State, organisational, and team interventions to build psychosocial safety climate using the Australian Workplace Barometer and the StressCafe. The project is inspired by the nationally agreed target of 40% reduction in workplace injuries by 2012. Informed by leading indicators assessed through the Australian Workplace Barometer, this research will build evidence-based interventions at both a state, organisation, and team level to reduce risks and psychological injury. This project is promoting ....State, organisational, and team interventions to build psychosocial safety climate using the Australian Workplace Barometer and the StressCafe. The project is inspired by the nationally agreed target of 40% reduction in workplace injuries by 2012. Informed by leading indicators assessed through the Australian Workplace Barometer, this research will build evidence-based interventions at both a state, organisation, and team level to reduce risks and psychological injury. This project is promoting good health and well being, Preventative healthcare, and Strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric. An innovative platform will be built, the StressCafe´, for the translation of research into policy and practice, through better access by stakeholders to information and discoverable data.Read moreRead less
Working wounded or engaged? Australian work conditions and consequences through the lens of the Job Demands- Resources Model. Australian researchers will participate in high quality theory driven longitudinal research of crucial practical importance nationally and of theoretical importance internationally. Specifically the study will assist in understanding workplace health and productivity in terms of job conditions, demands and resources. It will underscore costly consequences of stressful j ....Working wounded or engaged? Australian work conditions and consequences through the lens of the Job Demands- Resources Model. Australian researchers will participate in high quality theory driven longitudinal research of crucial practical importance nationally and of theoretical importance internationally. Specifically the study will assist in understanding workplace health and productivity in terms of job conditions, demands and resources. It will underscore costly consequences of stressful jobs e.g. depression related workplace productivity loss in dollar terms. Australian governments, unions, and OHS organisations will have access to high quality evidence to: design and evaluate OHS interventions; inform prevention campaigns, policies and practice; benchmark progress at national levels; monitor changing trends; and develop national standards.Read moreRead less
Strengthening community partnerships to promote adolescent school engagement and prevent problems such as alcohol misuse and violence. The project will reduce community rates of adolescent school non-attendance, adolescent alcohol misuse and antisocial behaviour. Adolescent school exclusion, alcohol use and antisocial behaviour are highly prevalent in Australia, and can be reduced using a variety of strategies that are coordinated at the school and community level. The project will decrease adol ....Strengthening community partnerships to promote adolescent school engagement and prevent problems such as alcohol misuse and violence. The project will reduce community rates of adolescent school non-attendance, adolescent alcohol misuse and antisocial behaviour. Adolescent school exclusion, alcohol use and antisocial behaviour are highly prevalent in Australia, and can be reduced using a variety of strategies that are coordinated at the school and community level. The project will decrease adolescent problems through community improvements in child and adolescent protective influences and reductions in risk influences. Furthermore, the project will equip communities with the capacity to learn how to identify and implement strategies to address the major influences that have the potential to reduce adolescent behaviour problems.Read moreRead less
Evaluation of a Training Program for Staff to Recognize Depression Among Aged People Living in Residential and Community Care. Depression is a significant problem among older people, and is likely to increase in prevalence with the aging of the population. A large percentage of depressed older people fail to receive treatment because their depression is not diagnosed. This illness leads to high economic and social costs if it is not diagnosed and treated. This project will evaluate the effective ....Evaluation of a Training Program for Staff to Recognize Depression Among Aged People Living in Residential and Community Care. Depression is a significant problem among older people, and is likely to increase in prevalence with the aging of the population. A large percentage of depressed older people fail to receive treatment because their depression is not diagnosed. This illness leads to high economic and social costs if it is not diagnosed and treated. This project will evaluate the effectiveness of a training program to assist carers to detect depression, and so refer older people for treatment of this condition. Read moreRead less
Attentional asymmetries for navigation in healthy and clinical groups. This project plans to investigate how differences in attentional capacity between the left and right sides of the brain affect the ability to walk or manoeuvre vehicles between obstacles. To navigate our environment and avoid obstacles, we need to attend to stimuli that are important and ignore those that are not. Unfortunately, the brain’s attentional capacity is limited, which can result in errors and collisions. Using the ....Attentional asymmetries for navigation in healthy and clinical groups. This project plans to investigate how differences in attentional capacity between the left and right sides of the brain affect the ability to walk or manoeuvre vehicles between obstacles. To navigate our environment and avoid obstacles, we need to attend to stimuli that are important and ignore those that are not. Unfortunately, the brain’s attentional capacity is limited, which can result in errors and collisions. Using the techniques of cognitive neuroscience, the project aims to provide a better understanding of the cognitive and neural mechanisms that govern attention in an applied setting. It expects to identify the factors that exacerbate lapses in attention and collisions. The effect of everyday impediments such as mobile phones, alcohol and fatigue will be investigated together with means of minimising these attentional lapses and improving safety.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101108
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$352,000.00
Summary
The ups and downs of visuospatial attention. The brain has a remarkable capacity to provide a coherent experience of the world by seamlessly integrating sights and sounds from different locations. It is only after brain damage, or when faced with a high attentional load, that our limitations become apparent. The project aims to investigate these limitations by determining how spatial location influences attention in relation to distractibility, cross-modal input and emotionality. Eye tracking an ....The ups and downs of visuospatial attention. The brain has a remarkable capacity to provide a coherent experience of the world by seamlessly integrating sights and sounds from different locations. It is only after brain damage, or when faced with a high attentional load, that our limitations become apparent. The project aims to investigate these limitations by determining how spatial location influences attention in relation to distractibility, cross-modal input and emotionality. Eye tracking and physiological measures of arousal will be combined with traditional cognitive measures to provide a deeper understanding of spatial attention. This project aims to improve attentional models and develop innovative strategies to increase safety by decreasing inattention and distraction.Read moreRead less
Functional impact of high fat and high sugar diets on memory encoding. This project aims to determine the functional mechanisms of how fats and sugar affect neuronal processes vital for learning and memory. Expected outcomes will define the neural mechanisms underpinning cognitive changes in emotional and spatial memory encoding, and how these relate to brain and metabolic parameters. This will provide benefits by unveiling the possible consequences of dietary fat and sugar on the brain, and th ....Functional impact of high fat and high sugar diets on memory encoding. This project aims to determine the functional mechanisms of how fats and sugar affect neuronal processes vital for learning and memory. Expected outcomes will define the neural mechanisms underpinning cognitive changes in emotional and spatial memory encoding, and how these relate to brain and metabolic parameters. This will provide benefits by unveiling the possible consequences of dietary fat and sugar on the brain, and the mechanisms of neuroplasticity enhancing interventions.Read moreRead less
Left to right is front to back: attentional distortions in near and far space for healthy and clinical populations. We are investigating a perceptual bias that makes people think objects right in front of them are actually slightly to the right but objects far away are slightly to the left. This project will help understand why this happens, to help reduce traffic collisions and help people with brain damage that causes similar perceptual biases.
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC210100019
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,583,816.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre for Optimal Ageing. The ARC Training Centre for Optimal Ageing aims to address issues identified by older adults as essential for quality of life. With our industry partners, we aim to train the next generation of researchers to understand, detect and improve psychosocial factors that support mental activity, physical health and social connectedness, and embrace advances in artificial intelligence, digital-enriched environments and adaptive workplaces to deliver effective dig ....ARC Training Centre for Optimal Ageing. The ARC Training Centre for Optimal Ageing aims to address issues identified by older adults as essential for quality of life. With our industry partners, we aim to train the next generation of researchers to understand, detect and improve psychosocial factors that support mental activity, physical health and social connectedness, and embrace advances in artificial intelligence, digital-enriched environments and adaptive workplaces to deliver effective digital solutions. By developing new capacity and capability to drive the digital transformation of industries supporting our ageing population, our Centre seeks to deliver economic and social benefits that enable Australians to live enriched, healthy and independent lives as they age.Read moreRead less