Reducing self-harm and suicidal behaviours in young people in WA. Aims: reduce self-harm and suicidal behaviours in young people by upskilling teachers and providing resources to respond rapidly to students at risk via an innovative intervention with near real-time measures of changes in vulnerability.
Significance: self-harm and suicidal behaviours are increasing at alarming rates in young people. Schools are ideally placed to respond but many struggle to do so. New regular measures and advance ....Reducing self-harm and suicidal behaviours in young people in WA. Aims: reduce self-harm and suicidal behaviours in young people by upskilling teachers and providing resources to respond rapidly to students at risk via an innovative intervention with near real-time measures of changes in vulnerability.
Significance: self-harm and suicidal behaviours are increasing at alarming rates in young people. Schools are ideally placed to respond but many struggle to do so. New regular measures and advanced machine learning algorithms measuring change in risk in real time will enable schools to respond in a timely and effective manner
and save lives.
Expected outcomes: a new intervention to reduce self-harm and suicidal behaviours in young people that measures fluctuations in risk via a Temporal Vulnerability Index.Read moreRead less
Understanding third hand exposure of Australian people to methamphetamine. In Australia, there is high community concern around inadvertent exposure to methamphetamine residues in contaminated houses. In this proposal, an interdisciplinary research team aim to engage with public health authorities and public housing industry to conduct collaborative research on total exposure to methamphetamine in contaminated indoor environments. The project will assess exposure pathways (via air, dust, surface ....Understanding third hand exposure of Australian people to methamphetamine. In Australia, there is high community concern around inadvertent exposure to methamphetamine residues in contaminated houses. In this proposal, an interdisciplinary research team aim to engage with public health authorities and public housing industry to conduct collaborative research on total exposure to methamphetamine in contaminated indoor environments. The project will assess exposure pathways (via air, dust, surfaces) and link them with methamphetamine levels in samples from occupants (urine, hair). The project is expected to significantly enhance our understanding of how third hand exposure leads to internal exposure in humans. This knowledge provides evidence for policies on residential indoor exposures and remediation strategies.Read moreRead less
Estimating use of tobacco and nicotine products through wastewater analysis. This project aims to equip the Australian public health and security sector with a tool to accurately measure tobacco consumption in the general population. Specific human biomarkers in urine will be identified using non-target approaches and their pharmacokinetics quantified. The new data will address critical gaps in our knowledge on the population-level excretion of biomarkers for the consumption of tobacco and alter ....Estimating use of tobacco and nicotine products through wastewater analysis. This project aims to equip the Australian public health and security sector with a tool to accurately measure tobacco consumption in the general population. Specific human biomarkers in urine will be identified using non-target approaches and their pharmacokinetics quantified. The new data will address critical gaps in our knowledge on the population-level excretion of biomarkers for the consumption of tobacco and alternative nicotine products. The outcomes of this project will provide reliable, cost-effective estimates of tobacco consumption for use with wastewater-based epidemiology assessments. This will enable changes in tobacco use to be accurately evaluated for the first time and improve the efficacy of tobacco control measures.Read moreRead less
Improving outcomes for young people transitioning from out-of-home care. The central aim of this project is to generate the new knowledge needed to support the development, implementation, and diffusion of evidence-based innovations for young people as they transition from out-of-home care to adulthood. The project is significant because young people living in out-of-home care are more likely to enter juvenile justice, become a teenage parent, be socially excluded, have mental and physical healt ....Improving outcomes for young people transitioning from out-of-home care. The central aim of this project is to generate the new knowledge needed to support the development, implementation, and diffusion of evidence-based innovations for young people as they transition from out-of-home care to adulthood. The project is significant because young people living in out-of-home care are more likely to enter juvenile justice, become a teenage parent, be socially excluded, have mental and physical health problems and addictions. Outcomes include a world first longitudinal data evidence base, exemplars of best practice, and guidance to advance the application of transition pathways and plans to inform future innovations in Victoria and across Australia for improving transition from care with, by, and for young people. Read moreRead less
Understanding middle-aged women’s responses to alcohol/breast cancer risks. This project aims to identify the nature of alcohol consumption patterns by Australian women aged 45-64 in different socio-economic status groups, and how these are shaped in response to considerations of trust and future health risks. The project will focus on the known risk of alcohol for the development of breast cancer, which is particularly important given that Australian culture is saturated by alcohol use, marketi ....Understanding middle-aged women’s responses to alcohol/breast cancer risks. This project aims to identify the nature of alcohol consumption patterns by Australian women aged 45-64 in different socio-economic status groups, and how these are shaped in response to considerations of trust and future health risks. The project will focus on the known risk of alcohol for the development of breast cancer, which is particularly important given that Australian culture is saturated by alcohol use, marketing and social acceptability. This project aims to identify new strategies to transform behaviour change initiatives, which may differ by socio-economic status group. The project will be a model for national and global initiatives that seek to develop highly effective alcohol reduction messages and reduce alcohol-related harms.Read moreRead less
Linking for Life: Enhancing pathways to well-being for all Australians. The Linking for Life Project will identify pathways to wellbeing and better social outcomes across the life-course for high-risk/vulnerable individuals and their families to streamline service provision, improve outcomes and identify cost-efficiencies across government agencies. The work will expand cross-sectoral data linkage capability, enhancing research capacity to generate evidence-based policy to improve integrated ser ....Linking for Life: Enhancing pathways to well-being for all Australians. The Linking for Life Project will identify pathways to wellbeing and better social outcomes across the life-course for high-risk/vulnerable individuals and their families to streamline service provision, improve outcomes and identify cost-efficiencies across government agencies. The work will expand cross-sectoral data linkage capability, enhancing research capacity to generate evidence-based policy to improve integrated service delivery across government. The project will also trial innovative data linkage models including the creation of data repositories to improve efficiency for data provision and access, which will have application nationally and enable more timely access to whole-population linked cross-sector data.Read moreRead less
Climate Change and Burden of Disease: Current Risk and Future Burden. Climate change has had a negative impact on human health. However, few studies have assessed burden of diseases (BOD) for these climate-sensitive/heat attributable diseases. We will generate the first national picture of the climate attributable BOD in Australia, measured in Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY), the attribution from climate, and project future BOD under various climatic/demographic change scenarios. This proje ....Climate Change and Burden of Disease: Current Risk and Future Burden. Climate change has had a negative impact on human health. However, few studies have assessed burden of diseases (BOD) for these climate-sensitive/heat attributable diseases. We will generate the first national picture of the climate attributable BOD in Australia, measured in Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY), the attribution from climate, and project future BOD under various climatic/demographic change scenarios. This project will rank Australian climate-sensitive/heat attributable diseases by their current burden and projected increase under climate changes, and provide needed scientific evidence to policy-makers in the development, prioritization and implementation of current and future climate change and health adaptation strategies. Read moreRead less
Identifying optimal daily levels of movement behaviours in early childhood. This project aims to discover how much physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep young children need each day to best support their development. Through the creation of an international database and the application of innovative analytics, the project seeks to determine the optimal daily balance of these behaviours that results in the best developmental outcomes for young children. The project is expected to infor ....Identifying optimal daily levels of movement behaviours in early childhood. This project aims to discover how much physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep young children need each day to best support their development. Through the creation of an international database and the application of innovative analytics, the project seeks to determine the optimal daily balance of these behaviours that results in the best developmental outcomes for young children. The project is expected to inform national movement behaviour guidelines. The expected benefit for parents and professionals is improved confidence in supporting children’s physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep. The expected benefit for children is positive development, given the broad impacts of these behaviours on health and well-being.Read moreRead less
Evaluating consumer product regulatory responses to improve child safety. This project aims to quantify the level of similarity between consumer product regulatory practices and child injuries, and compare national approaches. Consumer product safety regulation operates in a global and ‘virtual’ market. Online purchasing, limited border protection and distance between suppliers and consumers make monitoring and enforcing product safety more difficult for regulators, putting consumers at risk. A ....Evaluating consumer product regulatory responses to improve child safety. This project aims to quantify the level of similarity between consumer product regulatory practices and child injuries, and compare national approaches. Consumer product safety regulation operates in a global and ‘virtual’ market. Online purchasing, limited border protection and distance between suppliers and consumers make monitoring and enforcing product safety more difficult for regulators, putting consumers at risk. A rapid responsive product safety system that operates across sectors and borders is an international priority. This project expects to close gaps in consumer regulatory practice and safety policy.Read moreRead less
Global dementias: Examining structural vulnerability and dementia outcomes. This project aims to examine the social and cultural dimensions of dementia by using a comparative ethnographic approach to examine the experiences of people living with dementia in Australia, Malaysia and India. The project expects to generate new anthropological knowledge about structural inequalities by examining how dementia is responded to in diverse geographic, cultural and social settings. Expected outcomes of thi ....Global dementias: Examining structural vulnerability and dementia outcomes. This project aims to examine the social and cultural dimensions of dementia by using a comparative ethnographic approach to examine the experiences of people living with dementia in Australia, Malaysia and India. The project expects to generate new anthropological knowledge about structural inequalities by examining how dementia is responded to in diverse geographic, cultural and social settings. Expected outcomes of this project include the creation of a new evidence-base on dementia and the production of briefing documents to guide global health frameworks. The project should provide significant benefits for people living with dementia by providing locally-relevant strategies to respond to dementia and resultant disability.Read moreRead less