyle and Prevention Unit of the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine focuses on health behavior and preventive measures in vulnerable populations (LGBTIQ, homeless, elderly, etc).
  Members:
  Igor Grabovac
  Radhika Seiler-Ramadas
  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.