Psychosocial and economic impacts of rare diseases on Australian children, families and health professionals. Rare childhood diseases have enormous impacts on children and families; health services, and health professionals. This project will enable Australia to lead the international research effort by using a coordinated approach to study the impacts of rare diseases in order to improve psychosocial, health and economic outcomes for children and families.
Evaluation in health promotion: gathering evidence to improve effectiveness. Effective disease prevention and health promotion to address the public health challenges facing Australia requires a strong evidence base for policy and practice. Evaluation of programs in natural contexts is a vital source of this evidence, valuable for improving strategy design and delivery, building sustainability and guiding funding. The aim of this project is to determine the strengths and limitations of evaluatio ....Evaluation in health promotion: gathering evidence to improve effectiveness. Effective disease prevention and health promotion to address the public health challenges facing Australia requires a strong evidence base for policy and practice. Evaluation of programs in natural contexts is a vital source of this evidence, valuable for improving strategy design and delivery, building sustainability and guiding funding. The aim of this project is to determine the strengths and limitations of evaluation by health promotion agencies, and to identify the roles of individual, organisational and system-level factors in relation to evaluation practice and use. This knowledge is expected to guide efforts to build capacity for evaluation, improve systems for organisational learning, and enable evidence gathering to improve effectiveness.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
The efficacy of a physical activity intervention in the management of psychological and physical symptoms among breast and prostate cancer patients. The vastly improved survival rates for breast and prostate cancer in recent years has resulted in an ever-increasing number of people living with a history of cancer. Treatment for cancer is often associated with negative side effects like fatigue, depression and sleep disturbance, and an overall impaired quality of life.
This project will assess ....The efficacy of a physical activity intervention in the management of psychological and physical symptoms among breast and prostate cancer patients. The vastly improved survival rates for breast and prostate cancer in recent years has resulted in an ever-increasing number of people living with a history of cancer. Treatment for cancer is often associated with negative side effects like fatigue, depression and sleep disturbance, and an overall impaired quality of life.
This project will assess the effectiveness of a physical activity program in alleviating these symptoms of treatment. The program will include regular walking and gentle resistance strength training.
The outcomes from the project will advance research by shedding light on which symptoms are most helped by physical activity, and how much activity is needed to gain these benefits.
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Indigenous young people's resilience and wellbeing. This project aims to identify factors related to, and those which predict, the development of resilience and wellbeing in Indigenous youth. Resilience protects the social and emotional wellbeing of youth exposed to high levels of adversity, and reduces the likelihood of substance misuse, violence, and risky behaviour. This project will examine the development of resilience and wellbeing in Indigenous youth; compare Indigenous youth’s self-asses ....Indigenous young people's resilience and wellbeing. This project aims to identify factors related to, and those which predict, the development of resilience and wellbeing in Indigenous youth. Resilience protects the social and emotional wellbeing of youth exposed to high levels of adversity, and reduces the likelihood of substance misuse, violence, and risky behaviour. This project will examine the development of resilience and wellbeing in Indigenous youth; compare Indigenous youth’s self-assessment of their resilience and wellbeing between low and high risk cohorts; and study how community services develop youth wellbeing and resilience. The expected benefit of this research is a better understanding of connections among age, cultural identity, resilience, wellbeing and risky behaviours in Indigenous youth.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
Smoking cessation program for smokers admitted to public hospitals. This project will implement and evaluate a multidisciplinary healthcare intervention initiated by hospital pharmacists and followed up by primary health professionals to assist smokers admitted to three Victorian tertiary public hospitals to give up smoking. This program could potentially reduce smoking-related death, illness and healthcare costs.
Rekindle sexuality after cancer: development and testing of a novel web-based psychoeducational resource for both survivors and their partners. In collaboration with the Cancer Council New South Wales, this project will develop the first web-based psycho-educational resource, Rekindle, that addresses sexual concerns of both survivors and their partners, across all cancer-types, tailored to the unique concerns of each user.
Effective management of challenging behaviours in cognitively impaired aged care residents through a research-based nursing care model. Challenging behaviours associated with cognitive impairment, such as screaming and perseveration, marks a decisive turning point in the life situation for an older person, heralding a deterioration in their quality of life and placement in an aged care facility. Staff can promote the residents health and well-being through person-centred care approaches. The stu ....Effective management of challenging behaviours in cognitively impaired aged care residents through a research-based nursing care model. Challenging behaviours associated with cognitive impairment, such as screaming and perseveration, marks a decisive turning point in the life situation for an older person, heralding a deterioration in their quality of life and placement in an aged care facility. Staff can promote the residents health and well-being through person-centred care approaches. The study employs Dementia Care Mapping to achieve these goals for the resident through participatory action research. The expected outcomes are a significant reduction in contextual factors that trigger these challenging behaviours, an improvement in the residents health, well-being and quality of life, and increased knowledge, skills and empowerment in staff.Read moreRead less