Long term economic impacts of disease on older workers to 2030: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. This project will fill substantial gaps in Australian evidence about the health conditions of the future that will keep older workers out of the labour market and diminish their own immediate and long-term livings standards, thereby reducing funds available to government. We will address one of the most significant issues resulting from the fundamental changes t ....Long term economic impacts of disease on older workers to 2030: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. This project will fill substantial gaps in Australian evidence about the health conditions of the future that will keep older workers out of the labour market and diminish their own immediate and long-term livings standards, thereby reducing funds available to government. We will address one of the most significant issues resulting from the fundamental changes to the demography of the Australian labour market and one that is regularly raised by the government following the release of the 2002 and 2007 Intergenerational Reports. This project will also examine the interventions that would improve the health of older workers and increase labour force participation over the long term.Read moreRead less
Chronic Disease Prevention and Treatment - Cost-Benefit Model Systems to Assist with Priority Setting. The key benefit of the proposal to develop linked chronic disease models that are able to account for comorbidities will be that a much more accurate picture of the health and financial implications of chronic diseases will be obtainable than with the traditional 'disease-by-disease' based studies. Such a global approach is particularly relevant to analysis of chronic disease prevention and/or ....Chronic Disease Prevention and Treatment - Cost-Benefit Model Systems to Assist with Priority Setting. The key benefit of the proposal to develop linked chronic disease models that are able to account for comorbidities will be that a much more accurate picture of the health and financial implications of chronic diseases will be obtainable than with the traditional 'disease-by-disease' based studies. Such a global approach is particularly relevant to analysis of chronic disease prevention and/or treatment, because the lifestyle related risk factors are common to many such diseases. Overall, the linked models will be able to improve on current decision making processes, providing a more complete view of chronic disease costs and benefits - either today, or in future - under different prevention or treatment scenarios.Read moreRead less
Economic, social and cross cultural issues in non-pharmaceutical protection of front line responders to pandemic influenza and emerging infections. The protection of front line responders in a pandemic is essential to underpin an effective response. This research is the only work internationally which will address a key gap in evidence. This research has major implications for the national stockpile and for management of front line responders in a pandemic. These data are urgently needed, not ju ....Economic, social and cross cultural issues in non-pharmaceutical protection of front line responders to pandemic influenza and emerging infections. The protection of front line responders in a pandemic is essential to underpin an effective response. This research is the only work internationally which will address a key gap in evidence. This research has major implications for the national stockpile and for management of front line responders in a pandemic. These data are urgently needed, not just in Australia, but globally to inform pandemic planning and disease control policy around emerging infections and bioterrorism.Read moreRead less
Pandemic Influenza, Human Resources and Critical Infrastructure Dependencies: Mitigating The Impact on Hospitals. Pandemic planning is conducted from a health-centric model which only considers subsystems within health. This study will determine the impact of a pandemic on the hospital system by failures of human resources and external systems (such as power, finance and teleocmmunications) which comprise critical infrastructure of society. The results will enable identification of key weak poin ....Pandemic Influenza, Human Resources and Critical Infrastructure Dependencies: Mitigating The Impact on Hospitals. Pandemic planning is conducted from a health-centric model which only considers subsystems within health. This study will determine the impact of a pandemic on the hospital system by failures of human resources and external systems (such as power, finance and teleocmmunications) which comprise critical infrastructure of society. The results will enable identification of key weak points, strengthening of health systems and resilience in the event of a pandemic or other disruption.Read moreRead less
Can parents teach their children to drink alcohol responsibly? Or, is one drop a drop too many? Parents typically supply alcohol to their children believing it is the best way to teach responsible drinking. Whether parents should provide alcohol is controversial and the evidence to inform this decision is unclear. This research will provide an in-depth understanding of the consequences of parents providing alcohol to their children and when, where and how this can be done to minimise harm. This ....Can parents teach their children to drink alcohol responsibly? Or, is one drop a drop too many? Parents typically supply alcohol to their children believing it is the best way to teach responsible drinking. Whether parents should provide alcohol is controversial and the evidence to inform this decision is unclear. This research will provide an in-depth understanding of the consequences of parents providing alcohol to their children and when, where and how this can be done to minimise harm. This is a national priority as alcohol abuse is a leading cause of injury and death among young Australians and developing the knowledge for preventive health care is essential. This research will provide parents with the information they need to give their children a healthier start to life.Read moreRead less
Implementing guidelines to prevent chronic disease in the community. The burden of chronic disease in Australia has resulted in prevention of chronic disease being an important priority for the Australian health system. High quality evidence for preventing chronic disease exists; however the practice falls short of the evidence. Finding ways to implement the evidence for preventing chronic disease is an urgent national need. This study aims to apply the evidence for preventing chronic disease in ....Implementing guidelines to prevent chronic disease in the community. The burden of chronic disease in Australia has resulted in prevention of chronic disease being an important priority for the Australian health system. High quality evidence for preventing chronic disease exists; however the practice falls short of the evidence. Finding ways to implement the evidence for preventing chronic disease is an urgent national need. This study aims to apply the evidence for preventing chronic disease in practice. It will generate data and validate a model on how to effectively improve the uptake of guidelines by both practitioners and consumers. This project is of national and community benefit because it will enable the potential of preventing chronic disease to be realised.Read moreRead less
Implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive sun protection program for adolescents. Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world, costing our health system an estimated $300 million each year. The majority of skin cancers are preventable, if the public could be persuaded to adequately protect themselves from the sun, especially during childhood and adolescence. Australia currently leads the world in the development of sun protection education campaigns for children. Howev ....Implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive sun protection program for adolescents. Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world, costing our health system an estimated $300 million each year. The majority of skin cancers are preventable, if the public could be persuaded to adequately protect themselves from the sun, especially during childhood and adolescence. Australia currently leads the world in the development of sun protection education campaigns for children. However, adolescent sun protection behaviours continue to decrease, and very few programs have shown potential for any impact on this key target group. This project will provide much-needed evidence on the effectiveness of carefully researched and targeted programs for adolescents.Read moreRead less
The use of social marketing theory and practice to develop innovative and comprehensive sun protection campaigns. This project uses both academic theory and best-practice in real-world campaigns to develop a comprehensive strategy for the development of theoretically-sound and innovative campaign for the promotion of sun protection behaviours. It then utilises this strategy for the actual development, implementation, and evaluation of the campaign, conducted under the auspices of the highly-reg ....The use of social marketing theory and practice to develop innovative and comprehensive sun protection campaigns. This project uses both academic theory and best-practice in real-world campaigns to develop a comprehensive strategy for the development of theoretically-sound and innovative campaign for the promotion of sun protection behaviours. It then utilises this strategy for the actual development, implementation, and evaluation of the campaign, conducted under the auspices of the highly-regarded industry partner, The Cancer Council NSW. Further, the knowledge gained in the review of existing campaigns, the analysis of literature in theory and practice, and the campaign development and evaluation will greatly enhance our ability to develop cost-effective social marketing campaigns to improve the well-being of Australians.Read moreRead less
The impact of post-incident debriefing on psychological wellbeing and recall of events. First response emergency service personnel, such as fire fighters, police officers and paramedics provide an essential service, but as a result of their work are at increased risk of developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In an attempt to protect against PTSD many personnel are required to attend group debriefings following exposure to traumatic events. However, there is evidence that these group d ....The impact of post-incident debriefing on psychological wellbeing and recall of events. First response emergency service personnel, such as fire fighters, police officers and paramedics provide an essential service, but as a result of their work are at increased risk of developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In an attempt to protect against PTSD many personnel are required to attend group debriefings following exposure to traumatic events. However, there is evidence that these group debriefings may actually increase the risk of PTSD and also permanently distort the participants' memory for the events they witnessed. We will work with NSW Fire Brigade to develop an effective PTSD intervention for emergency service personnel which also preserves the integrity of the participants' memory for critical events.Read moreRead less