Community capacity building for healthy lifestyles (CBHL) initiative: engaging communities in childhood obesity prevention in disadvantaged areas. This project will develop and focus-test a new community engagement model for engaging disadvantaged communities in childhood obesity prevention programs. The community engagement model will overcome disadvantaged communities' non-participation in prevention programs, and inform culturally tailored childhood obesity prevention strategies.
Mental health, job quality and workforce participation: evidence from population health research to address complex problems and conflicting policies. Mental disorders such as depression are a major cause of disability. Improving mental health can increase productivity and workforce participation. However, the psychosocial quality of work is a factor that overlays the relationship between work and health. Poor quality work (for example, unreasonable time pressure, insecurity) increases the risk ....Mental health, job quality and workforce participation: evidence from population health research to address complex problems and conflicting policies. Mental disorders such as depression are a major cause of disability. Improving mental health can increase productivity and workforce participation. However, the psychosocial quality of work is a factor that overlays the relationship between work and health. Poor quality work (for example, unreasonable time pressure, insecurity) increases the risk of poor mental health, absenteeism, and exit from the workforce. This project will analyse data following people over time to investigate the long-term health and employment consequences of poor psychosocial job quality, and consider the special case of mature age workers. It will identify those individuals at greatest risk, and factors that can buffer against the adverse effects of poor quality work.Read moreRead less
Creating and sustaining a strong future for volunteering in Australia. This project seeks to answer the question of how to increase social participation by converting non-volunteers to the benefits of volunteering. In Australia today, communities and governments are increasingly dependent on volunteers to build social capital and deliver an increasing range of services. A world first, this project aims to create new theory by examining three levels of analysis: the micro level of the individual ....Creating and sustaining a strong future for volunteering in Australia. This project seeks to answer the question of how to increase social participation by converting non-volunteers to the benefits of volunteering. In Australia today, communities and governments are increasingly dependent on volunteers to build social capital and deliver an increasing range of services. A world first, this project aims to create new theory by examining three levels of analysis: the micro level of the individual volunteer or non-volunteer; the mezzo level of the volunteer-involving organisation; and the macro level of society. This innovative approach aims to identify, analyse and develop a tool to help organisations build Australia’s civil society and develop policy to create a sustainable volunteer sector into the future.Read moreRead less
An examination of Refugee "Women at Risk" in Australia's refugee policy. The passage of refugees from situations of danger to the comparative safety of resettlement is becoming increasingly more complex.Australian refugee policy has a quota of resettlement places for women and children at risk. This policy is not fulfilling its aim of targeting those most in need of protection. This three year longitudinal study will employ action research to examine the reasons for this phenomenon. It will iden ....An examination of Refugee "Women at Risk" in Australia's refugee policy. The passage of refugees from situations of danger to the comparative safety of resettlement is becoming increasingly more complex.Australian refugee policy has a quota of resettlement places for women and children at risk. This policy is not fulfilling its aim of targeting those most in need of protection. This three year longitudinal study will employ action research to examine the reasons for this phenomenon. It will identify potential solutions which will assist some of the world's most vulnerable women reach a situation of safety. At an academic level it will address issues of policy failure.Read moreRead less
Corporate political activity of tobacco, alcohol and gambling companies in Australia. This project investigates how tobacco, alcohol and gambling industries influence the policy process, by stalling or defeating the implementation of effective public health policies in favour of ones which do not affect profit. The study will develop guidelines for industry-government interaction to ensure maximum public benefit.
Understanding recent Australian trends in alcohol consumption and harms. This project aims to provide critical insight into recent trends in alcohol consumption and related harm in Australia. Many indicators of harm from alcohol have increased dramatically in the past decade, while drinking behaviours appear largely unchanged. This project aims to investigate two potential explanations for these trends: that apparent increases in rates of alcohol-related harm are driven by operational or adminis ....Understanding recent Australian trends in alcohol consumption and harms. This project aims to provide critical insight into recent trends in alcohol consumption and related harm in Australia. Many indicators of harm from alcohol have increased dramatically in the past decade, while drinking behaviours appear largely unchanged. This project aims to investigate two potential explanations for these trends: that apparent increases in rates of alcohol-related harm are driven by operational or administrative practices rather than by increases in actual harm; and that stable per-capita consumption data obscures divergent drinking behaviours, with increases among heavy drinkers driving increasing harm rates. The project aims to inform alcohol policy debates, which rely on robust trend data.Read moreRead less
Meals on Wheels: building towards a new social experiment for our times. This project contributes directly to the National Research Priority, promoting and maintaining good health: ageing well, ageing productively, through developing evidence-based knowledge on which to build future volunteer business models. With the rapid ageing of the Australian population, it is imperative that volunteer-based organisations, such as Meals on Wheels, innovate to continue to deliver essential community service ....Meals on Wheels: building towards a new social experiment for our times. This project contributes directly to the National Research Priority, promoting and maintaining good health: ageing well, ageing productively, through developing evidence-based knowledge on which to build future volunteer business models. With the rapid ageing of the Australian population, it is imperative that volunteer-based organisations, such as Meals on Wheels, innovate to continue to deliver essential community services in a sustainable and cost-effective way. Meals on Wheels is integral within community care for frail, older people and those with disabilities, keeping people in their own homes and out of institutional care. Using national and international examples, the research has the potential to be adopted by the broad community services sector in Australia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101257
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$432,573.00
Summary
Understanding how community characteristics shape suicidal behaviour. This project aims to fill a critical knowledge gap in our understanding of the social determinants that give rise to suicide in Australian communities. Using an innovative, theory-driven approach, this project is expected to establish new insights into what, and how, social and economic inequalities create variation in suicide risk, and illuminate new opportunities for intervention and monitoring. Expected outcomes include evi ....Understanding how community characteristics shape suicidal behaviour. This project aims to fill a critical knowledge gap in our understanding of the social determinants that give rise to suicide in Australian communities. Using an innovative, theory-driven approach, this project is expected to establish new insights into what, and how, social and economic inequalities create variation in suicide risk, and illuminate new opportunities for intervention and monitoring. Expected outcomes include evidence-based policy recommendations for the actions that are likely to be most effective in reducing suicide risk at the population-level. This new knowledge should provide significant benefits in shaping the development of national suicide prevention responses to reduce social and economic disadvantage into the future.Read moreRead less
Critical perspectives on serodiscordance in family life. This project aims to produce the first empirical picture of Australian families affected by HIV, hepatitis C or hepatitis B, to shed light on how families manage adversity in diverse households and community contexts. The project plans to conduct qualitative research with individuals, families and other stakeholders to reveal the interplay between diversity in family forms and understandings and experiences of serodiscordance, or mixed inf ....Critical perspectives on serodiscordance in family life. This project aims to produce the first empirical picture of Australian families affected by HIV, hepatitis C or hepatitis B, to shed light on how families manage adversity in diverse households and community contexts. The project plans to conduct qualitative research with individuals, families and other stakeholders to reveal the interplay between diversity in family forms and understandings and experiences of serodiscordance, or mixed infection status. In developing a critical theory of serodiscordance that departs from the biomedical emphasis on ‘risk management’, novel insights are anticipated on accommodating difference and disruption, managing secrets and stigma, and responsibilising care and treatment within families. The project also anticipates the generation of new and important knowledge regarding the contributions of families to community wellbeing.Read moreRead less
Understanding anger and its consequences amongst women in conflict-affected Timor Leste: Implications for enhancing sustainable development. An Australian national priority goal is to understand our region...(its) societies, politics and cultures. AusAID highlights gender within its key theme Investing in People, emphasizing that 'gender equality is integral to growth, governance and stability'. Australia has made a massive investment in the stabilization of East Timor and other post-conflict c ....Understanding anger and its consequences amongst women in conflict-affected Timor Leste: Implications for enhancing sustainable development. An Australian national priority goal is to understand our region...(its) societies, politics and cultures. AusAID highlights gender within its key theme Investing in People, emphasizing that 'gender equality is integral to growth, governance and stability'. Australia has made a massive investment in the stabilization of East Timor and other post-conflict countries including aid for women's organizations. Yet there is a notable gap in the empirical base for designing programs for women. The proposed study focusing on women's anger has the potential to ground psychosocial programming for women on a firm empirical base. The results may be transferable to other traumatized and disadvantaged communities.
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