Enhancing adolescent mental health through positive education. Positive education is a preventative, strengths-based approach to address the mental health needs of young people in schools. This project will use innovative methods to examine the contribution of positive education to adolescent mental health, and to social and learning outcomes; and will also guide effective and widespread dissemination of positive education, more generally.
Investigating the dynamics of migration and health in Australia: a longitudinal study. This project will investigate the dynamics of changes in health and the factors that moderate or otherwise influence those changes over time among immigrants relative to non-immigrants in Australia. This understanding will contribute to several areas of policy formulation, in turn allowing the question 'how can we best intervene' to be answered.
Harnessing recreational infrastructure to improve physical activity and community well-being. This project will investigate the impact that establishing a major recreational and aquatic centre has upon physical activity and measures of community well-being. It will also test the effect of different marketing strategies on community members' usage of the centre.
Online and offline social networks and the development of sexual agency. This project will explore whether there exists a relationship between adolescents' social networks (both online and offline) and one important aspect of healthy sexual development - the development of sexual agency - and if so, it will investigate the nature of that relationship. The longitudinal mixed methods study proposed here aims to capture the development of sexual behaviours and the online and offline interactions ad ....Online and offline social networks and the development of sexual agency. This project will explore whether there exists a relationship between adolescents' social networks (both online and offline) and one important aspect of healthy sexual development - the development of sexual agency - and if so, it will investigate the nature of that relationship. The longitudinal mixed methods study proposed here aims to capture the development of sexual behaviours and the online and offline interactions adolescents engage in. This project aims to determine: whether there is a relationship between adolescents' online and offline social networks and the development of sexual agency; if such a relationship exists, what is its nature? And, if the relationship exists, to what extent is the relationship moderated by online social media use?Read moreRead less
Neuroimaging changes underpinning improvements in cognition in the elderly. Natural supplements are often used to improve brain and cognitive function, however, we do not know how these supplements work in the brain. Using novel brain imaging scans, the project will investigate whether 12-month administration of two promising natural supplements improves brain markers of ageing and cognitive decline in an elderly population.
Selling The Punt: An interdisciplinary analysis of the extent and impact of sports wagering marketing strategies in Australia. Sports wagering is the fastest growing segment of the gambling market in Australia. Despite widespread concern about the impact of marketing strategies on the risky consumption of wagering products by young men and adolescents, research and policy has failed to keep up with this rapidly growing industry. This study will provide: detailed information about the range of ma ....Selling The Punt: An interdisciplinary analysis of the extent and impact of sports wagering marketing strategies in Australia. Sports wagering is the fastest growing segment of the gambling market in Australia. Despite widespread concern about the impact of marketing strategies on the risky consumption of wagering products by young men and adolescents, research and policy has failed to keep up with this rapidly growing industry. This study will provide: detailed information about the range of marketing strategies used to sell sports wagering in Australia; important qualitative insights into the impact of these marketing strategies on gambling behaviours; and, recommendations for a comprehensive public health approach to help counter the potential long and short term risks associated with sports wagering marketing.Read moreRead less
The big gamble: an interdisciplinary study of the normalisation of gambling. This project aims to explore industry and socio-cultural factors that contribute to the normalisation of gambling. Gambling is recognised as an urgent public health issue in Australia, posing a health threat to individuals and communities. However, there is limited empirical evidence about the processes that may contribute to the normalisation of different forms of gambling. This project aims to explore the interplay be ....The big gamble: an interdisciplinary study of the normalisation of gambling. This project aims to explore industry and socio-cultural factors that contribute to the normalisation of gambling. Gambling is recognised as an urgent public health issue in Australia, posing a health threat to individuals and communities. However, there is limited empirical evidence about the processes that may contribute to the normalisation of different forms of gambling. This project aims to explore the interplay between the sophisticated promotional tactics used by the gambling industry, and the socio-cultural mechanisms which may interact with these promotional tactics to normalise gambling beliefs in youth, women, and older adults. This project expects to help local governments and related stakeholders develop a comprehensive range of public health strategies aimed at preventing the risks and harms posed by the normalisation of gambling.Read moreRead less
Moving from policy to practice: a randomised trial of an implementation intervention to facilitate the adoption of a statewide healthy canteen policy. This project will test the effectiveness of an intervention in supporting schools to implement a healthy canteen policy mandated by the New South Wales Government. The trial could provide a model for supporting schools to implement school health or education policies which seek to improve the wellbeing of students.
Investigating the health benefits of volunteering by seniors. For humanitarian and economic reasons, it is important to promote health-enhancing behaviours among older people to optimise their well-being. Volunteering constitutes one such behaviour. While there is some evidence that older people benefit from volunteering, there is inadequate data for policy development purposes. This project will quantify the physical and mental outcomes of seniors’ engagement in volunteering activities to asses ....Investigating the health benefits of volunteering by seniors. For humanitarian and economic reasons, it is important to promote health-enhancing behaviours among older people to optimise their well-being. Volunteering constitutes one such behaviour. While there is some evidence that older people benefit from volunteering, there is inadequate data for policy development purposes. This project will quantify the physical and mental outcomes of seniors’ engagement in volunteering activities to assess the potential to enhance their health while providing much-needed labour inputs to the Australian economy. The results will also suggest ways to encourage older people to engage in volunteering by identifying effective ways to communicate the benefits to this audience.Read moreRead less
Enhancing health literacy to optimise health equality across Victorian communities. Health literacy—the ability to seek, understand and use health information—is a major influence on equitable health outcomes for Australians. This project will take a fresh approach to health literacy to understand vulnerable members of our community and develop supports and interventions that aim to assist services to reduce health inequalities.