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
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
Developmental pathways to health, education and delinquency outcomes in Western Australia children: a holistic approach to inform early intervention strategies. This project will pioneer population-level data linkages between WA's population health databases and information held by the WA Departments of Education (numeracy and literacy), Justice (juvenile delinquency), Disabilities, and Community Development (child protection). The project will describe temporal, regional, socioeconomic and raci ....Developmental pathways to health, education and delinquency outcomes in Western Australia children: a holistic approach to inform early intervention strategies. This project will pioneer population-level data linkages between WA's population health databases and information held by the WA Departments of Education (numeracy and literacy), Justice (juvenile delinquency), Disabilities, and Community Development (child protection). The project will describe temporal, regional, socioeconomic and racial patterns of developmental outcomes, key risk and protective factors and identify pathways to health and wellbeing, education and juvenile delinquency outcomes among WA children and youth, including those who have had contact with the Child Protection System. Outcomes for specific groups identified as ät risk" will also be examined".Read moreRead less
Reducing the social, economic and health burden associated with obesity-related chronic diseases among socio-economically disadvantaged populations. This project will develop new methods and approaches for reducing obesity-related chronic diseases (OCDs) among socially disadvantaged populations in Australia, using prevention models. These prevention models will improve the evidence base in this field as well as inform public health policy and practice in Australia (and other industrialised count ....Reducing the social, economic and health burden associated with obesity-related chronic diseases among socio-economically disadvantaged populations. This project will develop new methods and approaches for reducing obesity-related chronic diseases (OCDs) among socially disadvantaged populations in Australia, using prevention models. These prevention models will improve the evidence base in this field as well as inform public health policy and practice in Australia (and other industrialised countries).Read moreRead less
Large-scale computational modelling of epidemics in Australia. The project aims to develop novel computational epidemiological models to contribute to guidelines for optimal prophylaxis, vaccination and case management. Emerging threats posed by infectious diseases and bioterrorism could have dramatic effects on the Australian population, productivity and economy. The project aims to improve the accuracy and scope of modern computational epidemiological models by integrating large-scale Census d ....Large-scale computational modelling of epidemics in Australia. The project aims to develop novel computational epidemiological models to contribute to guidelines for optimal prophylaxis, vaccination and case management. Emerging threats posed by infectious diseases and bioterrorism could have dramatic effects on the Australian population, productivity and economy. The project aims to improve the accuracy and scope of modern computational epidemiological models by integrating large-scale Census datasets and explicitly simulating the entire population down to the level of single individuals, coupled with complex network-based and information flow analysis. The intended outcomes include a more precise and efficient forecasting of critical epidemic dynamics, and increased effectiveness of prevention, mitigation and management of socio-economic, socio-ecological and national security crises.Read moreRead less
Changing children’s chances: Exploring pathways to developmental inequities. This project aims to investigate the causes of health and developmental inequities between Australian children. Inequities are increasingly observed in Australian children’s physical health, social and emotional wellbeing, and academic learning. Such inequities are unjust, unnecessary and potentially preventable. This project aims to understand the pathways leading to these inequities by examining the many contexts in w ....Changing children’s chances: Exploring pathways to developmental inequities. This project aims to investigate the causes of health and developmental inequities between Australian children. Inequities are increasingly observed in Australian children’s physical health, social and emotional wellbeing, and academic learning. Such inequities are unjust, unnecessary and potentially preventable. This project aims to understand the pathways leading to these inequities by examining the many contexts in which children and their families live and grow. Through a series of innovative analyses using existing data, the project aims to identify potentially modifiable factors at the child, family, school, and community level that contribute to developmental inequities. Understanding of the most promising leverage points for interventions to reduce inequities for Australian children could be used to inform policy.Read moreRead less
Linking for Life: Enhancing pathways to well-being for all Australians. The Linking for Life Project will identify pathways to wellbeing and better social outcomes across the life-course for high-risk/vulnerable individuals and their families to streamline service provision, improve outcomes and identify cost-efficiencies across government agencies. The work will expand cross-sectoral data linkage capability, enhancing research capacity to generate evidence-based policy to improve integrated ser ....Linking for Life: Enhancing pathways to well-being for all Australians. The Linking for Life Project will identify pathways to wellbeing and better social outcomes across the life-course for high-risk/vulnerable individuals and their families to streamline service provision, improve outcomes and identify cost-efficiencies across government agencies. The work will expand cross-sectoral data linkage capability, enhancing research capacity to generate evidence-based policy to improve integrated service delivery across government. The project will also trial innovative data linkage models including the creation of data repositories to improve efficiency for data provision and access, which will have application nationally and enable more timely access to whole-population linked cross-sector data.Read moreRead less
Time scarcity in Australian families: another inequity? The globalising economy, financial uncertainties and major democratic changes are all affecting family time. Parent's time is a resource on which children depend, but time scarcity has become a widespread problem for families. Our study helps focus policy attention on this problem. We deliver new methods to assess the experience of time scarcity in families, identifying those who are most likely to experience it, where they live, and how ti ....Time scarcity in Australian families: another inequity? The globalising economy, financial uncertainties and major democratic changes are all affecting family time. Parent's time is a resource on which children depend, but time scarcity has become a widespread problem for families. Our study helps focus policy attention on this problem. We deliver new methods to assess the experience of time scarcity in families, identifying those who are most likely to experience it, where they live, and how time scarcity affects them. This evidence can help support policy approaches to time, benefiting the twin economic and social policy goals of encouraging workforce participation while supporting the health and wellbeing of families.Read moreRead less
Immunising Aboriginal Mothers With Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine To Prevent Infant Ear Disease And Carriage
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,131,530.00
Summary
Aboriginal children experience the highest rates of acute and chronic ear infections in the world, with resultant permanent ear damage, hearing loss and educational disadvantage. These infections are mainly bacterial, and Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is the predominant pathogen. Pneumococcal colonisation and infection begins within days of birth, many months before any potential immunological protection from infant pneumococcal conjugate vaccine may be expected. New strategies are nee ....Aboriginal children experience the highest rates of acute and chronic ear infections in the world, with resultant permanent ear damage, hearing loss and educational disadvantage. These infections are mainly bacterial, and Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is the predominant pathogen. Pneumococcal colonisation and infection begins within days of birth, many months before any potential immunological protection from infant pneumococcal conjugate vaccine may be expected. New strategies are needed to eliminate, or at least delay, this early-onset pneumococcal colonisation. One such strategy is the administration to the mother of pneumococcal vaccine, which may protect the newborn infant by leading to higher titres of transplacental or breast milk pneumococcal antibodies and-or by reducing carriage (and transmission to the infant) of maternal pneumococci. Previous small studies using this strategy have been encouraging, but there have been no studies properly evaluating carriage or disease endpoints in infants. The polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine is currently recommended for all Aboriginal and Torres Islander persons aged 15 years or more in the Northern Territory but uptake of the vaccine has been poor. We propose to conduct a pilot study to determine if maternal immunisation with this vaccine, either in the third trimester of pregancy of immediately following delivery, can reduce pneumococcal carriage and the prevalence of middle ear disease among Aboriginal infants at seven months of age. We aim to recruit 210 Aboriginal women who have uncomplicated pregnancies from Darwin and remote communities in the Top End of the Northern Territory. Each subject and their infant offspring will be followed-up after vaccination and at birth, one , two and seven months after birth.Read moreRead less