Advanced Non-invasive Cardiovascular Risk Screening In The Community: Practical And Cost Effective?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$287,321.00
Summary
This research focuses on the practicalities and cost of mobile, advanced, non-invasive cardiovascular assessments to determine the extent of CVD and clinical risk factors and its likely impact on patterns of treatment and care to “disadvantaged” individuals living in rural and remote regions and Indigenous Australians. The advantage of directly acquiring risk profile information has not been fully explored and its potential to address an “epidemic” of CVD world-wide cannot be overstated.
Workplace Interventions To Reduce The Cost Of Neck Problems In Office Personnel
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$660,834.00
Summary
Neck pain in office workers is a major burden in industry in terms of lost productivity and personal suffering. This research will evaluate a novel intervention for the prevention and management of neck pain in computer users. The impact and value of neck specific exercises and best practice office ergonomics will be evaluated from the employers (productivity loss) and workers perspective (severity of neck pain). The findings will directly benefit future management of this significant health iss ....Neck pain in office workers is a major burden in industry in terms of lost productivity and personal suffering. This research will evaluate a novel intervention for the prevention and management of neck pain in computer users. The impact and value of neck specific exercises and best practice office ergonomics will be evaluated from the employers (productivity loss) and workers perspective (severity of neck pain). The findings will directly benefit future management of this significant health issue.Read moreRead less
Sitting Less And Moving More: Population Health Research To Understand And Influence Sedentary Behaviour
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$6,367,518.00
Summary
The majority of Australian adults spend most of their waking hours sitting: at home, at work, and in their cars; most do not participate in exercise or sport. This leads to weight gain and to diseases of inactivity (particularly diabetes, heart disease, cancer and depression). New research will measure sitting time and the physical activity in people's daily lives, what factors encourage inactivity, and how to increase activity levels, especially among the ageing 'baby boomer' population.
Alcohol and tobacco use among lesbian, bisexual and queer identifying women. This project aims to examine practices of alcohol and tobacco use among lesbian, bisexual and queer-identifying (LBQ) women, which are considerably higher compared to heterosexual women. By using an innovative, longitudinal qualitative approach, this project expects to generate new knowledge regarding the cultural and social forces that shape higher rates of alcohol and tobacco use among LBQ women, and to better underst ....Alcohol and tobacco use among lesbian, bisexual and queer identifying women. This project aims to examine practices of alcohol and tobacco use among lesbian, bisexual and queer-identifying (LBQ) women, which are considerably higher compared to heterosexual women. By using an innovative, longitudinal qualitative approach, this project expects to generate new knowledge regarding the cultural and social forces that shape higher rates of alcohol and tobacco use among LBQ women, and to better understand their impacts. It is anticipated that the project will enhance the capacity of health promotion and policy organisations to meet the alcohol management and smoking cessation needs of this population. Findings from this project should help to alleviate health and social inequalities experienced by LBQ women.
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What will it take to decrease socio-economic inequalities in obesity? There is little understanding of how the increasing prevalence of obesity, and its prevention and management, may contribute to socio-economic inequalities in health. This project aims to identify policies that are most likely to both decrease the prevalence of obesity and decrease associated inequalities in health.
Understanding And Influencing Physical Activity To Improve Population Health
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,668,376.00
Summary
Three of Australia's leading researchers on physical activity and population health will use new NHMRC program grant funding to consolidate and extend their already internationally-recognised studies. Doing regular physical activity is very important for maintaining good health. It helps to prevent weight gain, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and breast and colon cancer. Unfortunately, most Australian adults are not active enough for health benefits. Rates of overweight and obesity are increasing ....Three of Australia's leading researchers on physical activity and population health will use new NHMRC program grant funding to consolidate and extend their already internationally-recognised studies. Doing regular physical activity is very important for maintaining good health. It helps to prevent weight gain, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and breast and colon cancer. Unfortunately, most Australian adults are not active enough for health benefits. Rates of overweight and obesity are increasing rapidly; more than 50% of Australian adults are above the healthy weight range. Rates of type 2 diabetes have doubled in the past 20 years. New ideas and practical tools are therefore needed to tackle these serious ‘diseases of inactivity’. To this end, Professors Neville Owen, Adrian Bauman and Wendy Brown will bring together innovative and practically useful scientific approaches drawn from psychology, epidemiology and exercise physiology. The approach is interdisciplinary – it combines theories and methods from their individual disciplines in an innovative manner, within a public health framework. Their research to date has developed better methods for measuring people’s exercise habits and has provided new insights into how personal, social and environmental circumstances can make people less active. They have also shown how to design and deliver wide-reaching programs for different social groups and evaluated their effectiveness. Their new research program will build on and significantly extend these ideas and approaches into new areas.For example, they will develop new measures of incidental physical activity and sedentary behaviour and will develop and test new, complex community interventions.Their new program will involve in-depth study of some of the most challenging researchproblems in an important and under-researched area of public health. They will further combine their disciplines and the skills of their research team in new, creative and practical ways, to answer important research questions about physical activity and population health. These ideas and approaches will be used to identify practical ways to help more people to be more physically active.Read moreRead less
Building Capacity For Physical Activity Research In Population Health
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,118,560.00
Summary
The program will focus on the 'diseases of inactivity' and will look at factors like obtaining accurate statistics on rates of inactivity and better statistics on which social groups are least active. It will look at: • the types of activity that are best for different people; • what the best types of exercise programs are; • the types of information campaigns that will be most effective; and • how community amenities and local environments might be used to help people to be active in ways that ....The program will focus on the 'diseases of inactivity' and will look at factors like obtaining accurate statistics on rates of inactivity and better statistics on which social groups are least active. It will look at: • the types of activity that are best for different people; • what the best types of exercise programs are; • the types of information campaigns that will be most effective; and • how community amenities and local environments might be used to help people to be active in ways that are more convenient and enjoyable.Read moreRead less
The impact of park renewal on park usage and park-based physical activity. The study will examine whether the refurbishment of a park located in a low socio-economic area of Melbourne has an impact on park usage and park-based physical activity. The findings will help inform the design of future parks to optimise park usage and physical activity performed within the park.
Redesigning apartment policy standards for health and wellbeing. This project aims to examine the impact of apartment design standards on residents’ health and wellbeing. It seeks to (1) identify a refined set of evidence-informed quantifiable policy standards that protect residents’ health and wellbeing; and (2) evaluate their uptake by industry and barriers to implementation. Many design standards are based on intuition and experience rather than empirical evidence, and little is known about w ....Redesigning apartment policy standards for health and wellbeing. This project aims to examine the impact of apartment design standards on residents’ health and wellbeing. It seeks to (1) identify a refined set of evidence-informed quantifiable policy standards that protect residents’ health and wellbeing; and (2) evaluate their uptake by industry and barriers to implementation. Many design standards are based on intuition and experience rather than empirical evidence, and little is known about whether the standards and thresholds stipulated are sufficient to support health. Expected outcomes include tailored policy-specific recommendations for design policy and the planning of apartment precincts. Benefits include the delivery of convivial, equitable, healthy and sustainable apartment housing.Read moreRead less