Dr Kristen Tulloch lectures in psychology at UniSC in the School of Health. She joined the school in 2021, following a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at The University of Queensland and collaborations with universities around Australia. Kris completed her PhD at Macquarie University and her Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) (Honours) at Deakin University.
Kris’ research is strongly influenced by positive psychology, or the investigation of positive functioning and strength-based approaches, working with individuals’ values to optimise wellbeing, life satisfaction and performance in pursuits meaningful to the individual. In practice, she has investigated ways to build students’ self-efficacy prior to undertaking clinical placement at university, and the ways in which student bias against older people can be reduced via research engagement. She has contributed to teams applying family-centred care in audiology, and ways in which evaluations of thought can influence behaviour.
Since 2011, Kris has taught a range of undergraduate courses, predominantly in psychology with some interdisciplinary courses. Her approach to andragogy is founded on Knowles’ principles of adult learning, with particular emphasis on psychological safety and active learning tasks. She is particularly interested in facilitating greater integration of knowledge, to promote real-world application and deep understanding.
Professional Memberships
- International Psychogeriatrics Association – Member; Membership Committee
- Australian Association of Gerontology – Acting Chair of Queensland Division
- Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia – Member
- Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice – editorial board member
Awards/Fellowships
- Advance Higher Education – Senior Fellow
- Nominated for IPA President's Award for Junior Researchers (2023)
- Tutor and Demonstrator Commendation – The University of Queensland (2019)
Professional Social Media
Funding
Kris has been awarded over $258,000 in research funding to date via internally and externally competitive research grants, including over $200,000 awarded between 2021 and 2024. Some notable grants include:
Research Grants
|
Grant/Project name |
Investigators |
Funding body & A$ value |
Year(s) |
Focus (of research grant) |
|
A cross-cultural examination of dementia care in Australia and the Netherlands |
Dr Kris Tulloch |
Dementia Australia $15,000 |
2025 |
|
|
Consumer- and Student-Led Co-Design for Interprofessional Education of Healthy Ageing in Regional/Asynchronous Contexts |
Dr Kris Tulloch, |
UniSC School of Health Collaborative Initiatives Scheme $10,000 |
2023 |
|
|
PUSH!: Evaluating a skills-based positive psychology program for at-risk young people |
Dr Kris Tulloch, |
UniSC Launch Partnership Grant $28,734 |
2022 |
|
|
Exploring therapeutic horticulture in a social enterprise context for people living with dementia and their care partners: A pilot study |
Dr Kris Tulloch, |
Australian Association of Gerontology $19,980 |
2021 |
|
|
Does viewing ethnographic videos change audiology and speech-language pathology students’ clinical self-efficacy and anxiety in commencing clinical placement? |
Associate Professor Nerina Scarinci, Dr Kristen Tulloch Associate Professor Christopher Lind |
$US10,000 |
2019-2021 |
Student development |
|
Macquarie University Research Excellence Scholarship |
Kristen Tulloch
|
$20,000p.a. |
2008-2012 |
Alcohol craving |
Potential Research Projects for HDR & Honours Students
- Older people’s engagement in community gardens and wellbeing
- Housing experiences of older people
- Benefits of time in nature for older people
- Interprofessional collaborative practice and interprofessional education
- Older athletes including recreational, Masters/Elite and oldest-old (80 years and over) athletes
Research areas
- Older people’s wellbeing including community mobility
- Wellbeing and positive psychology
- Higher education practice & anthropology
- Interprofessional education & practice
- Person-, family- and relationship-centred care
- Third-party disability and care partnerships
Methodologies and analysis
- Kris is primarily a qualitative researcher, using interviews, focus groups and observation to collect data, applying analytic techniques including:
Thematic analysis - Framework analysis
- Interpretative phenomenological analysis
- Content analysis
She is experienced at teaching these techniques to others, including Honours and HDR students.
Kris is currently accepting expressions of interest for HDR supervision.
Honours research project supervision
Kris is an experienced research supervisor with a strong track record for success: Many of her students achieve recognition for their research via conference presentations, publication in peer-reviewed journals, and competitive awards. To date, a majority of her Honours students have been accepted into Master of Psychology or higher research degree programs. Previous topics have included:
- Intergenerational friendships,
- Place attachment for aged care residents,
- Leisure experiences for couples living with dementia,
- Care partners’ experiences, especially relating to caring for others with mental health concerns,
- Interprofessional collaborative practice
Research areas
- Older people’s wellbeing including community mobility
- Wellbeing and positive psychology
- Higher education practice & andragogy
- Interprofessional education & practice
- Person- and family-centred care
- Third-party disability and care partnerships
Previous teaching work
- PSY307 Adult Development and Ageing (teacher: 2021, 2023); coordinator (2022)
- PSY102 Current Directions in Psychology (coordinator: 2021-2024)
Teaching areas
Publications
You can find Kris’ full publication list at https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5619-2257
Selected peer-reviewed work includes:
- Tulloch, K., McCaul, T., & Scott, T. L. (2021). Positive aspects of dementia caregiving during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical Gerontologist, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2021.1929630
- Scott, T. L., Kugelman, M., & Tulloch, K. (2019). How medical professional students view older people with dementia: Implications for education and practice. . PLoS One, 14(11), e0225329. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225329
- Scott, T. L., Jao, Y. L., Tulloch, K., Yates, E., Kenward, O., & Pachana, N. A. (2022). Well-Being Benefits of Horticulture-Based Activities for Community Dwelling People with Dementia: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(17). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710523
- Wadsworth, D. P., Cash, B., Tulloch, K., Couper, R., Robson, K., & Fitzpatrick, S. (2024). Conducting mental health research with rural and regional older Australians: Reflections and recommendations. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 32(5), 1076-1081. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajr.13165
Conference presentations have included:
- Tulloch, K., Saggers, J., & Morkham, B. (2024, 25-27 June). Between a rock and a hard place: Navigating care for Australians living with young onset dementia. British Society of Gerontology 54th Annual Conference, Guildford, United Kingdom.
- Tulloch, K., Hepburn, S.-J., Dodd, N., El Haddad, M., Wright, H., Davies, S., Shakhovskoy, R., & Bogossian, F. (2024a, 26-27 June 2024). Co-designing with emerging health professionals and community members for asynchronous IPE: Artefacts and experiences. . 4th International Congress Health Education and Research Barcelona, Spain.
- Tulloch, K., Scott, T., De Regt, T., Steiner, N., & Pachana, N. A. (2023, 29 June - 2 July 2023). Gardening for others as meaningful activity for people living with dementia. International Psychogeriatrics Association Annual Congress, Lisbon, Portugal.
- Tulloch, K., McCaul, T., & Scott, T. (2022, June 12-16). Taking the good with the bad: positive and negative experiences of dementia care partnering during COVID-19. International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics 22nd World Congress, Virtual.
- Bruce, H., Tulloch, K., Scott, T., De Regt, T., Steiner, N., & Pachana, N. A. (2023, 14-17 November). Let the Good Times Grow: Exploring what is important to couples living with dementia regarding leisure activities. Australian Association of Gerontology 56th Annual Conference, Gold Coast, Australia.
- Kennedy, D., Wadsworth, D. P., & Tulloch, K. (2024, 13-15 November). Exploring intergenerational friendships: Connections, meaning, and reflections. Australian Association of Gerontology 57th Annual Conference, Hobart, Australia.
- Ovenden, S., Millear, P., & Tulloch, K. (2024, 13-15 November). Exploring place attachment through residents' lived experiences in an innovative aged care community. Australian Association of Gerontology 57th Annual Conference, Hobart, Australia.
Kris' research is strongly influenced by positive psychology, or the investigation of positive functioning and strength-based approaches, working with individuals' values to optimise wellbeing, life satisfaction and performance in pursuits meaningful to the individual. She has investigated ways to build students' self-efficacy to undertaking clinical placement at university, and the ways in which student bias against older people can be reduced via research engagement.