Promoting Child and Carer Wellbeing and Placement Stability in Kinship Care. Kinship care is the fastest growing out-of-home care placement in Australia, yet least supported. This project aims to implement and evaluate an attachment and trauma-based program for kinship carers, explore its suitability for cultural adaptation for Indigenous families and co-design practical resources to promote program sustainability and trauma-informed practice. This project is Australia’s first randomised trial o ....Promoting Child and Carer Wellbeing and Placement Stability in Kinship Care. Kinship care is the fastest growing out-of-home care placement in Australia, yet least supported. This project aims to implement and evaluate an attachment and trauma-based program for kinship carers, explore its suitability for cultural adaptation for Indigenous families and co-design practical resources to promote program sustainability and trauma-informed practice. This project is Australia’s first randomised trial of a tailored program for kinship carers and expects to generate vital knowledge on evidence-based support. Via implementing an innovative program for kinship carers in statutory child protection, this project should build capacity for research-based practice and benefit family wellbeing and placement outcomes in kinship care.Read moreRead less
Does emotion regulation flexibility improve functioning in refugees? This project aims identify the mechanisms by which low-intensity interventions improve functioning in refugees living in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). Despite these interventions being implemented with thousands of refugees worldwide, many refugees fail to respond. This project will lead to significant advances in knowledge regarding how and for whom low intensity interventions work. Expected outcomes include enhance ....Does emotion regulation flexibility improve functioning in refugees? This project aims identify the mechanisms by which low-intensity interventions improve functioning in refugees living in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). Despite these interventions being implemented with thousands of refugees worldwide, many refugees fail to respond. This project will lead to significant advances in knowledge regarding how and for whom low intensity interventions work. Expected outcomes include enhanced capacity of NGOs to deliver effective interventions to refugees living in LMICs, and to tailor their services to those who are at greatest risk of not responding. Benefits include improved functioning of refugees living in LMICs, and enhanced capacity of Australia to meet its international refugee obligations. Read moreRead less
Translation of evidence into pain management practices in acute care environments. This project addresses the urgent need to reduce the substantial pain experienced by patients following surgery by improving the clinical processes associated with the treatment of pain. Each year in Australia, six million people are admitted to hospital for surgery. A recent review of Australian research has shown that up to 40% of hospitalised surgical patients experience significant pain. Despite the availabili ....Translation of evidence into pain management practices in acute care environments. This project addresses the urgent need to reduce the substantial pain experienced by patients following surgery by improving the clinical processes associated with the treatment of pain. Each year in Australia, six million people are admitted to hospital for surgery. A recent review of Australian research has shown that up to 40% of hospitalised surgical patients experience significant pain. Despite the availability of effective treatment, pain after surgery is often under-treated and is one of the main postoperative adverse outcomes. A consequence of poor pain management is that patients experience unnecessary suffering, higher incidence of postoperative complications significant risk of developing chronic post-surgical pain.Read moreRead less
Tonal language development in Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking children with cochlear implants. Cochlear implantation in children is expanding in countries where tonal languages are spoken, despite limited evidence of the effectiveness of implant use in these settings. This project will examine the impact of implant use on children's perception of tone, their production of speech and assesses how this affects functional communication.
Factors influencing functional locomotion in older adults. Ageing is associated with increasing limitations of physical function such as walking. Many older people also have concurrent medical conditions which may further limit function. This project adopts a multidisciplinary approach to investigate key factors that affect the ability to perform functional tasks of everyday locomotion, such as stair climbing and obstacle avoidance, in older adults including those affected by osteoarthritis. The ....Factors influencing functional locomotion in older adults. Ageing is associated with increasing limitations of physical function such as walking. Many older people also have concurrent medical conditions which may further limit function. This project adopts a multidisciplinary approach to investigate key factors that affect the ability to perform functional tasks of everyday locomotion, such as stair climbing and obstacle avoidance, in older adults including those affected by osteoarthritis. The results will increase knowledge about the adaptability of the ageing human locomotor system in both health and disease. This will provide a theoretical foundation for creating new strategies to reduce the impact of physical degeneration in older people.Read moreRead less
Suicide prevention and management of deliberate self-harm: randomised control trial of an assertive engagement, brief psychotherapy and community linkage model. Suicide is the second commonest cause of death by injury in Australia. Suicide prevention is an important public health priority but rates remain high. People who have previously attempted suicide are most likely to kill themselves. Most suicidal people attend emergency departments where they get inadequate treatment for their psychologi ....Suicide prevention and management of deliberate self-harm: randomised control trial of an assertive engagement, brief psychotherapy and community linkage model. Suicide is the second commonest cause of death by injury in Australia. Suicide prevention is an important public health priority but rates remain high. People who have previously attempted suicide are most likely to kill themselves. Most suicidal people attend emergency departments where they get inadequate treatment for their psychological and social problems and remain depressed and suicidal. This project will test the effectiveness of a new psychological and social treatment to reduce the depression and link suicidal people with community supports. If successful, this treatment could be provided in any emergency department and help decrease suicide rates in Australia.Read moreRead less
Improving the retention rate for residential treatment of substance abuse by sequential intervention for social anxiety. Alcohol and other drug use is a major social and medical problem, costing the Australian community an estimated $7.6 billion annually. Mental health disorders have been closely linked with increased illicit drug use and physical health problems. Social anxiety (SAD) is highly prevalent amongst individuals presenting with drug and alcohol use disorders. Evidence suggests that ....Improving the retention rate for residential treatment of substance abuse by sequential intervention for social anxiety. Alcohol and other drug use is a major social and medical problem, costing the Australian community an estimated $7.6 billion annually. Mental health disorders have been closely linked with increased illicit drug use and physical health problems. Social anxiety (SAD) is highly prevalent amongst individuals presenting with drug and alcohol use disorders. Evidence suggests that social anxiety symptoms may be responsible for promoting excessive drug use and may be a particularly influential factor in poor treatment retention rates and promoting relapse. Thus, the focus on improving treatment outcomes for individuals with comorbid anxiety and drug use disorders represents an area of considerable importance both nationally and internationally.Read moreRead less
Too close for comfort? Adoption and management of professional and personal roles in rural welfare practice. Stressors such as maintaining role boundaries, dual and multiple relationships, professional practice, personal and family safety exist for rural welfare professionals who live and work in the same communities. Rural social welfare practice presents dilemmas due to potential conflicts between personal and work roles. The study examines individual attributes for coping and resilience, and ....Too close for comfort? Adoption and management of professional and personal roles in rural welfare practice. Stressors such as maintaining role boundaries, dual and multiple relationships, professional practice, personal and family safety exist for rural welfare professionals who live and work in the same communities. Rural social welfare practice presents dilemmas due to potential conflicts between personal and work roles. The study examines individual attributes for coping and resilience, and contextual issues. Implications for employing agencies, and educational and training institutions regarding recruiting, retention and training welfare professionals, as well as management of occupational health and safety concerns will be highlighted. The study will provide recommendations for employing agencies, professional associations, and educational institutions.Read moreRead less
Improving patient health outcomes in acute care hospital settings using mobile wireless technology and handheld computers. This project will investigate the use of wireless handheld computers, in three acute care clinical units located at Southern Health and the Royal Women's Hospital, to determine the impact on patient safety and quality of care. There is a need for real time point-of-care access (and input) to patient information, nursing reference information, and drug information for nurses ....Improving patient health outcomes in acute care hospital settings using mobile wireless technology and handheld computers. This project will investigate the use of wireless handheld computers, in three acute care clinical units located at Southern Health and the Royal Women's Hospital, to determine the impact on patient safety and quality of care. There is a need for real time point-of-care access (and input) to patient information, nursing reference information, and drug information for nurses in Australian hospitals. This project aims to address this need by providing nurses with wireless handheld access to such resources. This project is extremely significant, as the outcomes will provide nurses, in Australia and overseas, a set of guidelines for managing wireless handheld computers in clinical units, to enhance patient safety and quality of care.Read moreRead less
Examining the complexity of communication processes across transition points from the emergency department to improve medication safety. Problems in communication contribute significantly to adverse events that lead to serious harm for Australian consumers. Recent data show medication errors account for over 25% of all adverse events, while over 50% of consumers who move across transition points have medication errors relating to their treatment regimen. Financial costs from adverse events are e ....Examining the complexity of communication processes across transition points from the emergency department to improve medication safety. Problems in communication contribute significantly to adverse events that lead to serious harm for Australian consumers. Recent data show medication errors account for over 25% of all adverse events, while over 50% of consumers who move across transition points have medication errors relating to their treatment regimen. Financial costs from adverse events are estimated at around $A2billion/year, which are likely to increase with further complexities involving consumer care. This study will result in new knowledge about communication processes to inform the development of reporting methods and strategies, which positively influence the practices of health professionals in managing medications as consumers move across different environments.Read moreRead less