Integrated Kids Hubs - Ensuring Equity of Access for Children. The Integrated Kids Hubs - Ensuring Equity of Access for Children project aims to determine if integrated Hubs are effective in increasing access to child and family services for disadvantaged urban and regional families with children aged 3 years and under, thus improving early identification of developmental vulnerability, parental wellbeing and capacity, and addressing unmet psychosocial needs. If these issues are not identified a ....Integrated Kids Hubs - Ensuring Equity of Access for Children. The Integrated Kids Hubs - Ensuring Equity of Access for Children project aims to determine if integrated Hubs are effective in increasing access to child and family services for disadvantaged urban and regional families with children aged 3 years and under, thus improving early identification of developmental vulnerability, parental wellbeing and capacity, and addressing unmet psychosocial needs. If these issues are not identified and addressed early, these children will go on to struggle in school and life. We will use a pragmatic trial design (meaning the research is embedded in our usual practice), determine the social return on investment, and establish what is needed to scale up the Hubs across NSW and Australia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100154
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$399,000.00
Summary
Theory use in social care practice: improving implementation and outcomes . This project aims to harness the power of theorising to advance implementation science. The project expects to generate new knowledge on how frontline workers can use and move beyond their tacit knowledge to strengthen the implementation and effectiveness of programs designed to address pervasive disadvantage and promote positive child and family outcomes. The expected outcome is a tested theoretical model that will inf ....Theory use in social care practice: improving implementation and outcomes . This project aims to harness the power of theorising to advance implementation science. The project expects to generate new knowledge on how frontline workers can use and move beyond their tacit knowledge to strengthen the implementation and effectiveness of programs designed to address pervasive disadvantage and promote positive child and family outcomes. The expected outcome is a tested theoretical model that will inform how frontline workers' critical thinking supports the consolidation of tacit and new knowledge and the use of implementation science. Strengthening understanding of effective program implementation through theory driven inquiry is viable and may generate urgently needed population level change in the social care sector. Read moreRead less
Healthy infant and young child diets from sustainable first-food systems. Breastfeeding, breastmilk and other first foods consumed during infancy and early childhood, are currently neglected in food systems research and policy action, despite their importance to establishing life-long dietary preferences, health and sustainability. This project addresses this gap, by developing a novel 'first-food systems' conceptual framework, describing global, regional and national changes in infant and young ....Healthy infant and young child diets from sustainable first-food systems. Breastfeeding, breastmilk and other first foods consumed during infancy and early childhood, are currently neglected in food systems research and policy action, despite their importance to establishing life-long dietary preferences, health and sustainability. This project addresses this gap, by developing a novel 'first-food systems' conceptual framework, describing global, regional and national changes in infant and young child diets, and generating end-user knowledge to generate political commitment for early-life nutrition. This research will deliver economic, social and environmental benefits for Australia and international communities, by helping to reduce the ill-health and environmental harms linked with unhealthy early-life diets.Read moreRead less
Child health and developmental inequities: Evidence for precision policy. The project aims to use cutting edge analytic approaches applied to existing data to identify how policy interventions related to parents’ mental health, preschool programs, and the built environment can be optimised to reduce inequities in children’s mental, academic, and physical health outcomes. The project will be informed by our partners and advisers from across government portfolios and service delivery, ensuring tha ....Child health and developmental inequities: Evidence for precision policy. The project aims to use cutting edge analytic approaches applied to existing data to identify how policy interventions related to parents’ mental health, preschool programs, and the built environment can be optimised to reduce inequities in children’s mental, academic, and physical health outcomes. The project will be informed by our partners and advisers from across government portfolios and service delivery, ensuring that the evidence generated has contemporary policy relevance. The project expects to identify clear and actionable policy pathways to reduce child inequities in Australia, which can benefit decision makers by helping them to direct limited public funds towards intervention opportunities that will have the greatest impact.Read moreRead less
Improving outcomes for young people transitioning from out-of-home care. The central aim of this project is to generate the new knowledge needed to support the development, implementation, and diffusion of evidence-based innovations for young people as they transition from out-of-home care to adulthood. The project is significant because young people living in out-of-home care are more likely to enter juvenile justice, become a teenage parent, be socially excluded, have mental and physical healt ....Improving outcomes for young people transitioning from out-of-home care. The central aim of this project is to generate the new knowledge needed to support the development, implementation, and diffusion of evidence-based innovations for young people as they transition from out-of-home care to adulthood. The project is significant because young people living in out-of-home care are more likely to enter juvenile justice, become a teenage parent, be socially excluded, have mental and physical health problems and addictions. Outcomes include a world first longitudinal data evidence base, exemplars of best practice, and guidance to advance the application of transition pathways and plans to inform future innovations in Victoria and across Australia for improving transition from care with, by, and for young people. Read moreRead less
Disaster risk reduction practices that leave nobody behind. This project aims to answer critical questions about how to assist people with disabilities (PWD) in disasters, what their support needs are and how they might help themselves to better prepare for disasters. Significance includes coupling a person-centred emergency preparedness tool with cross-sectoral processes to collect and use data about the support needs of PWD in emergencies, increase cross-sector communication and collaboration ....Disaster risk reduction practices that leave nobody behind. This project aims to answer critical questions about how to assist people with disabilities (PWD) in disasters, what their support needs are and how they might help themselves to better prepare for disasters. Significance includes coupling a person-centred emergency preparedness tool with cross-sectoral processes to collect and use data about the support needs of PWD in emergencies, increase cross-sector communication and collaboration between emergency managers and community services, and improve equitable access for PWD to community-level disaster risk reduction (DRR). The expected outcome will be the co-design of effective mechanisms that state & federal decision makers can use to scale-up disability-inclusive DRR across Australia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100382
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$330,000.00
Summary
Theory-based implementation of nutrition guidelines into childcare settings. This project aims to develop a theory-informed evidence base to increase childcare services’ implementation of nutrition guidelines. The application of theory is critical to design and evaluate strategies to implement guidelines. The project includes a rigorous tool to measure theoretical constructs. It applies theory to identify barriers to guideline implementation and explore effective intervention mechanisms. This pr ....Theory-based implementation of nutrition guidelines into childcare settings. This project aims to develop a theory-informed evidence base to increase childcare services’ implementation of nutrition guidelines. The application of theory is critical to design and evaluate strategies to implement guidelines. The project includes a rigorous tool to measure theoretical constructs. It applies theory to identify barriers to guideline implementation and explore effective intervention mechanisms. This project is expected to identify effective interventions to implement best practice guidelines for the betterment of children and the community.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100343
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$427,115.00
Summary
Dying well: Designing rural end-of-life services for chronic disease. This project aims to understand how existing rural service structures impact access to end-of-life support in chronic conditions. Chronic diseases account for 90% of deaths in Australia, yet access to end-of-life support is limited and little is known about services in rural areas. Information gathered through patient and stakeholder interviews, national survey and service mapping will be used to generate a new evidence-based ....Dying well: Designing rural end-of-life services for chronic disease. This project aims to understand how existing rural service structures impact access to end-of-life support in chronic conditions. Chronic diseases account for 90% of deaths in Australia, yet access to end-of-life support is limited and little is known about services in rural areas. Information gathered through patient and stakeholder interviews, national survey and service mapping will be used to generate a new evidence-based framework and guideline. These outputs will support early engagement with end-of-life planning, known to improve quality of life and reduce health system costs, and to inform development of equitable future end-of-life services for people and their families living with chronic conditions across rural Australia. Read moreRead less
Social practices of oral health in Australian preschool children. The aim of the study is to explore "social practices" of oral health in Australian (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) preschool children. We use this emerging theory to move away from focusing on individuals and individual behaviour (and blame) to identify and map social practices: actions, materials and meanings families attribute to
child’s oral health. Expected project outcomes include identifying practices promoting or underminin ....Social practices of oral health in Australian preschool children. The aim of the study is to explore "social practices" of oral health in Australian (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) preschool children. We use this emerging theory to move away from focusing on individuals and individual behaviour (and blame) to identify and map social practices: actions, materials and meanings families attribute to
child’s oral health. Expected project outcomes include identifying practices promoting or undermining children’s oral health that can inform upstream and downstream policy directions and practices to improve health outcomes. This offers a new approach to "wicked" problems such as oral health where extensive
effort has not reduced morbidity and cost despite rhetoric that oral health is preventable.Read moreRead less
Taking control: variations in forced psychiatric treatment in the community. This interdisciplinary project aims to produce a comprehensive understanding of the drivers underpinning variations in the use of legal orders to enforce psychiatric treatment in the community without consent. Australia’s rate of use of these controversial orders is very high and there are unexplained variations in rates of use within and between jurisdictions, with some minority groups disproportionately affected. Unco ....Taking control: variations in forced psychiatric treatment in the community. This interdisciplinary project aims to produce a comprehensive understanding of the drivers underpinning variations in the use of legal orders to enforce psychiatric treatment in the community without consent. Australia’s rate of use of these controversial orders is very high and there are unexplained variations in rates of use within and between jurisdictions, with some minority groups disproportionately affected. Uncovering this knowledge will act as a form of procedural justice for those who have had their human rights limited by compulsion. This knowledge is expected to lead to innovations in law and policy, with subsequent organisational and system improvements, generating profound benefits for those affected by forced treatment. Read moreRead less