Evaluation Of Family Well Being Empowerment Program: A Participatory Action Research Initiative
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$487,920.00
Summary
We have shown that family well being empowerment training in Indigenous communities can significantly enhance program participants' sense of control and responsibility for the conditions affecting their health and well being (Tsey and Every, 2000a;Tsey and Every, 2000b). Following this, there has been a great deal of interest and demand for the family well being program not only in Indigenous Australia, but also among Maori people in New Zealand. Presently, we are involved in four collaborative ....We have shown that family well being empowerment training in Indigenous communities can significantly enhance program participants' sense of control and responsibility for the conditions affecting their health and well being (Tsey and Every, 2000a;Tsey and Every, 2000b). Following this, there has been a great deal of interest and demand for the family well being program not only in Indigenous Australia, but also among Maori people in New Zealand. Presently, we are involved in four collaborative initiatives with indigenous communities in response to growing interest and demand for the program. The current proposal is a joint initiative between University of Queensland, Apunipima Cape York Health Council and Gurriny Yealamucka Health Services which aims to: a. Consolidate and extend the existing family well being initiatives in Hopevale and Yarrabah to two other north Queensland communities (yet to be selected from several that have expressed an interest), using a participatory action research process b. Undertake a meta evaluation of outcomes across all four sites This proposal aims to increase our understanding about ways in which individuals and groups of people can be better supported in their efforts to bring about changes in personal and social life.Read moreRead less
Evaluation Of Family WellBeing Empowerment Program: A Follow-up Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$82,940.00
Summary
Although relative powerlessnes resulting from colonisation has long been recognised as a major factor shaping Indigenous health, it is difficult to find tested and validated empowerment programs in the Indigenous health literature. The current project will follow-up a previous evaluation of a Family WellBeing empowerment training course which was implemented in Alice Springs in 1998-9. The aim is to find out the extent to which course participants have been able to sustain the high levels of per ....Although relative powerlessnes resulting from colonisation has long been recognised as a major factor shaping Indigenous health, it is difficult to find tested and validated empowerment programs in the Indigenous health literature. The current project will follow-up a previous evaluation of a Family WellBeing empowerment training course which was implemented in Alice Springs in 1998-9. The aim is to find out the extent to which course participants have been able to sustain the high levels of personal empowerment demonstrated at the time of the original evaluation on the medium-long term basis. Among other things, this study will provide valuable insights and understandings about the pathways and conditions under which individuals and groups of people might use personal empowerment skills, especially better analytical and problem-solving skills to achieve greater control in life.Read moreRead less
Adolescent Alcohol And Tobacco Use/abuse: The Efficacy Of A Brief Motivational Interviewing And Skills Training Program
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$153,610.00
Summary
Alcohol abuse (regular and episodic heavy drinking) and tobacco use are common and increasing amongst young Australians. Around 49% of adolescents are regular drinkers, and 15.5% of females and 33% of males are occasional binge drinkers. Between 17.5% and 35.5% of adolescents smoke and this has increased from 1987. While the majority of young Australians moderate their drinking and smoking over time, about 5% will become heavy drinkers and 20% will become regular smokers. The public health conse ....Alcohol abuse (regular and episodic heavy drinking) and tobacco use are common and increasing amongst young Australians. Around 49% of adolescents are regular drinkers, and 15.5% of females and 33% of males are occasional binge drinkers. Between 17.5% and 35.5% of adolescents smoke and this has increased from 1987. While the majority of young Australians moderate their drinking and smoking over time, about 5% will become heavy drinkers and 20% will become regular smokers. The public health consequences of heavy drinking and smoking are now well documented. There are many studies exploring the effectiveness of universal prevention programs designed to reduce the chance of alcohol and tobacco problems in high school students. These are associated with short term reductions in the chance of smoking and heavy drinking, however it is unclear whether these programs work for adolescents who are at high risk of alcohol problems and sustained smoking. We know a lot about the sorts of risk factors associated with these problems. They include early onset of use, parental involvement and use, particular personality traits, poor marks, peer use, and poor social skills. There is no research that clearly evaluates prevention programs for adolescents who show these risk factors. In this research, a program tailored for high-risk adolescents will be compared to an educational program similar to what is often received in Australian high schools. It is expected that high-risk students will not show changes in the educational program, but will show long-term improvements after completing the enhanced program. If these results hold, the research will have very important implications for detecting high-risk students and modifying the ways in which these adolescents are treated so that we minimise the chance of further development of alcohol and tobacco problems. This could result in large health cost savings in the future.Read moreRead less
Complement Regulation: Protection Against Xenograft Rejection, Ischaemia And Reperfusion Injury
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$256,980.00
Summary
Organ transplantation is an accepted solution to treat kidney, heart, lung and liver failure, and is being keenly sought for diabetes treatment. With refined surgical techniques and better controlled immunosuppression, the expected graft survival times are in years. However, the number of individuals who would benefit from transplants exceeds the supply of donor organs, and this number will increase as the benefits of having a transplanted organ increase. There is an active program to research t ....Organ transplantation is an accepted solution to treat kidney, heart, lung and liver failure, and is being keenly sought for diabetes treatment. With refined surgical techniques and better controlled immunosuppression, the expected graft survival times are in years. However, the number of individuals who would benefit from transplants exceeds the supply of donor organs, and this number will increase as the benefits of having a transplanted organ increase. There is an active program to research the possibility of using animal organs (xenografts). This project addresses one of the many issues arising from xenograft transplantation - the rapid activation of the body's complement system, which without treatment results in the very rapid rejection of the graft. In principle this problem can be solved by the development of transgenic donor animals that carry one or more human genes that produce a complement regulating protein, such as CD46 (MCP) or CD55 (DAF). In practice, however, to get successful longterm organ function still requires the selection of the optimal complement regulator or combination of regulators and an understanding of how they function. This research work analyses how CD46 and CD55 function to protect tissues from complement activation, and will result in selection of appropriate transgenes for xenografting. Another aspect of transplantation that is addressed in this proposal is the damage that a graft suffers when the blood supply is temporarily removed during organ harvest and the grafting procedure. This is similar to what occurs during a heart attack when a portion of heart muscle is starved of blood: as the blood flows again through the tissue there is a powerful reaction, again involving complement activation, which is known as reperfusion injury. We have found that perfusing a graft with a soluble form of the CD46 complement regulator provides protection against this damage. The research will measure and optimise this protection.Read moreRead less