Early Developmental Pathways Linking Health, Disability, Education, Welfare And Justice
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,440,204.00
Summary
This research will use information from birth, death and medical records for all births in WA from 1980 linked to records of disability, education, justice and welfare, to map, for the first time in Australia, the pathways to good and poor outcomes over a child’s lifetime. This will bring a new focus on to how early development affects health and participation in society and will identify new ways to improve the lives of all children, regardless of their social circumstances.
Health Outcomes Monitoring And Evaluation: Learning About Activity, Nutrition, Diet And Social Factors
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$7,486,989.00
Summary
Diabetes, Heart and Kidney disease occur in epidemic proportions among Indigenous Australians. Of particular concerns is the early age of onset of conditions that are to disease of older adulthood in the broader Australian community. While these chronic diseases are known to cause premature death and suffering in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, there are gaps in our knowledge. For example, we know very little about how these conditionsdevelop over time in different populations ....Diabetes, Heart and Kidney disease occur in epidemic proportions among Indigenous Australians. Of particular concerns is the early age of onset of conditions that are to disease of older adulthood in the broader Australian community. While these chronic diseases are known to cause premature death and suffering in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, there are gaps in our knowledge. For example, we know very little about how these conditionsdevelop over time in different populations. Probably the greatest knowledge gap is the area of effective intervention - both to prevent to prevent diabetes, kidney and heart disease in young people, and to treat existing cases effectivly. The main goal of this program is to bring together a multi skilled team of researchers to better understand the development of these chronic disease across the lifespan ( including differences between different populations), and to guuide the development of diet, lifestyle, and clinical interventions. Such interventions need to be simple, effective, acceptable to Indigenous people and able to be sustained over the long term. All interventions will be rigorously evaluated. The results will inform policies in ares such as quality and affordability of the food supply in remote communnities; infrastructure to promote physical activity; and provision of high quality primary health care focussing on early intervention and care of people at risk of chronic disease.Read moreRead less
Equitable Access To Stuttering Treatments: Developing Distance And Self Managed Treatment Models
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,321,062.00
Summary
The development of normal verbal communication is of the utmost importance to human health. Stuttering is a prevalent disorder that severely interferes with communication. It can be disfiguring and typically causes speech related social anxiety. Social phobia is present in around half of adults affected. It prevents attainment of occupational potential and children who stutter are typically teased and bullied at school. For the past decade NHMRC Project funding has enabled the present team to co ....The development of normal verbal communication is of the utmost importance to human health. Stuttering is a prevalent disorder that severely interferes with communication. It can be disfiguring and typically causes speech related social anxiety. Social phobia is present in around half of adults affected. It prevents attainment of occupational potential and children who stutter are typically teased and bullied at school. For the past decade NHMRC Project funding has enabled the present team to conduct world class basic research and clinical trials in stuttering. Significant gains have resulted from that research, in particular the development of treatments across the age groups that have a significant evidence base. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that there are serious barriers to the implementation of these evidence based treatments, and innovative treatment developments are needed to address this. In particular, speech pathology services for rural and remotely located patients and their families are incompletely funded, and even in urban settings workplace restrictions have resulted in speech pathologists delivering incomplete and piecemeal treatments. The program of research will develop the following innovative treatment models to solve this problem: �Distance intervention models for the delivery of speech pathology services to rural patients and their families and others who are isolated from treatment services. �Self-managed treatment models for children and adults who stutter, including procedures to minimise the ubiquitous problem of relapse in adults. It is widely understood that social anxiety is a significant problem for many stutterers and research is urgently needed to establish the extent of social anxiety in stutterers across the age groups and its negative effects on treatment effectiveness. Thus, a further aim of this program of research is to: �Identify those patients for whom social anxiety is likely to constitute a barrier to successful treatment. �Develop supplementary interventions to meet the needs of those socially anxious patients. The cause of stuttering is unknown. Understanding the mechanisms underpinning effective behavioural treatments would contribute to understanding causal factors in stuttering. Thus, this program of research also aims to: �Establish why behavioural treatments work, thereby generating new knowledge about causal factors.Read moreRead less
Periconceptual Foundations For A Healthy Start To Life.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$11,022,802.00
Summary
Preconception and early pregnancy is a critical time for a women's health and that of her future child. New research suggests that a woman's genetic potential, her lifestyle and the physical and socioeconomic environment in which she lives, and her biological and social relationship with her male partner, all impact on the long term health of her baby. Abnormal events around the time of conception and in early pregnancy can predispose a newborn to later occurrence, in adult life, of conditions i ....Preconception and early pregnancy is a critical time for a women's health and that of her future child. New research suggests that a woman's genetic potential, her lifestyle and the physical and socioeconomic environment in which she lives, and her biological and social relationship with her male partner, all impact on the long term health of her baby. Abnormal events around the time of conception and in early pregnancy can predispose a newborn to later occurrence, in adult life, of conditions including heart disease, diabetes, obesity and stroke. These adverse events originate in the way that eggs and sperm develop, the uterus is prepared for implantation, the attachment of the early embryo to the lining of the uterus and subsequent growth of the placenta. This Program will study the early life events that promote or limit development of a baby's true potential for successful and healthy life. A better understanding of how lifestyle and environment interact with genes and biology to facilitate optimal growth of the fetus will underpin new preventative measures and therapeutic treatments for infertility, miscarriage and other reproductive disorders. The knowledge gained will inform health policy and clinical practise to improve reproductive health in all Australian women and promote healthy development in all Australian children. The team of researchers is a world-class group of clinicians, scientists and epidemiologists who have made major contributions to our understanding of this area. This team will interface with clinics and hospitals that engage with women prior to and during pregnancy, while having the influence to alter clinical and health practices as well as public health policies. The team will utilize the latest, most technologically advanced laboratory methods and clinical skills, including gene profiling, imaging of early pregnancy, randomised clinical trials and access to the best epidemiological and statistical assessments.Read moreRead less
Posttraumatic Mental Health: Advancing Understanding Of Diagnosis, Treatment And Mechanisms
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$7,590,920.00
Summary
Psychological disorders following exposure to trauma account for a significant proportion of the burden of disease in terms of personal suffering, decreased productivity, occupational dysfunction, and demands on health services. This project will enhance the nation's capacity to reduce psychological problems after trauma. This project will consolidate a critical mass of Australia's leading trauma researchers that will ensure that Australia retains its leading edge in posttraumatic research.
Sexually Transmitted Infections: Causes, Consequences And Interventions
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$9,784,331.00
Summary
Sexually transmitted infections are important causes of serious illness and death in Australia and overseas with high or rising rates of treatable or preventable diseases in a number of populations, Particularly affected in Australia are young people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and homosexual men. We will bring together a new team of researchers to discover new information about how to prevent and manage these infections.
Determinants Of Child Health And Development: Populations, Partnerships, Pathways And Prevention
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$8,214,333.00
Summary
There are considerable challenges to the study of complex health and developmental problems in children and young people. Despite increasing prosperity in Australia, many of these problems are not abating and some appear to be increasing. These include low birthweight, behavioural and mental health problems, autism, obesity and, in Indigenous children, infections. This Program proposes investigating these problems with a view to prevention, thus meeting the national research priority of Promotin ....There are considerable challenges to the study of complex health and developmental problems in children and young people. Despite increasing prosperity in Australia, many of these problems are not abating and some appear to be increasing. These include low birthweight, behavioural and mental health problems, autism, obesity and, in Indigenous children, infections. This Program proposes investigating these problems with a view to prevention, thus meeting the national research priority of Promoting and Maintaining Good Health, particularly _a healthy start to life� and _preventive health care�. The Program is unique in that it brings together a multi-disciplinary team of researchers of international repute to investigate these complex issues. The research team comprises epidemiologists, clinicians, developmental psychologists, biostatisticians, sociologists and other social scientists. This team has a proven track record in producing research outcomes that have translated into innovative health policy and practice in areas as diverse as: - the use of folic acid in spina bifida prevention - understanding cerebral palsies - suicide prevention and mental health in children and young people - Aboriginal child health and development - intellectual disabilities including Rett syndrome and autism - in vitro fertilisation and birth defects. The factors influencing how children develop into young adults include genetic inheritance, nutrition and growth, and family, socioeconomic and environmental conditions. This work demands new ways of measuring and analysing these factors in populations of children and their families. Western Australia is one of only three sites in the world to have comprehensive linked health data on the whole of its population of children and their families. This Program comprises five overlapping themes of research planned around these unique population databases. The five themes are: - social, economic and psychological influences on child health and development - many paths to poor health are linked to social disadvantage. Examining these issues may explain why some childhood conditions are worsening or not improving - pathways to wellbeing, resilience and developmental disorders, including intellectual disability, autism, birth defects and cerebral palsy - nutrition and growth, particularly as it relates to low birthweight, childhood obesity and mental health - infectious disease, its causes and its influence on lifelong health problems and disabilities - Aboriginal health _ whilst spanning each of the research themes above, it presents its own unique challenges and requires it�s own unique solutions. This Program will investigate how children develop into young adults and will examine the influence of their families, nutrition and growth and socioeconomic and environmental conditions. It will develop new ways of measuring and analysRead moreRead less
Patient Safety: Enabling And Supporting Change For A Safer And More Effective Health System
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$8,878,409.00
Summary
Internationally, patient safety is a growing concern. Patient harm occurs in 10% of hospital admissions. A million adverse events occur in general practice each year in Australia. Overseas data reports that patients receive recommended care only 50% of the time. We will significantly advance this work by investigating how and why this ccurs, with a focus on the roles of teamwork, safe medication use and the application of information technology to support improved decision-making.
Depressive And Bipolar Disorders: Evaluating Determinants Of Onset, Recovery And Treatment Resistance
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$7,861,447.00
Summary
The depressive disorders, including bipolar disorder, are highly prevalent in the Australian community. These illnesses may be chronic or relapsing, may impair the capacity to work and can be resistant to treatment. The research team addresses this public health and clinical problem by undertaking a number of studies pursuing factors influencing predisposition and onset to disorder, clarifying the effectiveness of new treatments, and investigating factors predictive of treatment response and res ....The depressive disorders, including bipolar disorder, are highly prevalent in the Australian community. These illnesses may be chronic or relapsing, may impair the capacity to work and can be resistant to treatment. The research team addresses this public health and clinical problem by undertaking a number of studies pursuing factors influencing predisposition and onset to disorder, clarifying the effectiveness of new treatments, and investigating factors predictive of treatment response and resistance.Read moreRead less