Enhancing employee safety in response to workplace violence. International and national trends indicate that workplace violence is a significant growing problem. Poorly managed, victims can suffer physical and psychological trauma, and employers risk increases in workers compensation claims, insurance premiums, employee turnover, sick leave and low morale. There is a dearth of research into the effectiveness of training employees to predict, control and defuse aggressive incidents, yet this is a ....Enhancing employee safety in response to workplace violence. International and national trends indicate that workplace violence is a significant growing problem. Poorly managed, victims can suffer physical and psychological trauma, and employers risk increases in workers compensation claims, insurance premiums, employee turnover, sick leave and low morale. There is a dearth of research into the effectiveness of training employees to predict, control and defuse aggressive incidents, yet this is a significant priority for many industries. This project will develop and evaluate a new best practice aggression minimisation training program with 200 mental health employees by an RCT assessing gains in safety, knowledge, skills and confidence in managing violence.Read moreRead less
The aim is to make life safer for at-risk older people and to give them the capacity to participate in daily life activity. Transition from hospital to home and accidental falls are two events in which a lack of capacity to make adaptive changes or resume previous life activities can alter life course outcomes. I will engage in effectiveness trials of interventions and research to ensure the implementation of new knowledge into clinical and public health practice.
Preventing Falls In Older People With Dementia - A Randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,349,410.00
Summary
There is no evidence to date that has shown it is possible to prevent falls in older people with dementia. This proposal builds on a number of years of research by this group to try and address the question of how to prevent falls in people with dementia. We will undertake a study looking at the impact of a professionally prescribed, carer assisted, individualised exercise and home hazard reduction program on falls in people with dementia.
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.
Mechanisms Of Epithelial Damage By The Noxious Smoke Constituent Acrolein
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$668,813.00
Summary
Due to increasing use of reactive chemicals by terrorists (e.g. chlorine gas), their effects on the lung are receiving increasing attention in the global toxicology community. This project focusses on acrolein, the major cytotoxic substance present in smoke produced on combustion of organic matter. We will explore the mechanisms whereby acrolein and high doses of smoke cause the lung to lose its watertight properties, and also test ways of preventing such damage with drugs.
From data to action: a new process for developing injury countermeasures. This project aims to understand how reporting systems can improve workplace safety. Workplace injury affects over 600 000 Australian workers per year at a cost of approximately $60 billion. Although the introduction of incident reporting systems has enabled organisations to better understand the causes of injuries, how to translate this knowledge into effective countermeasures remains ambiguous. Moreover, it is not clear w ....From data to action: a new process for developing injury countermeasures. This project aims to understand how reporting systems can improve workplace safety. Workplace injury affects over 600 000 Australian workers per year at a cost of approximately $60 billion. Although the introduction of incident reporting systems has enabled organisations to better understand the causes of injuries, how to translate this knowledge into effective countermeasures remains ambiguous. Moreover, it is not clear whether adopting incident reporting systems actually leads to a safety benefit. This research intends to tackle these critical knowledge gaps by developing, implementing, and testing a process for translating incident reporting system outputs into appropriate and effective injury countermeasures, and then evaluating the safety effects of adopting the new incident reporting and learning cycle.Read moreRead less
Efficacy Of Prospective Memory Rehabilitation Plus Metacognitive Skills Training For Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$479,111.00
Summary
Prospective memory is the ability to remember to carry out an intention at a future point in time and is a significant problem for people with traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study investigates the effectiveness of an 6-week prospective memory rehabilitation program for people with TBI using compensatory strategies such as electronic diary or calender use and adopting routines in everyday life. The addition of metacognitive techniques to enhance outcomes will also be evaluated.
Dynamic Rollover Occupant Protection (DROP): evaluation and regulation. This projects seeks to establish which occupant crashworthiness attributes a vehicle must possess to prevent injury in a rollover crash. The results will assist regulators, industry and consumer groups understand which critical factors need to be considered to develop rollover crashworthiness regulations, consumer tests and vehicle purchase policy.
The Effectiveness Of A Community Based Program For Reducing The Incidence Of Falls Among The Elderly:A Randomized Trial.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$206,604.00
Summary
Falls are the leading cause of hospitalization due to injury in elderly people, and are associated with substantial medical and rehabilitation costs, as well as social isolation and premature institutionalization for a significant number of people who fall. This study aims to reduce the economic and social burden of falls. A randomized controlled trial will evaluate the impact of a community based falls prevention program (C-BF) with an at-risk elderly population. The intervention is designed to ....Falls are the leading cause of hospitalization due to injury in elderly people, and are associated with substantial medical and rehabilitation costs, as well as social isolation and premature institutionalization for a significant number of people who fall. This study aims to reduce the economic and social burden of falls. A randomized controlled trial will evaluate the impact of a community based falls prevention program (C-BF) with an at-risk elderly population. The intervention is designed to improve elderly people's capacity to follow through with effective falls prevention strategies and to manage risks in their everyday lives, and hence to reduce the rate at which they experience falls. The outcome of this project will be a user friendly manual that will document the program in enough detail so that it can be easily implemented by health care professionals.Read moreRead less
Time of day, time awake and alcohol: the effects on fatigue and performance. The results of this study will clarify the effects of sleep deprivation and time of day on the experiences of fatigue and on performance. This information will have a direct impact on policy and practice relating to the management of fatigue. The results will have a direct impact on community safety, especially on the road and in the workplace. The study therefore has direct relevance for guidelines and regulations de ....Time of day, time awake and alcohol: the effects on fatigue and performance. The results of this study will clarify the effects of sleep deprivation and time of day on the experiences of fatigue and on performance. This information will have a direct impact on policy and practice relating to the management of fatigue. The results will have a direct impact on community safety, especially on the road and in the workplace. The study therefore has direct relevance for guidelines and regulations deveoped by bodies such as national and state road safety and workplace health and safety bodies.Read moreRead less