About our research and publications
The Get Healthy Service supports research and evaluation to continually improve the service and help people achieve better health outcomes.
This page features publications and evaluations on the service for health professionals, researchers, and the community.
Get Healthy Service evaluation reports
- Zoë Szewczyk, Bronwyn McGill, Philip Clare, Blythe J O’Hara, Philayrath Phongsavan and Adrian Bauman. Evaluation of the Get Healthy Service: a secondary analysis. Prepared for the NSW Ministry of Health: Sydney. Physical Activity Nutrition Obesity Research Group, The University of Sydney, June 2024.
- O’Hara B J, Phongsavan P, McGill B, Maxwell M, Ahmed N, Raheb S, Bauman AE. The NSW Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service: the first five years (PDF 5.68MB). North Sydney: NSW Ministry of Health and Prevention Research Collaboration, University of Sydney, 2014
Published papers
Explore research studies about the Get Healthy Service and related programs, including Get Healthy in Pregnancy, Healthy Ageing and targeted community initiatives.
Get Healthy Service
- Szewczyk Z, McGill B, Clare P, Lee K, Davidson S, Jeong SY, Bauman A, O'Hara BJ. Sustainable chronic disease prevention at scale: Evaluation of the Get Healthy Service, a telephone and online coaching service. Prev Med. 2025 Sep; 198:108357. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2025.108357. Epub 2025 Jul 9. PMID: 40645377.
- McGill B, O'Hara BJ, Phongsavan P. Participant perspectives of a 6-month telephone-based lifestyle coaching program. Public Health Res Pract. 2018 Jun 14;28(2):27451705. doi: 10.17061/phrp27451705. PMID: 29925086.
- O’Hara B J, Phongsavan P, McGill B, Maxwell M, Ahmed N, Raheb S, Bauman AE. The NSW Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service: the first five years (PDF 5.68MB). North Sydney: NSW Ministry of Health and Prevention Research Collaboration, University of Sydney, 2014
- O’Hara BJ, Phongsavan P, Banovic D, Bauman AE. The story of the NSW Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service: An effective population health service with public health impact and reach. Ministry of Health and Prevention Research Collaboration: University of Sydney, 2012
- O’Hara BJ, Bauman AE, King L, Phongsavan P. Process evaluation of the advertising campaign for the NSW Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 2011: 22(1)
- O’Hara et al. Characteristics of participants in Australia’s Get Healthy telephone-based lifestyle information and coaching service: reaching disadvantaged communities and those most at need, Health Education Research, Volume 26, Issue 6, December 2011, Pages 1097–1106
Get Healthy in Pregnancy
- Rissel, C., Khanal, S., Raymond, J. et al. Piloting a Telephone Based Health Coaching Program for Pregnant Women: A Mixed Methods Study Matern Child Health J 23, 307–315 (2019).
- Clements, V., Leung, K., Khanal, S. et al. Pragmatic cluster randomised trial of a free telephone-based health coaching program to support women in managing weight gain during pregnancy: the Get Healthy in Pregnancy Trial. BMC Health Serv Res 16, 454 (2016)
- O’Hara BJ, Bauman AE, Phongsavan P. Using mass-media communications to increase population usage of Australia’s Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service. BMC Public Health 2012, 12:762
Cancer
- Lawler, S., Maher, G., Brennan, M. et al. Get Healthy after Breast Cancer - examining the feasibility, acceptability and outcomes of referring breast cancer survivors to a general population telephone-delivered program targeting physical activity, healthy diet and weight loss. Support Care Cancer 25, 1953–1962 (2017)
Type 2 diabetes risk reduction
- Cranney, BL et al. Telephone based coaching for adults at risk of diabetes: impact of Australia’s Get Healthy Service, Translational Behavioral Medicine, Volume 9, Issue 6, December 2019, Pages 1178–1185
Aboriginal communities
- Quinn, E., O’Hara, B.J., Ahmed, N. et al. Enhancing the get healthy information and coaching service for Aboriginal adults: evaluation of the process and impact of the program. Int J Equity Health 16, 168 (2017)
- Winch S, Ahmed N, Rissel C, Maxwell M, Coutts J, Lucas K. (2017) The reach and flow of health information in two Aboriginal communities: a social network analysis. Australian Journal of Primary Health 23, 189–195
Mental health
- Stettaford T et al. Experiences of people with a mental health condition using a telephone health coaching service to support healthy lifestyle changes. Equally Well, 2026
- Hanly G, Campbell E, Bartlem K, Dray J, Fehily C, Colyvas K, Reynolds T, Davidson S, Jeong SY, Wiggers J, Wolfenden L, Bowman J. Effectiveness of referral to a population-level telephone coaching service for improving health risk behaviours in people with a mental health condition: a randomised controlled trial. BMC Public Health. 2025 Feb 19;25(1):677. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-21614-w. PMID: 39966799; PMCID: PMC11837387.
General practice
- O’Hara BJ, Phongsavan P, Rissel C, Hardy LL, Zander A, Greenaway M, Bauman AE. (2015) Role of general practice in the utilisation of the NSW Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service Australian Journal of Primary Health 21, 182-188. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/PY13154