Biography

Dr. Sean Healy is a Associate Professor (b) in Physical Activity and Sport Participation, Policy and Practice in the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences (PESS) at the University of Limerick. Dr. Healy holds a BSc in Physical Education from the University of Limerick and a MSc in Adapted Physical Activity from the University of Leuven, Belgium. In 2015, Dr. Healy was awarded a PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Healy has extensive experience in teaching and directing educational programmes related to behavioural health (University of Delaware) and physical education (Humboldt State University). In 2020, Dr. Healy returned to Ireland to develop and chair a new MSc programme in Health and Social Inclusion in Dublin City University's School of Nursing, Psychotherapy, and Community Health.

In 2023, Dr. Healy joined the University of Limerick's PESS Department. In addition to teaching, Dr. Healy supervises undergraduate and post-graduate research students. Currently, he supervises two PhD students researching physical activity, sedentary behaviour and health among adults with intellectual disabilities in college settings and residential settings. Dr Healy's research (outlined below) centers around advancing our understanding of and promoting a healthy balance of time within the 24-hour movement behaviours (physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep), especially among marginalised groups, such as those with disabilities. Moreover, he utilises experimental methods to assess digital health interventions to promote physical activity and motor skill development. Dr. Healy is the Associate Editor of Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly.

Research Interests

Dr. Healy is a pragmatic researcher and utilises multiple methods to advance our understanding of how to obtain a healthy balance of time in physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep (i.e., the 24-hour movement behaviors). This work primarily focuses on traditionally marginalised populations, including autistic individuals and people with intellectual disabilities. Dr Healy applies time-use epidemiological approaches to quantify the patterns and multi-level determinants of 24-hour movement behaviors. To compliment his quantitative findings, and ensure research, intervention and programmatic efforts are person-centered and meaningful, he also frequently engages people with disabilities in qualitative research to understand and amplify their perspectives of health. Dr. Healy also uses multiple methods to refine and test digital health interventions to increase physical activity among populations with disabilities.

Some on-going projects being led by Dr. Healy include:
- The STAR (Supporting Transition to Active Recreation) project: Developing and testing a digital health intervention to promote physical activity and campus engagement among autistic college students
- Conceptualising time as a multi-dimensional determinant of exercise: Development of the Exercise participation explained in relation to time (EXPERT) model.

Dr Healy's work has been funded by grants from organisations including the European Commission (Erasmus Sport 2021 SCP), US Office of Special Education, Centre of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) in Cardiovascular Health, Ireland's National Health Screening Service, etc. Dr. Healy's publications can be viewed at the following links: Google scholar and Researchgate

Dr. Healy's works with an extensive global collaborative network of researchers and welcomes new opportunities for conducting interdisciplinary, innovative, impactful research. Similarly, Dr. Healy welcomes and invites prospective postgraduate students interested in conducting research related to time-use epidemiology, adapted physical activity, and digital health interventions.

Publications

Peer Reviewed Journals

2023

Associations between sedentary behavior and negative emotions in adolescents during home confinement: Mediating role of social support and sleep quality

Zou, Liye and Wang, Ting and Herold, Fabian and Ludyga, Sebastian and Liu, Weina and Zhang, Yanjie and Healy, Sean and Zhang, Zhihao and Kuang, Jin and Taylor, Alyx and others (2023) Associations between sedentary behavior and negative emotions in adolescents during home confinement: Mediating role of social support and sleep quality. International Journal Of Clinical And Health Psychology :100337-

2022

Identifying the most proximal multi-level factors associated with meeting each of the 24-h movement behavior recommendations in a sample of autistic adults

Healy, Sean and Brewer, Benjamin and Hoopes, Elissa and Paller, Alexis and Mayberry, Shannon and Maguire, Joseph and Daly, Julie and Laxton, Paige and Patterson, Freda (2022) Identifying the most proximal multi-level factors associated with meeting each of the 24-h movement behavior recommendations in a sample of autistic adults. Disability And Health Journal :101367-

2022

Meeting the 24-h movement guidelines and health-related outcomes among youth with autism spectrum disorder: a seven-country observational study

Li C.;Haegele J.A.;Sun F.;Alves M.L.T.;Ang S.H.C.;Lee J.;Ng K.;dos Santos Alves I.;Healy S.;Huang W.Y.;Rintala P.;Tan J.S.Y.;Wu Y.;Yang H.;Kärnä E.;Maeng H.;Schliemann A.L.;Ding D. (2022) Meeting the 24-h movement guidelines and health-related outcomes among youth with autism spectrum disorder: a seven-country observational study. Child And Adolescent Psychiatry And Mental Health

2022

Associations between meeting 24-hour movement guidelines and quality of life among children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Kong, Chuidan and Chen, Aiguo and Ludyga, Sebastian and Herold, Fabian and Healy, Sean and Zhao, Mengxian and Taylor, Alyx and M"uller, Notger G and Kramer, Arthur F and Chen, Sitong and others (2022) Associations between meeting 24-hour movement guidelines and quality of life among children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Sport and Health Science

2022

Meeting the 24-h movement guidelines and health-related outcomes among youth with autism spectrum disorder: a seven-country observational study

Li, Chunxiao and Haegele, Justin A and Sun, Fenghua and Alves, Maria Luiza Tanure and Ang, Stefanie Hwee Chee and Lee, Jihyun and Ng, Kwok and dos Santos Alves, Isabella and Healy, Sean and Huang, Wendy Yajun and others (2022) Meeting the 24-h movement guidelines and health-related outcomes among youth with autism spectrum disorder: a seven-country observational study. Child And Adolescent Psychiatry And Mental Health :1-8

2022

The roles of exercise tolerance and resilience in the effect of physical activity on emotional states among college students

Zhang, Zhihao and Wang, Ting and Kuang, Jin and Herold, Fabian and Ludyga, Sebastian and Li, Jingming and Hall, Daniel L and Taylor, Alyx and Healy, Sean and Yeung, Albert S and others (2022) The roles of exercise tolerance and resilience in the effect of physical activity on emotional states among college students. International Journal Of Clinical And Health Psychology :100312-

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