Efficacy Of Exercise Physiologist Counselling In Primary Care Patients: A RCT Of Two Pragmatic Approaches
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$940,925.00
Summary
Physical activity is one of the most powerful contributors to health, but population levels of activity are low. General practitioners (GPs) are well placed to provide physical activity counselling, but many are too busy. This project examines the effectiveness of referral of insufficiently active adults to an exercise physiologist (EP), using step counts from a pedometer as the outcome. We compare usual care from the GP with: (1) 5 EP visits, and (2) a single visit and telephone follow up.
An RCT To Promote Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours From Infancy: An Intervention To Prevent Childhood Overweight
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$578,631.00
Summary
In Australia, one in four school-aged children is currently overweight and childhood obesity rates are continuing to rise. In the last five years it has become clear that rates of overweight and obesity are also rapidly increasing in pre-school age children. These are issues that are of concern to health officials as well as to parents. We understand that these rising rates in fatness relate to children's diet and activity patterns, and that these patterns, once established are likely to be patt ....In Australia, one in four school-aged children is currently overweight and childhood obesity rates are continuing to rise. In the last five years it has become clear that rates of overweight and obesity are also rapidly increasing in pre-school age children. These are issues that are of concern to health officials as well as to parents. We understand that these rising rates in fatness relate to children's diet and activity patterns, and that these patterns, once established are likely to be patterns for life. To date, there has been relatively little research regarding the chance to support parents to establish the eating and activity patterns that will protect their children from the very beginning of life. This project seeks to support first-time parents to establish healthy eating and activity behaviours in their children using the highly utilised Maternal and Child Health Centres first time parents' groups. We believe that these groups will provide a strongly supportive environment in which to provide parents with strategies and knowledge for promoting healthy eating and activity patterns for their children, and in turn, promote healthy weight gain. This project will assess the effectiveness of this intervention.Read moreRead less
An Analysis Of Blood Awareness For The Purposes Of Hepatitis C Prevention Education And Health Promotion.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$196,113.00
Summary
This project will make a direct and major contribution to Hepatitis C prevention by addressing the need for blood awareness in prevention education. The need for measures to prevent the spread of HCV is based on the clinical implications of infection combined with its current prevalence and predicted spread within Australia. More than 200,000 Australians are estimated to be living with hepatitis C infection. Around 11,000 new HCV infections per year are estimated to occur across the Australia. H ....This project will make a direct and major contribution to Hepatitis C prevention by addressing the need for blood awareness in prevention education. The need for measures to prevent the spread of HCV is based on the clinical implications of infection combined with its current prevalence and predicted spread within Australia. More than 200,000 Australians are estimated to be living with hepatitis C infection. Around 11,000 new HCV infections per year are estimated to occur across the Australia. HCV is spread through blood to blood exposure. In the absence of effective medical treatment for Hepatitis C virus (HCV) education about modes of transmission presents as the most viable means of containing the spread of the virus. The promotion of blood awareness has been identified as a key strategy for such education as it may ensure greater care on the part of the general community in the prevention of blood exposures. However, the development of a heightened awareness of blood as a source of infection is fraught with social and health implications. A crucial concern for those directly involved in promoting blood awareness is the need to ensure that such a strategy does not contribute to the already existing stigmatisation of those living with HCV or, more generally, promote irrational phobias about blood. Findings of the research will assist in the development of public health education campaigns to prevent the spread of HCV. It will also contribute to education prevention for other blood borne communicable diseases including HIV and other viral hepatitides. Further, it will provide a model of inquiry for developing health promotion programs seeking blood, semen, organ and tissue donation.Read moreRead less
An Intervention To Improve The Nutrition And Physical Activity Behaviours In Mothers With Young Children
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$474,780.00
Summary
The aim of the project is to develop, implement and evaluate a six-month community based intervention that will improve the nutrition and physical activity behaviours of mothers with young children. As mothers are a major influence among the family, an intervention that successfully improves physical activity and nutrition behaviours will also impact on behaviours of the whole family making it a 'whole family' approach.
Reconceptualising Health Promotion: The Role Of Values, Ethics And Evidence In Obesity Intervention.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$485,103.00
Summary
Obesity and overweight are public health priorities. Population-level programs, campaigns and regulations are required to prevent and reduce obesity. How should these interventions proceed? What is effective? What is ethical? How can we avoid doing harm? At present, we do not know. By studying current interventions in detail, and working with experts and practitioners in health promotion and ethics, this project will develop a new framework to guide overweight and obesity intervention in future.
RCT Of A Client-centred, Caseworker-delivered Smoking Cessation Intervention For A Socially Disadvantated Population
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$440,217.00
Summary
Smoking among the socially disadvantaged is unacceptably high. Little is known about the best way to reduce smoking among the disadvantaged. This study aims to lower smoking rates among clients attending community social services. Given smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and illness, the study has the potential to impact on the health and well-being of a particularly vulnerable sector of the community.
Mass Disseminable Approaches To Smoking Cessation In General Practice
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$412,100.00
Summary
Tobacco smoking is the most significant preventable cause of mortality in Australia. At any one time, many smokers want to quit. There are several interventions that are known to work in research settings, such as advice from care providers, self-help materials, drug therapies and telephone counselling. This study wants to find out if these strategies work in ordinary general practice. Over 50% of Australian have access to the Internet and research suggests that seeking health information is one ....Tobacco smoking is the most significant preventable cause of mortality in Australia. At any one time, many smokers want to quit. There are several interventions that are known to work in research settings, such as advice from care providers, self-help materials, drug therapies and telephone counselling. This study wants to find out if these strategies work in ordinary general practice. Over 50% of Australian have access to the Internet and research suggests that seeking health information is one of the most common uses of this technology. The rapid growth of Internet use potentially provides access to a number of cessation aids for tobacco smokers, including online support through 'chat rooms'. It is also possible to tailor interventions to individuals according to their stated interests and readiness to quit. General practitioners, in addition to providing support and care to smokers attemtping to quit, can direct them to community services such as Quit Victoria, which now offers smoking cessation programs tailored to individuals' needs delivered either through telephone counselling or by the Internet. We want to know whether more smokers quit successfully if their GP refers them to Quit services in addition to their usual care. As well as assessing the effectiveness of broadly distributable interventions in smoking cessation, this project will also collect data about the use of the Internet for health research. Little is known about how to perform research on the Web. This project will allow automatic monitoring of how people respond to research endeavours in this environment.Read moreRead less
How Do Lay People Understand The Risk Of Developing Cancer? A Qualitative Study Using Grounded Theory Procedures.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$282,118.00
Summary
This project is about cancer risk. New discoveries are regularly made about the contribution of genes, environmental exposures, and lifestyles to cancer risk. These findings are often reported in the mass media, or used in television advertising to encourage us to attend cancer screening or change our habits. Some cancers are said to be almost entirely preventable. In fact some experts argue that whether or not we get cancer is largely our own responsibility. This study doesn't ask what causes c ....This project is about cancer risk. New discoveries are regularly made about the contribution of genes, environmental exposures, and lifestyles to cancer risk. These findings are often reported in the mass media, or used in television advertising to encourage us to attend cancer screening or change our habits. Some cancers are said to be almost entirely preventable. In fact some experts argue that whether or not we get cancer is largely our own responsibility. This study doesn't ask what causes cancer. Instead it asks what the risk of developing cancer means to Australians and in Australian society. This question will be answered by conducting a rigorous analysis of healthy lay people's descriptions of their own and others' risk of developing cancer. The researchers will talk with a wide range of people about cancer risk. They will ask: how do we think about cancer risk for ourselves? how do we engage with information about cancer risk? Do we listen to it? Do we trust it? Does it make sense to us? What do we think should be done about it? The resulting findings will be compared with the assumptions that underlie cancer prevention activities. Finally, the discoveries made about similarities and differences will be actively translated for expert and lay audiences. There have been many studies of what it is like to be a cancer patient or to be screened for cancer. But there has been very little systematic study of the way in which healthy Australians make sense of cancer risk. This study will develop a detailed model of what cancer risk means to Australians. It will provide new knowledge to researchers and practitioners in public health, health psychology and sociology, and risk communication, guiding communication about cancer risk and research about cancer risk well into the future. It will help lay people and professionals to communicate more effectively about cancer risk, and thus support continuing improvement in cancer prevention in Australia.Read moreRead less
Impact Of The Extension Of The Sydney Light Rail System On The Prevalence Of Physical Activity Participation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$105,647.00
Summary
Regular participation in physical activity is associated with a range of physical and mental health benefits in adults, including reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, non-insulin dependent diabetes, overweight, hypertension, osteoporosis, some cancers and anxiety and depression. Regular participation in physical activity also improves the ability to meet the demands of work and to engage in leisure activities. Approximately half of all adult Australians are insufficiently active to gain the ....Regular participation in physical activity is associated with a range of physical and mental health benefits in adults, including reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, non-insulin dependent diabetes, overweight, hypertension, osteoporosis, some cancers and anxiety and depression. Regular participation in physical activity also improves the ability to meet the demands of work and to engage in leisure activities. Approximately half of all adult Australians are insufficiently active to gain the many health benefits associated with participation in regular physical activity. Modification of the physical environment is one avenue through which the prevalence of physcial activity participation might be increased. More specifically, there has been considerable speculation about the role of public transportation systems in increasing the proportion of adults who are adequately physically active, but no empirical evidence is available. This study will employ a quasi-experimental design to determine if the extension of the Sydney Light Rail System to Lilyfield results in an increase in the prevalence of physical activity (primarily walking) in the affected area, in comparison with a demographically similar area which is not affected by the light rail extension.Read moreRead less
The Development Of Overweight And Bone Density Among Adolescent Girls: A 3-year Prospective Cohort Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$280,351.00
Summary
Being overweight as an adolescent is associated with many health problems, both during adolescence and throughout the rest of the life span. The proportion of Australian adults who are overweight is increasing rapidly and it appears that overweight is also increasing among Australian adolescents. Unfortunately, little is known about the relative influences of physical activity, sedentary activity and dietary fat intake on the development of overweight among adolescents. Understanding this issue ....Being overweight as an adolescent is associated with many health problems, both during adolescence and throughout the rest of the life span. The proportion of Australian adults who are overweight is increasing rapidly and it appears that overweight is also increasing among Australian adolescents. Unfortunately, little is known about the relative influences of physical activity, sedentary activity and dietary fat intake on the development of overweight among adolescents. Understanding this issue will inform our efforts to prevent the development of overweight and to maintain healthy weight among Australian adolescents. Bone fractures among older adults have a major impact on their overall health, quality of life and capacity for independent and satisfying living. Peak bone strength is reached during adolescence and, although bone strength can be largely maintained though adult life with appropriate diet and physical activity, little can be done to further strengthen bones during adulthood. The goal of public health is to foster the development of maximum bone strength among adolescents in order to reduce the severity of osteoporosis among the older adults of the future. Our understanding of the factors which influence the development of maximum bone strength is inadequate to the task of designing programs and interventions intended maximise bone strength among the current generation of adolescents. This proposed study is intended to make a significant contribution to our understanding of the development of overweight and bone strength among adolescents. As our understanding of these health issues improves we will be able to make more effective contributions to the health of the Australian population, both during adolescence and across the lifespan.Read moreRead less