What's in the music? A lifespan model of emotional and musical creativity in therapeutic song writing. Composing songs as a form of therapy is a recent innovation in music therapy practice. This study examines the health benefits of original song writing for people with varying debilitating health conditions and those adjusting to injury, trauma or pending death. The results of this study will improve health service and delivery by music therapists.
Reducing the burden of alcohol and other drug use in Australia. The costs of alcohol and other drug use to the Australian community are significant. This research will aim to reduce this burden by developing the evidence for effective intervention and then working with policymakers and practitioners to improve responses to alcohol and other drugs in the community.
Improving quality of life in chronic aphasia: reducing depression and increasing social connection and life participation through community aphasia groups. Aphasia, a communication disability resulting from brain injury and experienced by over 80,000 Australians, impacts significantly on social connection, well being and mental health. This program of research defines excellent community aphasia groups, an important preventative health measure and investigates their impact for Australians with a ....Improving quality of life in chronic aphasia: reducing depression and increasing social connection and life participation through community aphasia groups. Aphasia, a communication disability resulting from brain injury and experienced by over 80,000 Australians, impacts significantly on social connection, well being and mental health. This program of research defines excellent community aphasia groups, an important preventative health measure and investigates their impact for Australians with aphasiaRead moreRead less
Modelling the population impact of injury. This project aims to model the long-term, population impact of non-fatal injury through the use of cutting edge epidemiological modelling, sophisticated biostatistics, advanced econometrics, and geospatial analysis. The project will use population-based, linked longitudinal data to generate new knowledge about the long-term impacts of injury, cost of injury, and expected burden into the future. Through the multi-disciplinary and multi-national collabo ....Modelling the population impact of injury. This project aims to model the long-term, population impact of non-fatal injury through the use of cutting edge epidemiological modelling, sophisticated biostatistics, advanced econometrics, and geospatial analysis. The project will use population-based, linked longitudinal data to generate new knowledge about the long-term impacts of injury, cost of injury, and expected burden into the future. Through the multi-disciplinary and multi-national collaborations established, it is anticipated that this project may lead to future changes in public health and social policy, prioritisation of injury prevention efforts, and establish the capacity to evaluate injury interventions and policy shifts as they occur.Read moreRead less
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
Dietary patterns across the life-course: implications for the prevention of obesity, cardiometabolic disease and public health. This research will focus on dietary patterns in population health across the life-course. We know little about how dietary patterns and their determinants vary across life and the impact of life-stage transitions on diet and health. This research will provide insights into dietary patterns of infants, children, young adults and older adults.
Improving the performance of Australian social insurance schemes. Applying methods from computational social science, this project aims to develop a novel, multi-level modeling framework to assist transport injury, workplace injury and disability insurance schemes consistently achieve and maintain standards of high performance as recognised by international benchmarks. By creating a virtual laboratory for policy-makers and scheme managers, it expects to generate a comprehensive understanding of ....Improving the performance of Australian social insurance schemes. Applying methods from computational social science, this project aims to develop a novel, multi-level modeling framework to assist transport injury, workplace injury and disability insurance schemes consistently achieve and maintain standards of high performance as recognised by international benchmarks. By creating a virtual laboratory for policy-makers and scheme managers, it expects to generate a comprehensive understanding of mechanisms driving insurance scheme performance, enabling comparison of anticipated outcomes in response to legislative changes, policy changes and management decisions. The project aims to help schemes avoid human and financial failure, benefitting people with injuries and disabilities while reducing scheme costs.Read moreRead less
Closing the gap in Aboriginal maternal and child health outcomes. This project will build the evidence base needed to design and implement effective strategies to close the gap in Aboriginal maternal and child health outcomes and reduce Indigenous disadvantage across the life course.
Agreements as a mechanism for community participation in health policy: Understanding process and evaluating effectiveness. Improving the health of Indigenous people requires health policy that is inclusive and proactive rather than crisis driven. Formal agreements outline responsibilities and accountabilities in a shared framework that respects the rights of the parties involved. This project will evaluate the quality and effectiveness of agreements in Indigenous health by assessing their abil ....Agreements as a mechanism for community participation in health policy: Understanding process and evaluating effectiveness. Improving the health of Indigenous people requires health policy that is inclusive and proactive rather than crisis driven. Formal agreements outline responsibilities and accountabilities in a shared framework that respects the rights of the parties involved. This project will evaluate the quality and effectiveness of agreements in Indigenous health by assessing their ability to change the way governments and communities work together to improve health. The project will help ensure that future agreements reflect shared solutions for improving the health of Indigenous people in a respectful and effective way. It will also determine whether agreements work to bring community and government together to reduce inequalities in health.Read moreRead less
Urban spaces and active ageing: understanding person-environment interactions to inform activity-friendly community design. The proportion of older adults in urban areas is rapidly growing, leading to increases in health-care costs that are associated with chronic diseases. This can be offset by creating urban environments that support an active lifestyle across mid-to-late adulthood. How urban community designs shape the physical activity of this understudied age group is unclear. Using a suite ....Urban spaces and active ageing: understanding person-environment interactions to inform activity-friendly community design. The proportion of older adults in urban areas is rapidly growing, leading to increases in health-care costs that are associated with chronic diseases. This can be offset by creating urban environments that support an active lifestyle across mid-to-late adulthood. How urban community designs shape the physical activity of this understudied age group is unclear. Using a suite of national and international epidemiological studies, This project aims to identify the optimal mix and spatial distribution of destinations (facilities and places to visit) for active ageing, while taking into account factors that define one’s ability and willingness to visit these destinations. This will inform public policy and activity-friendly community design.Read moreRead less