University of Melbourne
(Retired) Professor, School of Public Health, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, AUSTRALIA.
Professor Hedley Peach is a Visiting Consultant at the Ballarat Base Hospital, and Professional Fellow at the University of Melbourne.
Professor Hedley Peach qualified as a doctor in Wales where he became interested in the social causes of illness. This interest led him to train in community medicine at the renowned St. Thomas's Hospital in London where he worked for seven years as a lecturer/senior lecturer. In 1985 he migrated to Australia where he was Foundation Professor of Tropical Health at James Cook University for three years and, subsequently, Professor of Community Medicine at Melbourne University for fourteen years. He retired earlier this year but continues as an honorary Professorial Fellow of Melbourne University. He has been interested in the nexus between religion, spirituality and health for a number of years. In 2002, he wrote the first article on this topic to appear in the Medical Journal of Australia to stimulate debate on how the medical profession should respond to research and recommendations from the USA. He has authored book chapters and papers on spirituality and women's health, the religions of rural Australians, and other topics. He has given many radio and newspaper interviews on spirituality and health. He is the author of several books, including The Epidemiology of Common Diseases and Disablement in the Community, as well as the leading author of more than 100 articles in scientific journals. He is a member of the National Heart Foundation's expert group on psychosocial causes of heart disease.
