Improving Clinical Care In Patients With Cirrhosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$132,743.00
Summary
This PhD will evaluate the current state of cirrhosis care in Australia. Part one aims to determine the community prevalence of cirrhosis in a general practice cohort and assess the proportion of patients that have been already diagnosed. Part two will evaluate if patients with established compensated cirrhosis are receiving appropriate care and if not assess barriers to care. Part three will evaluate biomarkers to predict the risk of decompensation in patients with established cirrhosis.
Better Data To Inform Interventions To Reduce The Risk Of Stillbirth In Australia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$75,830.00
Summary
Stillbirth is a devastating experience for parents and families. Paucity of high quality data on causes and contributing factors is a major barrier to the development of research priorities and interventions to prevent stillbirths and improve the quality of care. This research will be a connected body of work that aims to better describe the epidemiology of stillbirth in Australia, contribute to the classification of stillbirths and determine the needs of parents in relation to autopsy consent.
Developing A Framework To Evaluate Low Value Prescribing In The Australian Health Care Setting
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$124,608.00
Summary
The aim of this project is to develop a framework to evaluate the quality of prescribing in Australia using routinely collected administrative health data. Given growing concerns regarding the quality of prescribing of psychotropic medicines and opioids, these medicines will be e focus of the study. Patterns, quality markers and health and financial consequences of poor prescribing will be assessed.
Epidemiology And Management Of Bronchiectasis In Australian Adults
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$124,676.00
Summary
Bronchiectasis is an incurable lung disease which causes chronic cough with phlegm. We do not know how many Australians have bronchiectasis or how it affects their lives, and there are few effective treatments. The recently launched Australian Bronchiectasis Registry collects comprehensive information on Australians with bronchiectasis. This project will use this information to start to answer these questions, and will investigate nebulised hypertonic saline as a cheap and accessible treatment.
Up to 50% of patients having surgery take regular medications and almost half of these patients have their medications stopped at the time of surgery. The interruption of their regular medications during this period exposes patients to associated complications. The project aims to improve the management of patients’ regular medications at the time of surgery, especially when they are fasting or nil by mouth, via a bundle of interventions that include education, reminders and audit/feedback.
Quality Of Life, Associated Psychological And Economic Family Impacts, And Trajectory Of Recovery In Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Paediatric Burns Patients.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$86,117.00
Summary
Over a third of burns injuries in Australia are paediatric, with over representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Burns are a major injury, having devastating long term consequences, connected to psychological distress, trauma, cost and disability. This research focusses on quality of life measures, economic impacts and psychological distress, investigating enabling and inhibitory factors to burns recovery in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their family.
Cancers can induce fluid build up within the chest cavity leading to breathlessness impairing quality of life. These three studies are focused on improving MPE care. The PLEASE study aims to determine the mechanism of breathlessness and provide predictors for patient selection for fluid drainage. The AMPLE-2 trial will determine the optimal drainage regime to improve patient related outcomes. The FRAME study will evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of a novel therapy in mesothelioma.
Dental caries (decay) is a significant early childhood chronic disease in Australia, mainly affecting disadvantaged communities and adversely impacting physical, social and emotional wellbeing. This PhD is nested within the VicGen birth cohort, following influences on tooth decay of 450 infants to age 7. This mixed-methods study will examine the relationship between early childhood caries and obesity, exploring caregivers’ views on these factors and translation to policy and practice.
Working Conditions, Job Stress And Mental Health Of Family Day Care Providers: Implications For Quality Of Caregiving.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$93,630.00
Summary
Over 100,000 children attend family day care in the homes of 12,000 providers in Australia. Family day carers work under challenging conditions and many carers leave the profession annually. The working conditions, mental health and job stress of family day carers and how their mental health may relate to quality of care has not been investigated. This PhD study will examine these issues and explore if and how a systems approach can improve family day carer mental health and job satisfaction.
Palliative Care Outcomes Among Indigenous Australians: Analysis Of A Nationwide Dataset
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$43,309.00
Summary
Little is known about the quality of palliative care services provided to Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Australians. This study will use a high quality dataset collected from palliative care services nationwide to compare the quality of end-of-life care provided to Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The measures of care being compared will include the time taken to enter care, time taken to have clinical condition stabilised, and satisfactory control of symptoms.