A Public Health Framework of Effectiveness: Evaluating the Framework for Telephone Counselling. The demand for telephone counselling is strong and while this form of counselling has face validity, there is no substantive research into its effectiveness for clients. This project aims to adapt the public health model to evaluate processes and outcomes of Lifeline - a generic telephone counselling service in Melbourne. The public health model of effectiveness, will, in turn, also be evaluated.
Enhancing wellbeing and resilience within prisons: A psycho-educational approach for the missing middle. Many prisoners experience mental illness and psychological distress, which has been found to relate to repeat offending. Moreover, prison officers also experience high levels of anxiety and distress. This project aims to identify the mental health needs and factors that lead to psychological distress among prisoners and prison officers. Brief intervention programs intend to be developed to ad ....Enhancing wellbeing and resilience within prisons: A psycho-educational approach for the missing middle. Many prisoners experience mental illness and psychological distress, which has been found to relate to repeat offending. Moreover, prison officers also experience high levels of anxiety and distress. This project aims to identify the mental health needs and factors that lead to psychological distress among prisoners and prison officers. Brief intervention programs intend to be developed to address the needs of the ‘missing middle’ (those with elevated levels of distress who are not receiving services). The programs aim to be evaluated to determine whether they are preventing mental health deterioration among participants and whether the results reduce repeat incarceration for prisoners and increase job satisfaction and performance for officers.Read moreRead less
Integrated depression management: a trial of a new model of care in a low vision rehabilitation setting. The project will integrate depression management into Vision Australia services and evaluate the impact of this new model of care. We anticipate that this new approach will lead to sustained improvements in clients’ quality of life.
BREAKING THE JUVENILE CRIME CYCLE: REHABILITATING HIGH RISK YOUNG OFFENDERS. Effective rehabilitation of young offenders is an urgent social need. Using mathematical modelling of longitudinal population data, we will identify predictors of recidivism, desistance, health risk behaviours, and/or progression to injecting drug use. Collaborating with NSW Department of Juvenile Justice and NSW Corrections Health Service, we will develop and trial community-based multisystemic interventions using the ....BREAKING THE JUVENILE CRIME CYCLE: REHABILITATING HIGH RISK YOUNG OFFENDERS. Effective rehabilitation of young offenders is an urgent social need. Using mathematical modelling of longitudinal population data, we will identify predictors of recidivism, desistance, health risk behaviours, and/or progression to injecting drug use. Collaborating with NSW Department of Juvenile Justice and NSW Corrections Health Service, we will develop and trial community-based multisystemic interventions using the transtheoretical model to reduce re-offending. This project will advance theoretical understanding of juvenile crime, its health and substance abuse patterns, and offence trajectories, thereby facilitating effective policies and practices to reduce recidivism, improve health and create prosocial alternatives for young Australians at risk of a criminal career.Read moreRead less
Non-medical use of prescription stimulants by Australian university students: attitudes, prevalence of, and motivations for use. This study will provide a comprehensive understanding of student non-medical use of prescription stimulants. The findings will inform initiatives to prevent the abuse and misuse of pharmaceuticals, protect health and reduce the cost associated with inappropriate use of medicines.
Youth and violence: Occurrence, epidemiology and function. The expected national benefits that will arise from this project will include significant advances to policy and practice in the field, which will impact on service users and service providers at both individual and community levels. The project will foster research excellence and develop inter agency collaborations, thus advancing Australia's research and clinical leadership in the field. Taken altogether, this project has a strong pote ....Youth and violence: Occurrence, epidemiology and function. The expected national benefits that will arise from this project will include significant advances to policy and practice in the field, which will impact on service users and service providers at both individual and community levels. The project will foster research excellence and develop inter agency collaborations, thus advancing Australia's research and clinical leadership in the field. Taken altogether, this project has a strong potential to lead to further collaborations focussing on research priorities of national and international significance and to contribute to resources leading to better outcomes for young people. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101107
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$412,744.00
Summary
Ahead of the Game: Balancing the Gaming Industry and Public Interest. This project battles the risks and embraces the benefits of digital gaming. There is a risk that one loses control of their gaming and prioritises it over other duties. This is offset by the benefits of using digital games for health. It is the first to decode and use the health data embedded in the connection between the gamer and their game persona (avatar). It does this by concurrently assessing important gamer, family, cul ....Ahead of the Game: Balancing the Gaming Industry and Public Interest. This project battles the risks and embraces the benefits of digital gaming. There is a risk that one loses control of their gaming and prioritises it over other duties. This is offset by the benefits of using digital games for health. It is the first to decode and use the health data embedded in the connection between the gamer and their game persona (avatar). It does this by concurrently assessing important gamer, family, cultural and game structure features. Findings will prompt the ethical growth of the Australian Health games industry and inform strategies to combat gaming disorder by tailoring games to users' needs. This will uniquely benefit Australians by re-directing this growing industry to better serve the public interest.Read moreRead less
The economic impact of chronic degenerative neurological disease on well-being. This study is designed to determine the financial impact of chronic progressive neurological illnesses on people with these disorders and their families. Due to the nature of these illnesses and the time of onset, financial strain is a major concern for people with these disorders. This research is central to the improvement of services to address the changes in financial situation associated with these disorders and ....The economic impact of chronic degenerative neurological disease on well-being. This study is designed to determine the financial impact of chronic progressive neurological illnesses on people with these disorders and their families. Due to the nature of these illnesses and the time of onset, financial strain is a major concern for people with these disorders. This research is central to the improvement of services to address the changes in financial situation associated with these disorders and its impact. The results will lead to an understanding of factors related to financial strain, and the development of services to address the well-being of this population.Read moreRead less
Changing the lives of young Australians with emotional disorders using a simple three-step treatment based on cognitive-neuroscience insights. Anxiety and depression are emotional disorders that affect many Australian children and place them at risk of lifelong impairment. The latest evidence from cognitive science and neuroscience shows that these children have maladaptive thinking strategies that lead to avoidance and withdrawal. Capitalising on these basic science insights, this project exami ....Changing the lives of young Australians with emotional disorders using a simple three-step treatment based on cognitive-neuroscience insights. Anxiety and depression are emotional disorders that affect many Australian children and place them at risk of lifelong impairment. The latest evidence from cognitive science and neuroscience shows that these children have maladaptive thinking strategies that lead to avoidance and withdrawal. Capitalising on these basic science insights, this project examines a new treatment, referred to as the 'Emotional Flexibility Program', that targets childhood distress in three simple steps over just four weeks of treatment. This treatment could change the way childhood emotional disorders are treated and prevented, improve the quality of life for thousands of young Australians, and offset the associated economic burden of disease.Read moreRead less
Preventing injuries in crashes involving young drivers: development and evaluation of impulse control training. Road crashes are a leading cause of death and injury for young Australians, at tremendous economic, social and personal cost. This project has the potential to reduce this problem by developing the first driver training to fast-track development of mental processes that contribute to the most serious young driver crashes. Further, the industry partners are committed to translating the ....Preventing injuries in crashes involving young drivers: development and evaluation of impulse control training. Road crashes are a leading cause of death and injury for young Australians, at tremendous economic, social and personal cost. This project has the potential to reduce this problem by developing the first driver training to fast-track development of mental processes that contribute to the most serious young driver crashes. Further, the industry partners are committed to translating the research outcomes into policy and practice. This cutting-edge research will place Australia at the forefront of driver training research, and enhance road safety research capacity.Read moreRead less