Australian Vietnam Veterans Health Study: Cohort Wave 2
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$575,250.00
Summary
Military records show that Australia has committed troops to war since the time of the Boer War, continuing commitments through World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Malaya Emergency, the Vietnam Conflict, the Gulf War, and numerous peacekeeping operations across the world, yet there has never been an epidemiological cohort study that tracked the path of their health and their lives after their return. This study will provide an approximate 10-year followup of an established cohort of Austral ....Military records show that Australia has committed troops to war since the time of the Boer War, continuing commitments through World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Malaya Emergency, the Vietnam Conflict, the Gulf War, and numerous peacekeeping operations across the world, yet there has never been an epidemiological cohort study that tracked the path of their health and their lives after their return. This study will provide an approximate 10-year followup of an established cohort of Australian Vietnam veterans, which was the first such study ever conducted of returned Australian servicemen. It will test diagnostic stability and chart the trajectory of health and welfare over time in the men and relate this to possible causal determinants including military service, combat deployment and trauma exposure, post traumatic stress disorder and alcohol disorders. It will also allow us to examine the role of their previous health state, determined 10 years ago, in relation to their current health state. Data and methodology from the Australian Bureau of Statistics national surveys on physical and mental health will be incorporated so that comparisons can be made with Australian population data for the study group. Significantly, wave 1 preceded automatic compensation for veterans for cancer and PTSD; provoked the DVA's national survey that led to a $32M government program response; fed into the DVA mental health policy; fed into the Army selection guidelines for overseas service via the Psychology Corps; fed into DVA policy re Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service. Wave 2 will continue this informative process as the cohort ages. This study will provide a firmer basis for treatment of war veterans and others whose lives are visited by trauma, physical ill-health, alcohol disorders, or mental health problems in adulthood.Read moreRead less
A Structured Systems Approach For Improving Health Promotion Practice For Chronic Diseases In Indigenous Communities
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$666,592.00
Summary
This project will trial a model for continuous improvement, with the aim of assisting health services and community based organisations to improve the services they deliver to promote health and prevent chronic disease in Indigenous communities.
Health Status And Development Among Aboriginal Infants In An Urban Community.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$436,650.00
Summary
This research is a descriptive study of the health outcomes of Aboriginal infants, born at Campbelltown Hospital. The research will build on Centre for Health Equity's (CHETRE) work, since 1997, with the Aboriginal community, Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) and Area Health Services (AHS) in the region to develop and advocate for services to address the needs of Aboriginal and other disadvantaged communities. CHETRE has supported the Aboriginal workers to develop additional services for Aborigin ....This research is a descriptive study of the health outcomes of Aboriginal infants, born at Campbelltown Hospital. The research will build on Centre for Health Equity's (CHETRE) work, since 1997, with the Aboriginal community, Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) and Area Health Services (AHS) in the region to develop and advocate for services to address the needs of Aboriginal and other disadvantaged communities. CHETRE has supported the Aboriginal workers to develop additional services for Aboriginal women, such as the Aboriginal Home Visiting Team (AHV) and assisted with evaluation of these services. The AHV management comprises representatives from AMS, AHS, the Aboriginal community and CHETRE, and will provide advice and oversight for this project. The AHV developed from community concern about health status of Aboriginal infants and provides ante and postnatal care to infants and mothers. As a part of this service Aboriginal infants are systematically identified by the AHS. Further development of services is limited by lack of information on health status, use of health services, or achievement of developmental milestones by Aboriginal infants in an urban community and the assumption that outcomes are a factor of disadvantage. The researchers intend to describe in meticulous detail obstetric outcomes for 150 Aboriginal infants and their mothers born in 2004-5 and the health and development outcomes of the infants at 12 months. Baseline information on birth weight, Apgar score and obstetric history will be collected from maternal report at 2-3 week post-delivery and from routine data collections. Infants and their mothers will be followed up prospectively with further data collection points at 6 months and 12 months. Information on health status, health service use, and achievement of developmental milestones will be obtained by measurement and maternal report. An assessment by a paediatrician will be undertaken at 12 months.Read moreRead less
A Randomized Trial Of The Impact Of A Multi-intervention Anti-tobacco Strategy In 8 Indigenous Communities.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$567,750.00
Summary
Tobacco smoking represents the major risk to life and health within Australian Indigenous communities. Survey data suggest that prevalence rates for the Indigenous community are more than twice those of the non-Indigenous population. These rates are reflected in the pattern of mortality and morbidity within Indigenous communities. During the period 1989-1999 the smoking-related death rate amongst Indigenous Queenslanders was almost three times greater than that of non-Indigenous Queenslanders. A ....Tobacco smoking represents the major risk to life and health within Australian Indigenous communities. Survey data suggest that prevalence rates for the Indigenous community are more than twice those of the non-Indigenous population. These rates are reflected in the pattern of mortality and morbidity within Indigenous communities. During the period 1989-1999 the smoking-related death rate amongst Indigenous Queenslanders was almost three times greater than that of non-Indigenous Queenslanders. Additionally, tobacco smoking is a major contributing factor in many conditions that constitute significant Indigenous health problems. The natural history of smoking also differs between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. Indigenous smokers start younger, are more likely to develop smoking-related conditions and tend to die younger than non-Indigenous smokers. Despite the above statistics, there is little published data on the effectiveness of anti-smoking interventions within Australia's Indigenous populations. Lessons from non-Indigenous communities suggest that the most successful strategies are those that target populations at many different levels. Rather than one isolated intervention, such strategies may include policy initiatives, training and education of health staff, community education and awareness campaigns and increased access to cessation techniques. Indigenous communities generally lack the capacity to initiate these type of tobacco control strategies. This project aims to examine the impact of a multi-intervention anti-tobacco strategy within north Queensland Indigenous communities. The project has three broad aims: 1) to increase the capacity of health services to implement and deliver anti-tobacco interventions; 2) to increase community knowledge and awareness of the risks of smoking and 3) to decrease the level of tobacco consumption within communities.Read moreRead less
Adolescent Population Health: Application Of Best-Worst Scaling Discrete Choice Experiments To Value Health States For Use In Economic Evaluation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$178,779.00
Summary
Historically, economic evaluations of health care treatment and preventive programs developed for adolescents have failed to incorporate adolescent values about their preferred health outcomes. This project will apply a novel approach known as Best-Worst Scaling to ascertain adolescent specific values for health states for incorporation into economic evaluation, thereby enabling the views of adolescents to be incorporated directly into the health care priorities decision-making process.
Maternal Health Study (phase 2): Longitudinal 4-year Follow-up Of A Prospective Nulliparous Pregnancy Cohort
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$660,402.00
Summary
The burden of disease among women after childbirth is substantial, under-recognised by health professionals, and symptoms do not necessarily resolve within the first 12 months. Common health problems after childbirth include: chronic exhaustion, back pain, urinary and faecal incontinence, perineal pain, sexual health issues and intimate partner violence. This study will extend follow-up of over 1500 women taking part in a longitudinal study investigating the physical and psychological health of ....The burden of disease among women after childbirth is substantial, under-recognised by health professionals, and symptoms do not necessarily resolve within the first 12 months. Common health problems after childbirth include: chronic exhaustion, back pain, urinary and faecal incontinence, perineal pain, sexual health issues and intimate partner violence. This study will extend follow-up of over 1500 women taking part in a longitudinal study investigating the physical and psychological health of women during pregnancy and the first 18 months after the birth of their first child. In phase 2 of the study, women will be followed up 6 and 12 months after second and subsequent births, and 4 years after the birth of their first child. A major aim of phase 2 of the study is to assess the prevalence, incidence, onset, severity, duration, recurrence and chronicity of maternal health problems (including urinary and faecal incontinence, perineal pain, sexual health issues, depression and intimate partner violence) after second and subsequent births, and 4 years after giving birth to a first child. The study will also determine the extent to which the method of birth in the first birth influences longer-term maternal health outcomes including urinary and faecal incontinence, and investigate the implications of chronic and recurring physical health problems for women's psychological health and well-being. Information on the incidence and natural history of maternal health problems after caesarean and operative vaginal births will make a major international contribution to more informed debate among clinicians, and to informing women, about the risks and benefits of increasing caesarean births. The study findings will be used to inform clinical midwifery, obstetric and primary care practice, and assist in the design of new early intervention and primary care strategies for supporting women in the early years of parenting.Read moreRead less
Talking The Walk: A Longitudinal Study Of Refugee Mens Health And Resettlement
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$440,450.00
Summary
Refugee men are commonly portrayed in negative contexts: domestic violence, unemployment, alcohol abuse. This study will follow up 242 adult refugee men to investigate their physical and mental health, and the social and cultural issues they face as they negotiate their settlement in a new country. The study will identify ways in which refugee men can best be assisted to ensure they are healthier, settle successfully, and develop their full potential as active members of the Australian community