天美传媒

Dr. Berdychevsky鈥檚 research revolves at the nexus of health and well being in leisure and tourism contexts, adopting a gender-sensitive and a life course-grounded approach. In her work, she focuses on risky behaviors and vulnerable populations, exploring the impacts of risk taking on health and well being. Specifically, Dr. Berdychevsky examines two interrelated aspects of health and risk behaviors that have gained little attention in both leisure and tourism literature. First, she investigates sexual behavior and risk taking among young and senior adults in various leisure and tourism contexts. Her research indicates that sexual risk taking is a multidimensional and complex phenomenon and provides recommendations for tailoring gender-sensitive, age-appropriate, and context-specific sexual health education messages. Second, Dr. Berdychevsky studies people鈥檚 experiences of violence-related behaviors and other delinquent leisure practices. She investigates the impacts of these behaviors on health and well being and examines various risk and protective factors instrumental for developing prevention and intervention programs.

Dr. Liechty's research explores the connections between physically active leisure and body image, embodiment, and health and well-being. For example, she has investigated body image and leisure among pregnant women, retirement-age men and women, and female athletes.

As an Extension Specialist, Dr. Payne's overall goal is to improve health and well-being through research, education, and outreach programs that result in the delivery of quality and sustainable recreation, parks, and wellness programs/services. Her research examines the effects of leisure behavior on aspects of health and well-being among older adults. More specifically, she examines the relationship between leisure style and health of older adults with chronic conditions and the role of local parks and recreation agencies in health promotion and health behavior change. She has directed several statewide outreach and research programs such as the Illinois Rural Recreation Development Project, Illinois Senior Wellness Initiative, Take Charge of Your Health: Live Well be Well, and the Illinois Health Care Reform Initiative. Her work has been supported by the State of Illinois Division of Human Services, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Recreation Foundation, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.