The unfolding story of the 2009 Adelaide heatwave: risk factors for mortality and morbidity. This project will conduct a case control study in Adelaide to explore the risk factors of extra health burden related to the 2009 heatwave. Given the prediction of more extreme heat events, this study will provide important information for policy makers and service providers to assist in the development of more resilient communities to climate change.
Disparities In Care And Outcome For People With Lung Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$74,047.00
Summary
This thesis will investigate disparities in lung cancer care and outcomes, provide an overview of lung cancer disparities in NSW and seek to identify and assess an intervention to reduce lung cancer disparities. This will involve a systematic review of cancer disparity measures, empirical research to investigate patterns and predictors of disparity. Mixed methods will be used to investigate observed disparities and identify interventions to improve cancer care and outcomes in vulnerable groups.
Travellers visiting friends and relatives: new approaches to understanding and reducing infectious disease risks. Travel is the single most important factor in the spread of infections globally and travellers who visit friends and relatives in their country of birth are at increased risk of infections. This project will provide necessary evidence to guide an effective response to reducing travel-associated infectious disease in this target at-risk group.
Healthy and working life expectancies in an ageing Australia. This project aims to identify social circumstances that optimise healthy and working life years in Australia. The project draws on international multidisciplinary expertise to critically evaluate social variation and inequalities in the years older adults live in good health and are engaged in work. Expected outcomes include the generation of new policy-relevant knowledge on older workers, active retirement, and healthy ageing which w ....Healthy and working life expectancies in an ageing Australia. This project aims to identify social circumstances that optimise healthy and working life years in Australia. The project draws on international multidisciplinary expertise to critically evaluate social variation and inequalities in the years older adults live in good health and are engaged in work. Expected outcomes include the generation of new policy-relevant knowledge on older workers, active retirement, and healthy ageing which will advance the field of life course epidemiology and inform the debate about Australia’s future ageing. This project should provide benefits for individual wellbeing, and provide evidence that can inform long-term public policy on health, work, welfare, and retirement.Read moreRead less
Using Big Data To Reduce Inappropriate Medication Use
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$318,768.00
Summary
Potentially inappropriate medication use both increases patient harm and wastes considerable health resources. However methods for measuring patterns of use are not well developed nor utilised in policy. This research will measure the scope, variation and burden of potentially inappropriate medication use in Australia. My unique combination of biostatistical, data and policy expertise will enable this research to create new actionable tools for evaluating the Australian healthcare system.
A Survey Of The Sexual Behaviour And Sexual Health Of Australian Prisoners
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$591,000.00
Summary
The Australian Study of Health and Relationships telephone survey recently reported on the sexual attitudes, knowledge, health and behaviour of over 19,000 Australians. One of the groups that was omitted from that survey was prisoners. Yet prisoners are a high-risk group for sexual ill health. Prisoners are mostly drawn from the most disadvantaged groups in society: they are more likely to be unemployed, they have less education and lower incomes than other Australians, and many suffer from mino ....The Australian Study of Health and Relationships telephone survey recently reported on the sexual attitudes, knowledge, health and behaviour of over 19,000 Australians. One of the groups that was omitted from that survey was prisoners. Yet prisoners are a high-risk group for sexual ill health. Prisoners are mostly drawn from the most disadvantaged groups in society: they are more likely to be unemployed, they have less education and lower incomes than other Australians, and many suffer from minor intellectual disabilities and-or mental illness. This proposed survey of inmates in Australian prisons will fill in this missing data. Prisoners are the forgotten population in many countries. Only a few surveys of prisoners' health have been performed. There are some surveys of sexual behaviour in particular prisons overseas, though most of them concentrate on HIV risks and do not explore the sexual lives of prisoners in the same way as the major national sex surveys in the US, the UK and France did for people living outside prison. Prison is itself a dangerous place for people's sexual health. In prison, much of the sex that occurs is not voluntary. Sexual assault in prisons can lead to serious physical injury as well as risk of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV-AIDS. Although some of these injuries can be sufficiently serious to require surgery, only a small proportion are reported to the authorities. Younger prisoners (aged 18-25) and those who are small, slightly built or gay, are at higher risk of being assaulted. This study will explore the factors surrounding sexual assault in prison and make recommendations for preventing it.Read moreRead less
Understanding individual, workplace and system level influences on return to work in a changing Australian labour market. This project will identify where challenges arise in return to work after a work-related injury or illness for older workers and people with mental stress claims. The results of this project will help form the basis of policy and program changes to address these issues and enable these groups of workers to have better health and economic outcomes.
The effect of acquiring a disability in adulthood. This project aims to analyse the effect the acquisition of a disability in adulthood has on subsequent socio-economic circumstances (employment, housing, education, income, social capital, wealth) and wellbeing. Researchers from epidemiology, econometrics and statistics will use longitudinal data to model the patterns of disability and subsequent socio-economic and health circumstances over time. The methods aim to make causal statements and pro ....The effect of acquiring a disability in adulthood. This project aims to analyse the effect the acquisition of a disability in adulthood has on subsequent socio-economic circumstances (employment, housing, education, income, social capital, wealth) and wellbeing. Researchers from epidemiology, econometrics and statistics will use longitudinal data to model the patterns of disability and subsequent socio-economic and health circumstances over time. The methods aim to make causal statements and provide a template for research and evaluation in this field. Outcomes are expected to set priorities for action to improve socio-economic conditions, productivity and health for people with disabilities.Read moreRead less
Reducing the social, economic and health burden associated with obesity-related chronic diseases among socio-economically disadvantaged populations. This project will develop new methods and approaches for reducing obesity-related chronic diseases (OCDs) among socially disadvantaged populations in Australia, using prevention models. These prevention models will improve the evidence base in this field as well as inform public health policy and practice in Australia (and other industrialised count ....Reducing the social, economic and health burden associated with obesity-related chronic diseases among socio-economically disadvantaged populations. This project will develop new methods and approaches for reducing obesity-related chronic diseases (OCDs) among socially disadvantaged populations in Australia, using prevention models. These prevention models will improve the evidence base in this field as well as inform public health policy and practice in Australia (and other industrialised countries).Read moreRead less
Drivers of ageing and adaptive ageing in middle-aged and older adults. This project aims to answer crucial questions about how our early years influence our health and wellbeing in middle and later life. Drawing on one of Australia’s longest running studies of social and emotional development, we link decades of developmental data collected since 1983 to social, emotional, cognitive and physical wellbeing in participants turning 40 (midlife) and 70 (later life). It will provide insight into impo ....Drivers of ageing and adaptive ageing in middle-aged and older adults. This project aims to answer crucial questions about how our early years influence our health and wellbeing in middle and later life. Drawing on one of Australia’s longest running studies of social and emotional development, we link decades of developmental data collected since 1983 to social, emotional, cognitive and physical wellbeing in participants turning 40 (midlife) and 70 (later life). It will provide insight into important and largely unanswered questions about the way social factors in the first half of life shape our later selves. This study will inform government and health policy targeting ageing populations.
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