Erica Mcintyre

• Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology)
• Research Consultant at University of Technology Sydney

Background: Anxiety is a prevalent mental health condition in the Western world. Adults experiencing anxiety have been found to use a range of herbal medicines to manage anxiety symptoms. Aim: This study aimed to test a theoretical model based on the theory of planned behaviour that predicted the intention to use herbal medicines for anxiety sympto...

Abstract In order to describe the prevalence and characteristics of complementary medicine (CM) practice and product use by Australians, we conducted a cross-sectional online survey with Australian adults aged 18 and over. Rates of consultation with CM practitioners, and use of CM products and practices were assessed. The sample (n = 2,019) was bro...

OBJECTIVES: Human-generated climate change is causing adverse health effects through multiple direct pathways (e.g. heatwaves, sea-level rise, storm frequency and intensity) and indirect pathways (e.g. food and water insecurity, social instability). Although the health system has a key role to play in addressing these health effects, so too do thos...

Background Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health condition in Australia. In addition, there are many people who experience problematic anxiety symptoms who do not receive an anxiety disorder diagnosis but require treatment. As herbal medicine use is popular in Australia, and little is known about how adults experiencing anxiety are...

Aim Climate change is the most pressing global challenge of the twenty-first century and has recently been declared as a public health emergency due to its widespread environmental, social, economic, and health impacts. This scoping review aims to map existing evidence on the impact of climate change on health workers. Subject and methods We follo...

Background Primary care is well placed to provide preconception care. To support primary care professionals in meeting the preconception care needs of prospective parents, an understanding of their perspectives and experiences of providing preconception care is needed. As women consult with a range of primary care health professionals for preconcep...

Background Preconception care is well situated within primary care settings where pregnancy intention and preconception risk screening can occur routinely, along with coordinating preconception health interventions. Implementing preconception care into primary care practices has been challenging, as health professionals report multiple barriers pre...

Aim: Climate change is the most pressing global challenge of the 21st century and has recently been declared as a public health emergency due to its widespread environmental, social, economic and health impacts. This scoping review aims to map existing evidence on the impact of climate change on health workers. Subject and Methods: We followed the...

Background Health professionals have previously identified various barriers and factors that would help facilitate preconception care services in healthcare settings. Clinically relevant preconception information and clinical practice guidelines have since been developed to aid health professionals in preconception care delivery. This systematic re...

Many aging mid-twentieth-century social housing developments worldwide are set to undergo major redevelopment, aiming to improve residents’ living conditions. Nevertheless, the associated processes, particularly the challenges of relocation during the demolition and reconstruction phase, can significantly disrupt communities and social networks. Un...

Aim To achieve consensus on the knowledge and skills that undergraduate/pre‐licensure nursing students require to steward healthcare towards a more sustainable future. Design A two‐phase real‐time Delphi study. Methods Phase 1 included the generation of Planetary Health, climate change and sustainability knowledge and skill statements based on a...

An estimated 42% of Australians who consult complementary medicine (CM) practitioners have a mental health diagnosis. Preparedness of CM practitioners in managing such diagnoses is currently unknown. A cross-sectional survey of 257 CM practitioners who reported caring for people with a mental health diagnosis. Practitioners’ mental health literacy,...

Background Many people with mental health problems use a range of complementary medicine (CM), including over the counter products, practices, and utilise the services of CM practitioners. Psychologists are likely to consult with clients using CM, in some form, as part of their broader mental health care. The aim of this research was to determine t...

Objectives: A growing number of urban development and public health professionals are developing expertise in how urban environments influence population health to support preventive health (PH) planning, implementation and outcomes. This study aimed to address the growing interest among these experts in Sydney, Australia, to move beyond silo-base...

Objectives: By 2030, 60% of the global population is expected to live in urban areas. Exposure to urban environments during the first 2000 days of life can have positive or negative health outcomes across the life course. Understanding the types of urban exposures that influence health outcomes is needed to guide research priorities for public hea...

Objectives: To trial methods for a future longitudinal study to: a) assess how the redevelopment of a large social housing estate affects the health of tenants; and b) act on health needs identified throughout the redevelopment. Type of program or service: Self-reported health assessment with referral to community-based link worker. Methods: Par...

Amidst the global rise in complementary medicine (CM) use for mental health, a substantial number of clients consulting a psychologist also utilise at least one form of CM. Yet, how psychologists should engage with CM in their clinical practice (e.g., how to respond to a client disclosing CM use or enquiries regarding CM products or services for me...

Some women who breastfeed will experience complex ongoing difficulties, such as breastfeeding aversion response (BAR). This recently named breastfeeding challenge is defined as feelings of aversion while breastfeeding for the entire time that the child is latched. This study provides the first prevalence data for the experience of BAR in Australian...

Introduction Many people with mental health problems utilise a range of complementary medicine (CM) practitioners, products, and practices. Psychologists are likely to consult with clients who are seeking and using CM, in some form, as part of their wider mental health treatment. The aim of this research is to determine how much, and in what ways,...

Introduction For many women, breastfeeding their infant is an enjoyable experience. Some, however, have reported negative sensations such as an overwhelming need to unlatch while breastfeeding. This phenomenon is known as breastfeeding aversion response (BAR). The incidence of BAR is unknown and literature on this experience is limited. This study...

The complexity of environmental challenges facing populations are pushing researchers to go beyond traditional study designs alone to investigate health within the urban environment using integrated coupled human-environment systems thinking. As high-density apartment living is increasing in Australia, it is important to understand the conceptual f...

COVID-19 is the most recent respiratory pandemic to necessitate better knowledge about city planning and design. The complex connections between cities and pandemics, however challenge traditional approaches to reviewing literature. In this article we adopted a rapid review methodology. We review the historical literature on respiratory pandemics a...

Health geographers have long been interested in the connection between place and mental health, proposing that settings influence mental health and vice versa. Research on environmental contamination has tended to focus on the former part of this relationship, examining how the mental health and wellbeing of residents living nearby are affected by...

Parental health before conception effects maternal and offspring health outcomes. Preconception care provides healthcare to prospective parents addressing modifiable preconception risks and health behaviors. This umbrella review aimed to consolidate evidence on women's and men's modifiable preconception risks or health behaviors associated with mat...

Background Psychologists, and their clients, are engaging with complementary medicine (CM). Increasing evidence for CM approaches, such as improved nutrition and St John’s wort, has led to their inclusion in the Royal Australian New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for mood disorders. This research aims to determine in...

Objective To explore the difference in rates and reasons for disclosure of either conventional or complementary medicine (CM) to healthcare practitioners between people living with sleep disorders (SDs) and those without SDs. Methods A cross-sectional survey (N = 2019 adults) that measured sociodemographic characteristics, health status, health se...

Problem Some women who intend to breastfeed experience a breastfeeding aversion response (BAR) while breastfeeding. Background Little is known about the experience of those who have feelings of aversion while breastfeeding. Aim This study aimed to investigate the experiences of women who have an aversion response to breastfeeding while their infa...

Background Mental health disorders are a global health concern. In Australia, numerous national reports have found that the current mental healthcare system does not adequately meet the needs of Australians with mental illness. Consequently, a greater understanding of how people with a mental health disorder are using the broader healthcare system...

Chronic conditions are prolonged and complex, leading patients to seek multiple forms of care alongside conventional treatment, including complementary medicine (CM). These multiple forms of care are often used concomitantly, requiring patient-provider communication about treatments used in order to manage potential risks. In response, this study d...

Objective: The integrity and function of the gastrointestinal system is important in disease prevention and management. This study aims to describe the management methods used by Australian adults with suspected increased intestinal permeability (IP) and the association with subjective wellbeing (SWB) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Des...

Aim To describe the prevalence of health care utilisation and out-of-pocket expenditure associated with the management of diabetes among Australian women aged 45 years and older. Design Cross-sectional survey design. Methods The questionnaire was administered to 392 women (a cohort of the 45 and Up Study) reporting a diagnosis of diabetes between...

Background: The public health consequence of increased intestinal permeability (IP) is currently limited by the lack of patient-centred research. This study aims to describe the health-seeking behaviour of Australian adults with suspected IP. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 589 Australian adults who have been diagnosed with IP or have suspect...

Problem Aspects of the midwifery workplace culture have previously been measured as negative with limited leadership or support. Support for midwives is essential for them to face the complexity and workloads in Australian maternity units. Background Understanding the culture of the midwifery workplace is important to develop strategies to stem wo...

Introduction: Globally, depressive disorders affect over 311 million people and women are more likely than men to suffer depression. However, no study has comprehensively described the diverse health services used for managing depression in middle-aged and older women. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was sent to 800 Australian women aged over 45-...

Background Non-disclosure of conventional medicine use to complementary medicine health professionals may result in patient harm. Currently, no standardised validated instrument is available to measure reasons for conventional medicine disclosure or non-disclosure. Objective The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a multidimensional inde...

Design: The International Cohort on Lifestyle Determinants of Health (INCLD Health) longitudinal cohort study is designed to assess health behaviors and lifestyle practices amongst adults studying complementary and integrative health (CIH) and higher-education students more generally after at least one to six years of exposure to CIH education. INC...

Background Globally, complementary medicine (CM) product use is high-including vitamins, minerals and herbal medicines. The overuse of CM raises concerns about medicine sustainability that are critical considerations for human and planetary health. Poor CM health literacy may lead to the unnecessary use of CM. This is the first study to explore ass...

Background The complexity of chronic conditions challenges health systems and patients. Patients with chronic conditions often consult complementary medicine (CM) practitioners. Optimal care of chronic conditions requires understanding of the characteristics and consultation behaviours of these patients. Methods Cross-sectional survey (n = 2025 ad...

Purpose The Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) is a commonly used measure of life satisfaction that reflects a person’s level of subjective wellbeing (SWB). The present study aimed to establish the validity and reliability of the PWI in a large sample of Indian adults and describe their SWB. Methods 2004 Indian adults completed a cross-sectional onlin...

Objective: This study aims to describe the prevalence of health care utilization (including conventional medicine, self-care and complementary medicine treatments) for the management of asthma by women aged 45 years and over and their associated out-of-pocket expenditure. Methods: A self-reported mail survey of 375 Australian women, a cohort of the...

Problem: Limited literature is available about women who wish to breastfeed but experience unexpected feelings of aversion in reaction to their infant suckling at the breast while breastfeeding. Background: Breastfeeding benefits mothers, infants and society yet breastfeeding rates continue to fall below recommendations in part due to inadequate...

Objective: Non-disclosure of complementary medicine (CM) use to doctors is associated with health risks. No standardised, validated instrument exists to measure reasons for CM use disclosure behaviour to doctors in clinical research or practice. This study aims to develop and validate an index that measures the relative importance of reasons for C...

Objective Currently, it is estimated that one in 10 women of reproductive age are affected by the reproductive condition known as endometriosis. However, there has been limited research and policy attention on the prevalence of endometriosis in Australia. Utilising a nationally-representative Australian sample (N = 2025), this study aimed to report...

Aim: To develop and psychometrically test the Australian Midwifery Workplace Culture instrument. Background: Workplace culture is critical within midwifery settings. Culture determines not only the well-being and continued retention of maternity staff and managers but it also affects the quality and ultimate safety of the care they provide to wo...

Objective: Infants and children under 5-years are at an increased risk of complications from influenza. We aimed to evaluate characteristics associated with uptake of Australian state and territory funded influenza vaccine programs in 2018 for children aged 6-months to 5-years. Materials and methods: A national online survey of 1002 Australian p...

Background and Objective: The concept of a “disruptive innovation,” recently extended to health care, refers to an emerging technology that represents a new market force combined with a new value system, that eventually displaces some, or all, of the current leading “stakeholders, products and strategic alliances.” Naturopathy is a distinct system...

Objectives To provide a contemporary description of complementary medicine (CM) product use in Australia. Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting Online. Participants A nationally representative sample (n=2019) of the Australian adult population. Primary and secondary outcome measures Primary outcomes measures included the use and type of CM pro...

Background: Increased intestinal permeability (IP) involves the loss of integrity between the cells of the small intestine. IP has been suggested to contribute to the pathogenesis and exacerbation of many chronic diseases. Many potential risk factors for IP are proposed in contemporary literature. The purpose of this review is to identify the most...

While a growing body of research within the environmental hazards scholarship examines how disability affects human responses to major, sudden-onset environmental disasters, little attention has been given to understanding how disability affects responses to long-term, pervasive environmental hazards. Research analysing human responses to land and...

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the impact of physical activity on depression symptom severity in women 45 years and older with a chronic illness diagnosis, and explore relations between physical activity and psychological and health-related characteristics predicting depression symptoms. Methods: 1932 women diagnosed with one...

Aim To describe the health care behaviours of Australian women (45 years and over) diagnosed with a chronic illness. Methods This is a cross‐sectional sub‐study of the 45 and Up Study—the largest study of healthy ageing conducted in the Southern Hemisphere—including 1,932 Australian women (45 years and older) with a self‐reported diagnosis of eith...

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: Planetary health—a new public health paradigm—emphasises how the Earth’s changing natural systems are an increasing threat to human health and is based on an understanding that complex interactions between natural and social systems influence human health outcomes. The Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on planetary...

Aims: To determine the prevalence, characteristics, expenditure and predictors of complementary medicine (CM) use in Australian adults living with gastrointestinal disorders (GID). Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 2,025 Australian adults was conducted. Participants were recruited through purposive convenience sampling. Descriptive statist...

Objectives To report the prevalence and characteristics of complementary medicine use and product utilization by Australians living with sleep disorders. Design A cross-sectional study. Methods 2025 adults representative of the Australian population by age, gender and state/territory of residence completed a survey consisting of 50 items includin...

Introduction: Naturopathy is a mixture of both traditional and complementary medicine. It incorporates a broad set of health care practices that may or may not be traditional to that country or conventional medicine and are not fully integrated into the dominant health care system. Research required to evaluate or substantiate naturopathic medicin...

While the links between contaminated sites and adverse effects on human health and well‐being are being increasingly recognised, some argue that the magnitude of the health problem is inadequately addressed because it is largely invisible. Health geographies literature has sought to highlight this invisibility by focusing on the link between contam...

Objectives: To report the prevalence of naturopathic and Western herbal medicine service utilization in Australia, and describe the characteristics of individuals who use these services. Design: This is a national cross-sectional study. Settings: Online survey platform. Subjects: Purposive convenience sampling was used to recruit 2025 adults...

The management and remediation of contaminated environments increasingly involves engagement with affected local residents. Of late, risk communication tools and guidelines have drawn attention to the stress and concern of residents as a result of heightened awareness of localised contamination and the need to address these less visible impacts of...

Introduction: Complementary medicine (CM) use has been found to influence the uptake of conventional cancer treatment. This study examines associations between CM use and cancer screening rates. Methods: Women aged 62 to 67 years from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health were surveyed regarding their use of cancer screening initia...

Introduction: A gluten free diet (GFD) is indicated for the medical management of coeliac disease as well as gluten ataxia, dermatitis herpetiformis, and wheat allergy. Complementary medicine practitioners (CMPs) recommend removing gluten from the diet, but it is not known what symptoms or conditions they recommend gluten free diets for. The aim of...

Objective: Despite the incredible success of paediatric immunisation, support is not universal. It has been suggested that complementary medicine practitioners enable vaccine rejection and his study aims to explore the relationship between complementary medicine use and paediatric vaccination. A total of 149 Australian parents were recruited via a...

Objectives: Excluding gluten containing foods from the diet is medically indicated for the management of coeliac disease, wheat allergy, gluten ataxia, non-coeliac gluten sensitivity, and dermatitis herpetiformis. However, the number of people following a gluten free diet (GF diet) far exceeds the number of people with an indication for such dietar...

Background: Vaccination rates have remained steady for a number of years in Australia, however geographical areas of lower vaccine coverage remains a day-to-day challenge. The study explores parental attitudes, beliefs and intentions in relation to vaccination and examines the early effects of recent No Jab No Pay legislation. Methods: A nationa...

The introduction will explain the scope of the book: (i) the presentation of clinical evidence for the efficacy of herbal and nutritional treatments in the context of anxiety disorders, and (ii) how health professionals can apply this knowledge in a clinical setting with patients presenting with a wide range of symptoms, including comorbid mood dis...

The following substances also have a long traditional history of use, however not necessarily in the treatment of anxiety. These herbs have been included as they have demonstrated some clinical evidence and may be considered as potential treatments for anxiety. It is recommended that future studies further investigate these substances in order to d...

This chapter will present evidence from human clinical trials regarding the efficacy of herbal treatments with a primarily sedative mode of action. These are most relevant for chronic (everyday) supplementation to address anxiety symptoms. Kava (Piper methysticum) Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) Galphimia (Galph...

This book presents the current clinical evidence on the efficacy of herbal and nutritional treatments for anxiety that is experienced in association with psychiatric disorders, and explains how health professionals can apply this knowledge to the benefit of patients presenting with a wide range of symptoms, including comorbid mood disorders. All ch...

Herbal medicine use is widespread and has been reported to be as high as 21% in people with anxiety disorders. Critical thematic analysis was used to explore beliefs and attitudes towards herbal medicines in adults experiencing anxiety. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight adults who experienced anxiety and used herbal medicines. Three maj...

Abstract Background and Aims: This study aimed to investigate the similarities and differences in the reasons why alcohol consumers choose to avoid purchasing or consuming wine across five countries, and to investigate similarities and differences across three generations. Methods and Results: Adults who consumed alcohol regularly, in healthy quant...

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent group of mental health disorders. Having anxiety has been found to predict the use of CAM (including herbal medicines), and anxiety has been identified as one of the most common health problems treated with CAM. This review aims to: determine the prevalence rates of herbal medicine use in adults experiencing...

Background/aim: The complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) workforce is the third largest occupational group in the Australian health sector. Yet the profile of this workforce is not well understood. This study aims to provide new insight into the Australian CAM workforce by exploring the demographic and practice characteristics of this occup...

Recent changes in the healthcare landscape in Australia have prompted renewed debate regarding the most appropriate regulatory model for naturopaths and herbalists. Numerous government reports have recommended independent statutory regulation yet naturopaths and Western herbalists are yet to be included in the National Registration and Accreditatio...

Research in the area of herbal psychopharmacology has revealed a variety of promising medicines that may provide benefit in the treatment of general anxiety and specific anxiety disorders. However, a comprehensive review of plant-based anxiolytics has been absent to date. Thus, our aim was to provide a comprehensive narrative review of plant-based...

Research in the area of herbal psychopharmacology has revealed a variety of promising medicines that may provide benefit in the treatment of general anxiety and specific anxiety disorders. However, a comprehensive review of plant-based anxiolytics has been absent to date. This article (part 1) reviews herbal medicines for which only preclinical inv...