Antecedents of innovation vs. conservatism in rural industries and communities. This project will investigate antecedents of conservatism and innovation within rural communities and industries. Whilst effort, from government, community and industry, has focussed on social, economic and environmental reform, intended shifts in thinking and practice are frequently not realised. .Personality literature suggests individual differences in conservatism/innovation. Further, people are drawn towards ....Antecedents of innovation vs. conservatism in rural industries and communities. This project will investigate antecedents of conservatism and innovation within rural communities and industries. Whilst effort, from government, community and industry, has focussed on social, economic and environmental reform, intended shifts in thinking and practice are frequently not realised. .Personality literature suggests individual differences in conservatism/innovation. Further, people are drawn towards situations that satisfy intrinsic needs and away from situations that do not. The result may be greater concentrations of particular personality types in conservative industries and communities and a quite different concentration in innovative groups. Validation of this hypothesis would permit more appropriate and effective policy and management strategy.Read moreRead less
Post-release support for women prisoners - processes of psychological and social transition. The failure of women prisoners to make a successful transition back to the community is one of the most significant problems of modern penology. Woman to Woman is an innovative mentoring and post-release support program developed by the Victorian Association for the Care and Resettlement of Prisoners. The goal of the research is to study how post-release support is delivered within a mentoring relation ....Post-release support for women prisoners - processes of psychological and social transition. The failure of women prisoners to make a successful transition back to the community is one of the most significant problems of modern penology. Woman to Woman is an innovative mentoring and post-release support program developed by the Victorian Association for the Care and Resettlement of Prisoners. The goal of the research is to study how post-release support is delivered within a mentoring relationship. The research uses interviews and surveys to examine the way that women releasees deal with the material, social and personal problems they face in the difficult weeks and months after release. The mentoring relationship is considered from the perspective of both the women releasees and the mentors.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
Practical methods to evaluate school breakfast programs. This innovative project will provide a doctoral student with the opportunity to develop in-depth academic research within the practical constraints of field-based program evaluation. The candidate will develop a practical methodology to evaluate community-based programs, specifically school breakfast programs in New South Wales. The outcome of the project will be an evaluation protocol, set of tools and reporting proforma that can be appli ....Practical methods to evaluate school breakfast programs. This innovative project will provide a doctoral student with the opportunity to develop in-depth academic research within the practical constraints of field-based program evaluation. The candidate will develop a practical methodology to evaluate community-based programs, specifically school breakfast programs in New South Wales. The outcome of the project will be an evaluation protocol, set of tools and reporting proforma that can be applied by volunteers and teachers to evaluate school breakfast programs. The research process undertaken by the candidate also will be applicable to the development of evaluation methodologies of a range of community-based programs.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354736
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$30,000.00
Summary
Families, Law and Social Policy Research Network. The Federal Government's Family Law Pathways Advisory Group recommended that a national research agenda be developed for family law and social policy that focuses on the separation and divorce transition. For many families Commonwealth private family law and the public law of child protection and domestic violence, provides the setting in which this transition takes place. The proposed multidisciplinary network brings together researchers, policy ....Families, Law and Social Policy Research Network. The Federal Government's Family Law Pathways Advisory Group recommended that a national research agenda be developed for family law and social policy that focuses on the separation and divorce transition. For many families Commonwealth private family law and the public law of child protection and domestic violence, provides the setting in which this transition takes place. The proposed multidisciplinary network brings together researchers, policy makers and service providers in this area. Benefits include research better targeted to the needs of end-users, a stronger evidence base for complex practice, decreased fragmentation of research effort, and a base for research training.Read moreRead less
Promoting successful further education and work transitions for young people in state care. The national benefits of this research include:
. understanding the impact of being in care on educational participation, career aspirations and transitions
. knowledge about further education, work pathways and employment outcomes for care leavers
. informed policy and program responses to young people transitioning from care aimed at reducing early exit from education and enhancing their work ....Promoting successful further education and work transitions for young people in state care. The national benefits of this research include:
. understanding the impact of being in care on educational participation, career aspirations and transitions
. knowledge about further education, work pathways and employment outcomes for care leavers
. informed policy and program responses to young people transitioning from care aimed at reducing early exit from education and enhancing their work readiness
. raising expectations for young people in care and improving their capacity to make choices towards positive pathways.Read moreRead less
Implicit transmission of embodied culture. Is a culturally diverse, yet socially integrated community possible? In multicultural societies such as Australia, this is a pressing and significant question. To form and maintain a vibrant and prosperous community in the face of globalization, it is essential to understand the fundamental processes by which cultures are formed and transformed in everyday social activities. This project examines one such process, implicit cultural transmission, propose ....Implicit transmission of embodied culture. Is a culturally diverse, yet socially integrated community possible? In multicultural societies such as Australia, this is a pressing and significant question. To form and maintain a vibrant and prosperous community in the face of globalization, it is essential to understand the fundamental processes by which cultures are formed and transformed in everyday social activities. This project examines one such process, implicit cultural transmission, proposed to function in the nonconscious transmission of cultural information. Understanding the dynamics of this subtle, yet pervasive, mode of cultural influence is central to a full appreciation of how one's own culture and those of others' integrate and flourish.Read moreRead less
Influence of Narrative Content and Context of Anti-smoking Public Health Messages. By improving the effectiveness of public health campaigns such as those aimed at smokers, we can inform people about healthier ways of living, and encourage them to adopt healthier life style choices. This should reduce the risk of life style diseases such as cancer, stroke, and heart attack. This project will contribute to the promotion and maintenance of good health in the Australian community by facilitating pr ....Influence of Narrative Content and Context of Anti-smoking Public Health Messages. By improving the effectiveness of public health campaigns such as those aimed at smokers, we can inform people about healthier ways of living, and encourage them to adopt healthier life style choices. This should reduce the risk of life style diseases such as cancer, stroke, and heart attack. This project will contribute to the promotion and maintenance of good health in the Australian community by facilitating preventive health care and help to reduce the medical cost not only to those who may fall victim to the diseases, but also to their families, communities, states, and Australia as a whole.Read moreRead less
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
Classifying support needs of people with disabilities. The aim of this research is to develop a valid and reliable assessment and classification system of the support needs of people with diverse disabilities. Current methods are found wanting due to neglect of the complex interactions between health condition, activity and context and inability to account for type and intensities of supports needed. The development of a robust system which can be used to assess and classify the support needs of ....Classifying support needs of people with disabilities. The aim of this research is to develop a valid and reliable assessment and classification system of the support needs of people with diverse disabilities. Current methods are found wanting due to neglect of the complex interactions between health condition, activity and context and inability to account for type and intensities of supports needed. The development of a robust system which can be used to assess and classify the support needs of people with a wide range of disabilities and across settings will enable human service agencies to be responsive and tailor their services to individual needs.Read moreRead less