Maintaining family-based placement for children and young people with disabilities. Aim: To enable families to continue caring at home for children with severe disabilities.
Significance: These families face significant challenges in juggling the demands of work, family and care to the extent that one in four decide to relinquish the care of their child. This leaves more than 37,000 children in Australia at risk of not growing up in their family home.
Expected outcomes: A psychometrically sou ....Maintaining family-based placement for children and young people with disabilities. Aim: To enable families to continue caring at home for children with severe disabilities.
Significance: These families face significant challenges in juggling the demands of work, family and care to the extent that one in four decide to relinquish the care of their child. This leaves more than 37,000 children in Australia at risk of not growing up in their family home.
Expected outcomes: A psychometrically sound instrument that will identify families struggling to care for their children at home, and a family and practitioner guide of innovative solutions to maintaining family-based placements.
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A hands-free assistive control system for the severely disabled capable of operating under stressful and fatiguing conditions. The impact of severe disability like tetraplegia in daily living is substantial. Strategies are needed to improve their quality of life. One approach is to enhance their independence by providing 'hands free' control over their environment. However, few scientific studies have examined the efficacy of such technology. The aim of this research is to study the brain activi ....A hands-free assistive control system for the severely disabled capable of operating under stressful and fatiguing conditions. The impact of severe disability like tetraplegia in daily living is substantial. Strategies are needed to improve their quality of life. One approach is to enhance their independence by providing 'hands free' control over their environment. However, few scientific studies have examined the efficacy of such technology. The aim of this research is to study the brain activity of users of our "hands free" technology when they are operating under stressful and fatiguing conditions. The study should provide valuable data that will allow us to improve the efficacy of our existing brain signal based system (Mind Switch Assistive System). Read moreRead less
Building Citizenship Capacity in Young Adults With and Without Cerebral Palsy. This project will investigate practical aspects of citizenship participation within the context of a young adult population, as different from frequently reported theoretical views on citizenship. Specifically, the aim is to identify strategies necessary for building citizenship capacities for young adults with cerebral palsy (CP), as they are now living longer, but not eligible for care at the same level as during sc ....Building Citizenship Capacity in Young Adults With and Without Cerebral Palsy. This project will investigate practical aspects of citizenship participation within the context of a young adult population, as different from frequently reported theoretical views on citizenship. Specifically, the aim is to identify strategies necessary for building citizenship capacities for young adults with cerebral palsy (CP), as they are now living longer, but not eligible for care at the same level as during school years. Gaining capacities for success as a participating community member, young adults with CP need opportunities to manage not only physical and economic demands, but also develop knowledge and competencies necessary to engage in civic and social reciprocity within the community.Read moreRead less
Preventing and addressing environmental harm through restorative justice. This project aims to develop a knowledge base on how Restorative Justice (RJ) principles and practices can prevent and address environmental harm. Research has demonstrated that RJ is a powerful response to a wide variety of governance challenges and could provide a useful alternative paradigm for environmental regulation. This project aims to apply the processes and values of RJ to environmental regulation with a focus on ....Preventing and addressing environmental harm through restorative justice. This project aims to develop a knowledge base on how Restorative Justice (RJ) principles and practices can prevent and address environmental harm. Research has demonstrated that RJ is a powerful response to a wide variety of governance challenges and could provide a useful alternative paradigm for environmental regulation. This project aims to apply the processes and values of RJ to environmental regulation with a focus on harm prevention, advancing theory into a new domain of application. This should lead to immediate and long-term benefits, including better prevention of environmental harm, better relationships with communities, and stronger commitments by those who have caused harm to rehabilitate, repair and reform.Read moreRead less
Negotiating caring and employment - the impact on carers' wellbeing. Work and caring compete for carers? time. Little is known about the difficulties of combining work with the care of adults or children with disabilities. Between 40 and 60 percent of Australian carers combine employment with caring responsibilities. The project proposes to adopt a life-course perspective to study the effect of caring on income security, social participation and the health of employed carers. It makes innovative ....Negotiating caring and employment - the impact on carers' wellbeing. Work and caring compete for carers? time. Little is known about the difficulties of combining work with the care of adults or children with disabilities. Between 40 and 60 percent of Australian carers combine employment with caring responsibilities. The project proposes to adopt a life-course perspective to study the effect of caring on income security, social participation and the health of employed carers. It makes innovative use of existing data sources, including new longitudinal survey data, supported by a specially designed program of qualitative research to study key transitions, possible workplace solutions and the effective provision of human services.Read moreRead less
Innovation in agricultural sector Green House Gas abatement in NSW. This project aims to develop a land sector greenhouse gas abatement, food production and environmental economics model for NSW. We expect to identify innovation in carbon payment policy and brokerage business models to achieve agricultural GHG abatement, while simultaneously improving sustainability. Expected outcomes include evaluation of the innovations of expert landholders, related businesses and governments to find ways to ....Innovation in agricultural sector Green House Gas abatement in NSW. This project aims to develop a land sector greenhouse gas abatement, food production and environmental economics model for NSW. We expect to identify innovation in carbon payment policy and brokerage business models to achieve agricultural GHG abatement, while simultaneously improving sustainability. Expected outcomes include evaluation of the innovations of expert landholders, related businesses and governments to find ways to influence land use decisions. This should provide significant benefits to landholders, governments involved in land management and the public through increased productivity, profitability, biodiversity and ecosystem health in the context of future climate, agricultural commodity and carbon market uncertainties.Read moreRead less
Quality and outcomes of individual supported living arrangements for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This project identifies service quality aspects contributing to positive outcomes in individual supported living arrangements that enable adults with developmental disabilities to live in their own homes. 150 arrangements will be evaluated across Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, providing evidence of service quality in support of people with disability hav ....Quality and outcomes of individual supported living arrangements for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This project identifies service quality aspects contributing to positive outcomes in individual supported living arrangements that enable adults with developmental disabilities to live in their own homes. 150 arrangements will be evaluated across Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, providing evidence of service quality in support of people with disability having choice and control in their living arrangements.Read moreRead less
Novel Early Warning System for Hypoglycaemia. An innovative technique will be developed for early detection of low blood glucose level (hypoglycaemia), a life-threatening complication affecting millions of people with Type 1 diabetes worldwide. Real-time analysis of the effectiveness of skin impedance, ECG (in particular heart rate and QT interval), and EEG (alpha wave) will be combined with robust adaptive neural networks to provide a novel theoretical and practical basis for developing a non-i ....Novel Early Warning System for Hypoglycaemia. An innovative technique will be developed for early detection of low blood glucose level (hypoglycaemia), a life-threatening complication affecting millions of people with Type 1 diabetes worldwide. Real-time analysis of the effectiveness of skin impedance, ECG (in particular heart rate and QT interval), and EEG (alpha wave) will be combined with robust adaptive neural networks to provide a novel theoretical and practical basis for developing a non-invasive hypoglycaemia monitor. This device has the potential to save lives, improve quality of life for people with diabetes and their carers, and put Australia at the forefront in this $US5 billion pa industry.Read moreRead less
Support needs assessment: a developmental model for use in support, training and funding for individuals with single and multiple disabilities. This research project aims to construct and trial a new model for the assessment of the support needs of persons with disabilities. It addresses a number of critical deficiencies which recent research has shown to undermine the reliability, validity and usefulness of existing support needs instruments. Specifically, it is proposed to collect data that ....Support needs assessment: a developmental model for use in support, training and funding for individuals with single and multiple disabilities. This research project aims to construct and trial a new model for the assessment of the support needs of persons with disabilities. It addresses a number of critical deficiencies which recent research has shown to undermine the reliability, validity and usefulness of existing support needs instruments. Specifically, it is proposed to collect data that will inform the determination of the support needs of people with different kinds and combinations of disabilities. Variations in maintenance and intervention supports over time and context will be considered. The assessment system planned will have the flexibility to meet a number of potential user objectives.Read moreRead less
Accommodating the Needs of People with Lifelong Intellectual Disability in Residential Aged Care. Unique challenges face the residential aged care system because of the increased life expectancy of people with life-long intellectual disability and the likelihood of their premature ageing. Although this group is recognised by Federal and State governments as requiring specific and special service arrangements, little is known about adapting disability and aged care services to their needs, thus p ....Accommodating the Needs of People with Lifelong Intellectual Disability in Residential Aged Care. Unique challenges face the residential aged care system because of the increased life expectancy of people with life-long intellectual disability and the likelihood of their premature ageing. Although this group is recognised by Federal and State governments as requiring specific and special service arrangements, little is known about adapting disability and aged care services to their needs, thus program development is in its early stages. This research will inform the development of policy and programs in the Aged Care, Disability and Health sectors with the aim of improving the quality of life for people with intellectual disability as they age.Read moreRead less