Optimising the Utility of Injury Surveillance Systems for Injury Prevention in Active Populations. Promotion of physical activity is a key national health priority and a major focus for the Australian Defence Force to achieve and maintain operational fitness. Unfortunately, these goals are associated with the negative effects of increased injury occurrence and substantial related costs. Civilian and military injury surveillance systems inform injury prevention priorities and interventions but re ....Optimising the Utility of Injury Surveillance Systems for Injury Prevention in Active Populations. Promotion of physical activity is a key national health priority and a major focus for the Australian Defence Force to achieve and maintain operational fitness. Unfortunately, these goals are associated with the negative effects of increased injury occurrence and substantial related costs. Civilian and military injury surveillance systems inform injury prevention priorities and interventions but research is required to maximise their performance and utility. The project aims to 1) determine the extent to which current systems meet user requirements 2) assess utility and reliability of these systems specifically for active populations and 3) develop recommendations for future systems development and improved user application.Read moreRead less
Improving the measurement and surveillance of child abuse in Queensland. Estimates of the prevalence of child abuse suggest 10-20% of children are affected, with financial costs to the community around $5 billion annually, and extensive health and social consequences. Despite these enormous costs, research into risk factors and prevalence of child abuse has been hampered by poorly validated statistics. The use of routine hospital data for the identification of child abuse cases offers an effici ....Improving the measurement and surveillance of child abuse in Queensland. Estimates of the prevalence of child abuse suggest 10-20% of children are affected, with financial costs to the community around $5 billion annually, and extensive health and social consequences. Despite these enormous costs, research into risk factors and prevalence of child abuse has been hampered by poorly validated statistics. The use of routine hospital data for the identification of child abuse cases offers an efficient nationally standardised data source to improve the precision of child protection departmental responses through routine monitoring and audits of linked health and child protection data. Improvement of data will inform identification, intervention and prevention strategies.Read moreRead less
Architectural glass related injury: implications for improving public safety. The immediate benefit of the project is information for government, the building and furniture industries, regulators, and the community to underpin interventions to prevent architectural and furniture glass injury. A major longer term benefit is to provide the crucial injury and glass data for future conduct of the other two phases of the planned research program, namely, glass performance testing and simulated human- ....Architectural glass related injury: implications for improving public safety. The immediate benefit of the project is information for government, the building and furniture industries, regulators, and the community to underpin interventions to prevent architectural and furniture glass injury. A major longer term benefit is to provide the crucial injury and glass data for future conduct of the other two phases of the planned research program, namely, glass performance testing and simulated human-glass impact studies. These future studies will provide the scientific evidence for review of the Standards for architectural glass for application to the building, design and construction industry to increase safety for the Australian community. Read moreRead less
Human Factors and Patient Safety. In some cases hospitalisation can result in the patient becoming worse, or even dying, due to the experience. These events cost the community unnecessary pain and suffering and consume healthcare resources. Prevention of adverse events in healthcare will contribute to Promoting and Maintaining Good Health. Improving our ability to deal with failures in healthcare, including those due to human factors, will have a significant impact on their reduction.
Developing and Enhancing the Quality of National Injury-Related Hospital Morbidity Data. The annual direct cost of treatment of injuries is estimated to be $2.6 billion across health sectors and $1.6 billion for hospitals alone. Quality data on the circumstances surrounding hospitalised injuries are vital for determining injury risk factors, allocating resources appropriately, and evaluating injury prevention strategies. This research firstly assesses the specificity of coded data for external ....Developing and Enhancing the Quality of National Injury-Related Hospital Morbidity Data. The annual direct cost of treatment of injuries is estimated to be $2.6 billion across health sectors and $1.6 billion for hospitals alone. Quality data on the circumstances surrounding hospitalised injuries are vital for determining injury risk factors, allocating resources appropriately, and evaluating injury prevention strategies. This research firstly assesses the specificity of coded data for external causes of injury and identifies the reasons for a lack of quality in coded data. Based on these findings, a targeted educational program will be implemented for clinicians, coders, and injury researchers, to ultimately enhance the quality of national injury-related hospital morbidity data.Read moreRead less