School of Arts and Humanities

Dr Manonita Ghosh

Dr Manonita Ghosh is a Research Fellow in the Social Ageing (SAGE) Futures Lab, School of Arts and Humanities.

Background

Dr Manonita Ghosh is a Research Fellow in the ECU SAGE Futures Lab. Additionally, she serves as the Editor-in-Chief for the Anthropology and Ageing Journal and leads research editorial teams. With a background in anthropology and public health, her research explores cross-cultural influences on health behaviour, aging and social care, health service evaluation, and music and migrant health. Manonita holds two master's degrees: one in Sociology from Dhaka University, Bangladesh, and another in Anthropology from the University of Western Australia. She completed a PhD in Population Health at the University of Western Australia.

Manonita leads the Arts & Music Engagement stream in the SAGE Future Lab. A trained musician, Manonita applies her skills in music direction to multicultural communities. With over 15 years of experience, she has worked in government organisations like the Department of Health WA and the Department for Communities. She has also made significant contributions to non-governmental health organisations, focusing on training, capacity building, and community development.

Research Areas and Interests

Ageing and social care

Manonita currently serves as a CI and Project Manager for NHMRC-funded project 'Befriending with GENIE', focuses on social interventions for people with dementia from migrant communities, incorporating regular befriending conversations and a software tool called 'GENIE'. Additionally, she manages the 'Fittest Trial', aiming to develop a social support and engagement program to combat social frailty among older adults. She contributes to the development of the SAGE Social Frailty Index for assessing social frailty. Previously, her research addressed the needs of stroke patients undergoing robotic neurorehabilitation, where she grappled with ethical dilemmas regarding treatment acceptability. To ensure patient involvement in their treatment process, she devised the Patients’ Acceptability Index.

Health services research

Manonita spearheaded numerous research projects to assess health service policies and practices, focusing on patient care and quality improvement. Her work aimed to refine healthcare policies and procedures. She conducted evaluations on oncology services with WA Psycho-oncology, community programs with government and non-government organisations including the Department for Communities and the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services, and Indigenous Affairs. Additionally, she evaluated dementia services with Alzheimer’s WA and nursing care services in both public and private hospitals in WA.

Music and migrant health

Manonita brings extensive experience in grassroots work with migrant and refugee communities, focusing on community capacity building through music and art-based programs. She leads the Arts and Music Engagement Stream in SAGE, and an investigator in Let’s Sign Together grant project. Her research centres on evidence-based models of socially prescribed music interventions aimed at enhancing health and wellbeing for migrants throughout their lives. She is in the process of launching social prescription of music for migrant health network in 2025. As a trained vocalist in Indian Raaga and a music teacher, she founded the choir Oikotan (Harmony),

collaborating with musicians to promote cultural exchange and collective wellbeing. Previously her choir sung in eleven languages and produced two multicultural music CDs, "Music and Heritage" and "Singing Out of Tune," funded by government agencies. Manonita conducted concerts, including ones at the Government House of WA on International Women’s Day and Harmony Day. She received the 2009 Community Research Award from the Department of Communities for her research on puppetry for health in South Africa.

Teaching and Supervision

Manonita has extensive experience teaching anthropology and public health courses at both undergraduate and honours levels. She instructed courses like Qualitative Research Methods at ECU's School of Science from 2019 to 2022, and Mixed Method Research in Applied and Professional Practice for the Honors Program at UWA. Additionally, she contributed to anthropology and health science units at UWA. Manonita was also invited to deliver lecturer on art-based programs for health promotion and social change at Curtin University, UWA, and the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Awards and recognition

• 2024 - Facilitating Research Collaboration grant, Edith Cowan University.
• 2024 - EMCR Conference Registration Funding, Edith Cowan University.
• 2023 - Research Support Funding, School of Arts and Humanities.
• 2021 - Research Support Funding, School of Nursing and Midwifery.
• 2019 - Early and Mid-Career Researcher Award, Edith Cowan University.
• 2013 - Postgraduate Student Award, The University of Western Australia.
• 2009 - Postgraduate Teaching Internship Award, The University of Western Australia.
• 2009 - Community Research Award, Department for Communities.
• 2007 - Community Program Award, Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
• 2004 - Grace Vaughan Award, The University of Western Australia.
• 2006-2010 - Top up Scholarship, School of Population Health, The University of Western Australia
• 2006-2010 - Australian Postgraduate Award.