Asking The Right Questions About Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder In Children: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$484,930.00
Summary
This study will evaluate the impact of a novel question prompt list (QPL) for parents of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), on their communication with their child’s doctor, and health outcomes such as adherence. The QPL aims to increase parent question asking and information sharing between clinicians and parents; improve parents’ ADHD knowledge across the developmental lifespan of their child; and thus improve adherence to medication in children with ADHD.
Improving the physical and oral health of people with severe mental illness: using Normalisation Process Theory to support new practices. The physical health of people with severe mental illness is extremely poor, often due to inadequate attention to their health needs by health professionals in primary care and the public mental health system. This project will focus on how practices can be changed to improve the health of this population and increase their access to preventative healthcare.
The Diamond Cohort Study- Examining Depressive Symptoms In Primary Care
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$570,886.00
Summary
Depression is the single largest cause of disability for people in Australia. It is mainly managed in general practice-primary care, yet many people experiencing depression go unrecognised by their family doctor or general practitioner (GP). Some people, even when given treatment, remain depressed. Guides on how to manage depression have been mainly based upon people attending psychiatrists and hospitals. In addition, there have been a number of large studies overseas testing new ways of helping ....Depression is the single largest cause of disability for people in Australia. It is mainly managed in general practice-primary care, yet many people experiencing depression go unrecognised by their family doctor or general practitioner (GP). Some people, even when given treatment, remain depressed. Guides on how to manage depression have been mainly based upon people attending psychiatrists and hospitals. In addition, there have been a number of large studies overseas testing new ways of helping people with depression. Unfortunately, they do not seem any better than usual care by a GP. We are currently funded by the NHMRC for diamond 1 to follow 800 people to investigate the factors from the patient's and doctor's point of view that are likely to aid recovery from depression, and to detail the way in which people are cared for in the primary health care system. There is increasing research showing that depression is a chronic and relapsing condition and that a one-year follow-up, whilst longer than most previous studies, will capture only a small glimpse of the health service use and relapse patterns of the patients enrolled in our study. In this application, we request funding to continue to follow participants. diamond 2 aims to explore the patient characteristics and health service use patterns of patients who experience persistent major depression with patients who experience a single episode of depression within a 3-year period. We will use the data gathered to develop models that predict recovery-relapse-persistence of depression. Such models will enable us to develop guidelines and design interventions that better target those at risk of continuing and disabling illness. This work will be of international significance and has the potential to influence the entire primary mental health care system and contribute to substantial system change.Read moreRead less
Preventing Suicide: A psychological autopsy study of the last contact with a health professional before suicide. In Australia, 48% of all suicides in 2000 were by 35-64 year olds; an additional 13% were by 65 years and over. This study will examine the last clinical contact older suicide victims had with health professionals in order to determine whether this contact offers an opportunity for intervention. For the first time in Australia, GP's, health professionals, and the deceased's next-of-ki ....Preventing Suicide: A psychological autopsy study of the last contact with a health professional before suicide. In Australia, 48% of all suicides in 2000 were by 35-64 year olds; an additional 13% were by 65 years and over. This study will examine the last clinical contact older suicide victims had with health professionals in order to determine whether this contact offers an opportunity for intervention. For the first time in Australia, GP's, health professionals, and the deceased's next-of-kin will be interviewed to determine the context surrounding the deceased's death, and the abilities of health professionals to identify warning signs and to intervene prior to suicide. Given our ageing population, the outcomes will be significant in educating all health professionals to identify suicidal signs, and to prevent premature death in the elderly.Read moreRead less
MOSAIC: A GP Cluster Randomised Trial To Reduce Partner Violence Among Pregnant Women And Women With Pre-school Children
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$432,250.00
Summary
Intimate partner abuse or domestic violence is common and damaging for women in the early childbearing years. It has a negative effect on the mental and physical health of women and their children. Because of poor health, victimised women and children are frequent attenders to family doctors (GPs), but doctors face many barriers in making an effective response. One of these barriers is the critical absence of evidence for what would help women attending GPs in dealing with partner abuse. This is ....Intimate partner abuse or domestic violence is common and damaging for women in the early childbearing years. It has a negative effect on the mental and physical health of women and their children. Because of poor health, victimised women and children are frequent attenders to family doctors (GPs), but doctors face many barriers in making an effective response. One of these barriers is the critical absence of evidence for what would help women attending GPs in dealing with partner abuse. This is vital to inform both GP training and clinical practice. There is sound evidence that home visiting or support by peers improves the health of disadvantaged mothers and children. Similarly, advocacy improves the health and wellbeing of abused women. The MOSAIC community intervention trial combines these two elements: home visiting-peer support and domestic violence advocacy and this strategy will be evaluated in a randomised trial. The trial aims to reduce partner abuse and depression among women pregnant or with children under 5 attending GPs. It also aims to strengthen mother-child bonds. Trained and supported GPs from 40 participating practices will identify 700 abused or at risk women over a 40 week period. Women in the intervention arm of the trial, identified as abused or at risk by their GPs will be offered the support of trained para-professional 'mentor mothers' for up to a year, while the comparison arm will be offered standard GP care. Recent funding allows a pilot study of mentor mother recruitment and training to be undertaken in 2003. The study will strengthen GP support for this difficult issue and build a 'critical mass' of GPs interested in partner abuse management in the 5 participating divisions. The MOSAIC study will assess the value to GPs and women of an enhanced support system for victims' care and provide much needed evidence of an intervention embedded in general practice to reduce partner abuse of pregnant women and women with young children.Read moreRead less
Musculoskeletal injuries sustained as a consequence of road traffic crashes are common and costly to the Australian community. Many people do not recover well after the injury but suffer ongoing pain and disability. The Centre for Research Excellence in Recovery Following Road Traffic Injury will target a clear need to improve health outcomes for injured individuals through research, capacity building and end-user engagement with a focus in primary care.
Designing An Evidence-based Intervention To Improve Australian General Practitioners' Management Of Work-related Mental Health Claims
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Summary
Workplace-related mental health claims (MHCs) are an increasing reason for obtaining injury compensation in Australia. The aim of this study is to examine at a national level the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of GPs, workers’ compensation agents and mental health claimants in relation to MHC management. The outcomes from this study include a theoretically-informed and feasible intervention design that should improve the management of MHCs and increase rates of return to work.
The Diamond Cohort Study - Long Term Outcomes Of Depressive Symptoms In Primary Care
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$567,538.00
Summary
The diamond study follows what happens to almost 800 people with depressive symptoms whom attend general practice for care over 5 years of their life. This study will map the severity of depressive symptoms, life circumstances, use of health care services and treatments and allow us to understand factors associated with relapse and recovery from depression in order to improve care. This will assist us to develop models of care that better suit the needs of people experiencing depressive symptoms ....The diamond study follows what happens to almost 800 people with depressive symptoms whom attend general practice for care over 5 years of their life. This study will map the severity of depressive symptoms, life circumstances, use of health care services and treatments and allow us to understand factors associated with relapse and recovery from depression in order to improve care. This will assist us to develop models of care that better suit the needs of people experiencing depressive symptoms.Read moreRead less
An internet-based intervention program for distress associated with tinnitus in an industrial setting. This project involves a randomised controlled trial of an internet-based intervention for distress associated with tinnitus in an industrial setting. This study is significant because it is the first to investigate the effectiveness of an internet-based program for workers with tinnitus living in metropolitan, regional and rural areas of Australia and New Zealand. Changes will be assessed on wo ....An internet-based intervention program for distress associated with tinnitus in an industrial setting. This project involves a randomised controlled trial of an internet-based intervention for distress associated with tinnitus in an industrial setting. This study is significant because it is the first to investigate the effectiveness of an internet-based program for workers with tinnitus living in metropolitan, regional and rural areas of Australia and New Zealand. Changes will be assessed on work performance (e.g. job satisfaction), tinnitus-related distress, negative affect, and quality of life. It is expected that workers accessing the internet-based intervention will show significant improvements on all measures at post-intervention with improvements maintained at six-month follow up.Read moreRead less
The Diamond Cohort Study - Better Management Of Those At Risk Of Persistent And Disabling Depression
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,563,309.00
Summary
Diamond began in 2005 to follow over 500 people with depressive symptoms to document and describe the nature and course of depression and its’ management over a decade of a participant’s life. Our findings will help us to understand the factors associated with depression recovery, relapse and persistence. We will inform clinical practice by developing a tool to assist GPs to identify those at risk of persistent and disabling depression, to enable better treatments.