Profile image for Sunil Bhar

Professor Sunil Bhar

Professor
PhD, University of Melbourne, Australia; Master of Arts (Clinical Psychology), University of Melbourne, Australia; Bachelor of Arts (Honours), University of Melbourne, Australia

Biography

Prof Sunil Bhar is a Professor of Psychology at Swinburne University of Technology. He is a clinical geropsychologist with expertise in the application of psychological treatments to older adults living in residential aged care settings. He is the director of the Wellbeing Clinic for Older Adults, a geropsychology counselling service for older adults living in residential aged care facilities. For more than a decade, he has led research on the outcomes and mechanisms of psychological treatments for older adults. His research program adopts a comprehensive approach to the development and delivery of effective and sustainable interventions to promote wellbeing in later life. He has extensive experience in behavioural research in depression, suicide and anxiety in older adults. In 2017, he won a federally funded grant to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behaviour therapy for depression and anxiety in aged care residents living with dementia. He has won more than $8M in grants as chief investigator focused on mental health programs for older adults. His research and contribution to practice has been recognised through several awards. In 2014, he was awarded the Alastair Heron Prize for excellence in ageing research and practice by the Australian Psychology Society. In 2015, he was awarded a citation for outstanding contribution to student learning in geropsychology by the Office of Learning and Teaching. In 2018, he won the Swinburne Dean’s award for research, and in 2019, he won Swinburne’s research impact award. Alongside his research and teaching activities, Professor Bhar has maintained a clinical practice for 30 years.

Research interests

Aged care; Clinical Psychology; Mood Disorders

PhD candidate and honours supervision

Higher degrees by research

Accredited to supervise Masters & Doctoral students as Principal Supervisor.

Fields of Research

  • Health Psychology - 520304
  • Clinical Psychology - 520302
  • Counselling Psychology - 520303

Teaching areas

Aged care;Clinical Psychology;Counseling Psychology;Mood Disorders

Awards

  • 2019, Swinburne, Swinburne Research Impact Award, Swinburne University of Technology
  • 2018, Swinburne, PVC Faculty Award for Academic Contribution to Faculty, Swinburne University of Technology
  • 2018, Swinburne, Dean's Research Award, School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology
  • 2015, National, OLT Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT)
  • 2014, National, Alastair Heron Prize for excellence in ageing research of practice, College of Clinical Psychologists, Australian Psychological Society
  • 2013, Swinburne, Faculty of Life and Social Sciences Award for Teaching Excellence, Swinburne University of Technology
  • 2012, Swinburne, Vice Chancellor Community Engagement Award, Swinburne University of Technology

Professional memberships

  • 2016 - 2019: Chair, Department of Psychological Sciences, Swinburne University, Australia
  • 2020 - 2020: Board Member, Psychology and ageing interest group, Australian Psychological Society, Australia
  • 2019 - 2024: Board Member, International advisory commitee, Beck Institute, United States
  • 2010 - 2016: Affiliate, Academy of Cognitive Therapy, United States
  • 2005 - 2016: Member, College of Clinical Psychologists (APS), Australia

Publications

Also published as: Bhar, Sunil; Bhar, S.; Bhar, S. S.; Bhar, Sunil S.
This publication listing is provided by Swinburne Research Bank. If you are the owner of this profile, you can update your publications using our online form.

Recent research grants awarded

  • 2023: An innovative digitally enabled intervention to reduce depression in home-based aged care *; ARIIA Grant Program
  • 2023: EMBED: A stepped wedge cluster randomised trial of a tailored, integrated model of care to reduce symptoms of depression in home aged care *; Dementia Ageing and Aged Care Mission
  • 2023: Feasibility study of tVNS as a therapy for early and mid-stage dementia *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2022: Digital Story Project *; The Aged Persons Welfare Foundation
  • 2022: Educational resources and group therapy programs for residential aged care *; Better Place Australia Fund Scheme
  • 2022: Growth SUPRA_Piloting a service wide psychology program for home aged care clients *; Silver Chain Group Limited Fund Scheme
  • 2022: Integrating community and family aged care for diverse Australians *; ARC Linkage Projects Scheme
  • 2022: Mental Health (Telehealth) Counselling Service for aged-care communities in rural and regional Victoria *; Helen Macpherson Smith Trust Grants
  • 2022: PADSIP - Positive Ageing Digital Storytelling Intergenerational Program *; Boroondara City Council
  • 2022: The National Telehealth Counselling and Support Service: Making mental health services available, accessible and acceptable for the Australian residential aged care sector. *; The Arcare Family Foundation
  • 2021: e-DiVA (empowering Dementia Carers with an iSupport Virtual Assistant) *; NHMRC eAsia JRP grant
  • 2021: Mental Health (Telehealth) Counselling Service for aged-care communities in rural and regional Victoria *; The Aged Persons Welfare Foundation
  • 2020: Dementia Essentials: comparing face-to-face learning with online learning *; Dementia Australia Ltd
  • 2020: The Digital Story Project *; Annie Danks Trust
  • 2020: The National Telehealth Counselling and Support Service for family and professional carers of older adults in aged care residential settings: An implementation study *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2020: The National Telehealth Counselling and Support Service for older adults in aged care residential settings *; The Arcare Family Foundation
  • 2019: Community of Practice *; Dementia Australia Ltd
  • 2019: The Digital Story project *; The Arcare Family Foundation
  • 2019: Thread.care: Does it work? *; Thread.care Pty Ltd
  • 2018: Augmented reality technology for people with dementia (evaluation of) *; Dementia Australia Ltd
  • 2018: Dementia Essentials: Evaluation of knowledge, attitudes and practice outcomes *; Dementia Australia Ltd
  • 2018: Digital Storytelling with Older Adults (Phase 3) *; Relationships Australia (Victoria)
  • 2018: ELders AT Ease Program (ELATE): A cluster randomised controlled trial of a sustainable and scalable mental health service for Australian residential aged care facilities *; NHMRC Targeted Call for Research
  • 2018: The impact of befriending on depression, anxiety, social support and loneliness in older adults living in residential aged care facilities *; NHMRC Targeted Call for Research
  • 2017: A digital prototype addressing loneliness in older adults *; Swinburne Research, DVCR&D - Internal contributions
  • 2017: Digital Storytelling with Older Adults *; Relationships Australia (Victoria)
  • 2017: Evaluating the use of a Virtual Reality `Educational Dementia Immersive Experience? (EDIE) with professional carers of people with dementia *; Dementia Australia Ltd
  • 2013: Applying Virtual Environments to Dementia Care *; Smart Services CRC: Services 2020
  • 2013: Development of What Works booklet *; beyondblue

* Chief Investigator