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Integrating Lifestyle Risk Factor Management Into Community Health Service Provision: Multiple Case Studies
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$56,676.00
Summary
This study aims to improve our understanding of how nurses and allied health professionals working in the community can address lifestyle issues with patients as part of routine practice. Lifestyle issues include smoking, poor nutrition, excessive alcohol intake and lack of exercise. This has the potential to improve the help available from community health services for individuals wishing to change their lifestyle to prevent future health problems or to better manage existing health conditions.
The Common Risk Factor Approach To Assess Relationships Between Dental Caries And Adiposity In Disadvantaged Preschool Children
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$346,449.00
Summary
Dental decay and obesity in early childhood continues to be a significant health concern in Australian children. Current evidence suggests that these diseases are highly prevalent among children living in disadvantaged areas but the evidence of the relationship is limited. This increases their risk to carry the burden in adulthood. The present proposal uses a "common risk factor approach" to explore relationships between dental decay and obesity in disadvantaged preschool children in Australia.
Using Healthcare Wisely: Reducing Inappropriate Use Of Tests And Treatments
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$9,578,895.00
Summary
Overdiagnosis and overtreatment as unintended consequences of modern healthcare due to expanded disease definitions labelling people with mild problems or at low risk of illness, diagnostic tests identifying inconsequential abnormalities and screening programs detecting disease that won’t progress. The result is much harm and unsustainable overuse. We will research the prevalence, causes and consequences of overdiagnosis and overtreatment, evaluate solutions and widely disseminate findings.
Prevention And Management Of Chronic Disease In Primary Health Care
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$898,008.00
Summary
Over the past 10 years, Mark Harris has developed and led an innovate program of research on better ways to prevent and manage chronic disease in primary health care. This has included research on early intervention to assess and reduce the risk factors for these conditions involving innovative approaches to patient education; team based care; information and decision support systems. This research is now being extended to focus on disadvantaged groups and communities.
The FaXeS Study. Offering Fragile X Carrier Testing To Women: Comparing Prenatal And Preconception Screening.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$432,883.00
Summary
Fragile X syndrome is the leading cause of inherited intellectual disability. A genetic screening test is available to detect carriers of this condition. Using questionnaires and interviews we will directly compare carrier screening in pregnant and non-pregnant women in the general community, looking at issues such as informed decision-making, test uptake and its predictors and cost-effectiveness. This will be critical to inform policy and guidelines for genetic screening programs.
Randomised Controlled Trial Of A Brief GP Intervention To Reduce Overweight In Victorian Primary School Children
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$662,600.00
Summary
Childhood overweight and obesity is one of the most pressing public health problems of our time. The aim of this study is to lower the levels of overweight and mild obesity in children aged 5-9 years, through sustainable family and child nutritional and-or physical activity behavioural choices that can be implemented by general practitioners (GPs). This trial addresses the urgent need identified in the 2003 NHMRC Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Childr ....Childhood overweight and obesity is one of the most pressing public health problems of our time. The aim of this study is to lower the levels of overweight and mild obesity in children aged 5-9 years, through sustainable family and child nutritional and-or physical activity behavioural choices that can be implemented by general practitioners (GPs). This trial addresses the urgent need identified in the 2003 NHMRC Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents for simple, well-designed intervention studies which can be translated into usual clinical practice. Effective and coordinated universal prevention, secondary prevention and management services will all be needed to reduce the problem, and a great deal of research is needed in all of these. This proposal addresses the most neglected area of research - secondary prevention in the primary care sector. Through our previous research, we have already showed that this approach is feasible and acceptable to families and GPs. Our multidisciplinary research team is well-established, and we are not aware of any other research team in Australia that has the capacity and expertise to conduct this research at this point in time. In this randomised controlled trial, we expect a halving in the rate of gain in BMI over 6 and 12 months. This would equate to the average participant achieving a BMI of 25 (verging on overweight) rather than 30 (obese) by adulthood. If effective, we expect the following outcomes: 1) The adoption and maintenance of healthy lifestyle behaviours in that segment of the population which has most to gain over a lifetime - overweight and obese children 2) Documentation that general practitioners can make a significant contribution to combating the childhood obesity epidemic 3) A replicable, feasible, cost-effective primary care approach to childhood overweight-obesity tailored to the Australian health care system.Read moreRead less
Increasing Cardiovascular Risk Assessment In First Degree Relatives Of Patients With Premature Heart Disease: An RCT
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$113,972.00
Summary
Family history is a risk factor for ischaemic heart disease (IHD), especially if the history includes early onset disease. Families share both genetic and environmental risk factors, many of which can be modified to reduce the risk of heart disease. The aim of this project is to trial an intervention to promote heart disese risk assessment among the relatives of patients with premature heart disease. This is a first step toward prevention of heart disease in these families.