Identifying Models of Personal and Community Resilience that enhance Psychological Wellness: A Stanthorpe Study. There are significant mental health problems in rural and remote Australia. Researchers in Australia are only just beginning to investigate mental health, and prevention is identified as a primary focus. A new innovative approach to mental health prevention is identifying and using characteristics that will enhance individual and community psychological wellness. Resilience has been i ....Identifying Models of Personal and Community Resilience that enhance Psychological Wellness: A Stanthorpe Study. There are significant mental health problems in rural and remote Australia. Researchers in Australia are only just beginning to investigate mental health, and prevention is identified as a primary focus. A new innovative approach to mental health prevention is identifying and using characteristics that will enhance individual and community psychological wellness. Resilience has been identified as one of those characteristics. The aim of this project is to work collaboratively with key stakeholders from a rural community (Stanthorpe in South East Queensland) to develop, implement, and evaluate a model that enhances psychological wellness in rural people and communities.Read moreRead less
Combining Community Based Social Marketing and Technological Innovation to Combat Wood-Smoke Pollution in Regional Australia. There is considerable evidence to suggest that wood smoke pollution represents a serious health threat. This project will provide valuable information about the relative effectiveness of social marketing and technology-based interventions to reduce wood smoke pollution, and how these interventions may be combined to maximise their impact. The resulting improvements in ai ....Combining Community Based Social Marketing and Technological Innovation to Combat Wood-Smoke Pollution in Regional Australia. There is considerable evidence to suggest that wood smoke pollution represents a serious health threat. This project will provide valuable information about the relative effectiveness of social marketing and technology-based interventions to reduce wood smoke pollution, and how these interventions may be combined to maximise their impact. The resulting improvements in air quality may produce substantial health benefits for the residents of Australian communities that depend heavily on wood as a domestic heating fuel during winter months. Read moreRead less
An innovative measure of rural health and wellbeing: rapid appraisal via analysis of patterns of calls to Lifeline. Rural Australians are reported to experience poorer health and wellbeing on a wide range of indicators. However, serious problems exist with the validity and reliability of these data. This project will analyse the 85,000 calls to Lifeline made each year by rural Australians. For several reasons, use of telephone counselling services would appear to be a sensitive measure of rural ....An innovative measure of rural health and wellbeing: rapid appraisal via analysis of patterns of calls to Lifeline. Rural Australians are reported to experience poorer health and wellbeing on a wide range of indicators. However, serious problems exist with the validity and reliability of these data. This project will analyse the 85,000 calls to Lifeline made each year by rural Australians. For several reasons, use of telephone counselling services would appear to be a sensitive measure of rural community health. By triangulating primary data (community case studies using the critical incident technique) and secondary data (SEIFA and Jesuit index), this project will develop and test Lifeline calls as an index for rapidly appraising community health and wellbeing.Read moreRead less
The Impact of the Introduction of Electronic Gaming Machines on Communities: Health and Wellbeing Consequences. The long-term economic and social impact of EGMs is of great importance to Australia. Gambling is a major industry in Australia, with over 7,000 businesses generating profits in excess of $16 billion annually. Poker machines account for more than half the total revenue collected from all gambling. On the other hand, there are over 290,000 adults in Australia who are experiencing signif ....The Impact of the Introduction of Electronic Gaming Machines on Communities: Health and Wellbeing Consequences. The long-term economic and social impact of EGMs is of great importance to Australia. Gambling is a major industry in Australia, with over 7,000 businesses generating profits in excess of $16 billion annually. Poker machines account for more than half the total revenue collected from all gambling. On the other hand, there are over 290,000 adults in Australia who are experiencing significant problems with their gambling, and on average, the lives of six other people are adversely affected by every problem gambler. This project will inform regulatory frameworks to balance the costs and benefits of gambling. The findings will be used by local governments and regulatory authorities.Read moreRead less
Caring for carers: An enrichment orientation. The key aim of this research is to enhance the sustainability of providing care to another individual in a rural location, in the domains of aged care, disability and mental health. The rationale for this research is that although substantial financial resources are allocated to support services for carers, there exists no evidence that such resource allocation is optimally efficient and effective. We will develop a systematic analytical tool to accu ....Caring for carers: An enrichment orientation. The key aim of this research is to enhance the sustainability of providing care to another individual in a rural location, in the domains of aged care, disability and mental health. The rationale for this research is that although substantial financial resources are allocated to support services for carers, there exists no evidence that such resource allocation is optimally efficient and effective. We will develop a systematic analytical tool to accurately determine the physical, social and psychological needs of carers. The outcome of this project will be an improvement in the health and well-being of carers.Read moreRead less