Coverage with Evidence Development: Application to pharmaceutical reimbursement decisions. Some new medicines produce only a small improvement in health but have considerable costs. When these medicines are trialled on only small numbers of people, uncertainty results about the value of the medicine, which can create problems for decision makers. Funding medicines where there is uncertainty may lead to harm when medicines are later found to be unsafe, or waste millions of dollars when they are ....Coverage with Evidence Development: Application to pharmaceutical reimbursement decisions. Some new medicines produce only a small improvement in health but have considerable costs. When these medicines are trialled on only small numbers of people, uncertainty results about the value of the medicine, which can create problems for decision makers. Funding medicines where there is uncertainty may lead to harm when medicines are later found to be unsafe, or waste millions of dollars when they are overpriced relative to effectiveness. Not funding medicines may disadvantage patients in whom the medicines are effective. Methods to enable access to medicines while reducing uncertainty will offer significant benefit to patients, clinicians and taxpayers. Read moreRead less
Understanding and Managing the Occupational Health Impacts on Investigators of Internet Child Exploitation. Through developing best practice models for managing vicarious trauma in investigators of Internet child exploitation, the project will result in enhanced job satisfaction and less burnout of workers, and reduced health costs for policing organisations. Thus the project addresses a serious occupational health issue and contributes to the goal of promoting and maintaining good health. Furth ....Understanding and Managing the Occupational Health Impacts on Investigators of Internet Child Exploitation. Through developing best practice models for managing vicarious trauma in investigators of Internet child exploitation, the project will result in enhanced job satisfaction and less burnout of workers, and reduced health costs for policing organisations. Thus the project addresses a serious occupational health issue and contributes to the goal of promoting and maintaining good health. Further, by better managing the occupational health of investigators, the project will enhance the capacity of police organisations to deliver on their mission of investigating and preventing Internet child exploitation. This in turn contributes to the reduced consumption of Internet child exploitation and the associated traumatisation of abused victims. Read moreRead less
Understanding Foster Carers' Motivations: Personal, Political & Historical Perspectives on Care Provision in Australia. Due to the increasing number of children in care nationally, and the declining number of available foster care placements, there is current considerable interest in understanding the most appropriate means to recruit and retain foster carers. This project involves a national interview study of carers from several Australian States to understand the factors that most strongly mo ....Understanding Foster Carers' Motivations: Personal, Political & Historical Perspectives on Care Provision in Australia. Due to the increasing number of children in care nationally, and the declining number of available foster care placements, there is current considerable interest in understanding the most appropriate means to recruit and retain foster carers. This project involves a national interview study of carers from several Australian States to understand the factors that most strongly motivate people to become carers. Based on interviews with carers and other important stakeholders, the results will help us to understand the nature of the foster-carer role within the current political and social climate and help inform future national recruitment strategies.
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Which Heart Failure Intervention Is Most Cost-effective And Consumer Friendly In Reducing Hospital Care: The Which
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$921,640.00
Summary
Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a costly, debilitating and deadly condition that has reached near epidemic proportions in Australia. In the absence of a permanent cure for CHF, the number of people affected by CHF has risen beyond 350,000 and is expected to increase by 20-30% in the next 20 years. We recently reviewed the benefits of applying nurse-led, CHF management programs (CHF-MPs) to typically old and fragile patients, in whom recurrent hospital admissions and a premature death are common. ....Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a costly, debilitating and deadly condition that has reached near epidemic proportions in Australia. In the absence of a permanent cure for CHF, the number of people affected by CHF has risen beyond 350,000 and is expected to increase by 20-30% in the next 20 years. We recently reviewed the benefits of applying nurse-led, CHF management programs (CHF-MPs) to typically old and fragile patients, in whom recurrent hospital admissions and a premature death are common. We confirmed the results of pioneering Australian research that CHF-MPs dramatically improve health outcomes in CHF. CHF-MPs now form part of the recommended gold-standard management of CHF. However, we also have evidence that only a small proportion of patients are exposed to a CHF-MP in Australia. Residual issues such as consumer preference and the cost of applying these programs are hindering their wide-spread application. The WHICH? Study addresses this _road block� to implementing a potentially valuable health care service by tackling a number of critical issues: which form of CHF-MP (home or specialist clinic-based follow-up), will produce the best health outcomes, save the most money and meet the needs of consumers at the same time? To answer this question, we will undertake a randomised, head-to-head study of a home versus clinic-based CHF-MP, in 1000 recently hospitalised CHF patients recruited from SA, VIC, NSW and QLD. Patterns and of health care and consumer preferences and quality of life will then be compared for these two different forms of CHF-MP from a combined health economic, health policy and consumer perspective to determine the best form of CHF-MP to be applied. A _consensus� vision for applying an Australia-wide service will then be developed. The potential impact of the results of the study will then be modelled on the status of Australian CHF-MPs in the year 2010 and a blue-print for action devised.Read moreRead less
Theorising and understanding how policy processes affect uptake of evidence on social determinants of health and equity in Australian health policy. This project determines how to apply recent recommendations from the World Health Organisation about the social determinants of health to Australia. Analysis of health sector policies, including detailed case studies, will determine how governments can shape policy and implementation processes to improve Australia’s health.
Understanding engagement to regulate the commercial determinants of health. This project aims to generate new knowledge on how government and non-government organisations can prevent
poor health via their effective regulation of harmful commodity industries, specifically alcohol and highly-processed
food. The significance of this project is its innovative approach to regulation, with a focus on engagement
processes between state and non-state actors for the management of harmful commodities. Exp ....Understanding engagement to regulate the commercial determinants of health. This project aims to generate new knowledge on how government and non-government organisations can prevent
poor health via their effective regulation of harmful commodity industries, specifically alcohol and highly-processed
food. The significance of this project is its innovative approach to regulation, with a focus on engagement
processes between state and non-state actors for the management of harmful commodities. Expected outcomes
include improved methodologies in the field of health governance, and enhanced capacity among Partner
organisations to engage effectively with different industries. These outcomes should benefit health policy
prevention goals.Read moreRead less
Creating and sustaining a strong future for volunteering in Australia. This project seeks to answer the question of how to increase social participation by converting non-volunteers to the benefits of volunteering. In Australia today, communities and governments are increasingly dependent on volunteers to build social capital and deliver an increasing range of services. A world first, this project aims to create new theory by examining three levels of analysis: the micro level of the individual ....Creating and sustaining a strong future for volunteering in Australia. This project seeks to answer the question of how to increase social participation by converting non-volunteers to the benefits of volunteering. In Australia today, communities and governments are increasingly dependent on volunteers to build social capital and deliver an increasing range of services. A world first, this project aims to create new theory by examining three levels of analysis: the micro level of the individual volunteer or non-volunteer; the mezzo level of the volunteer-involving organisation; and the macro level of society. This innovative approach aims to identify, analyse and develop a tool to help organisations build Australia’s civil society and develop policy to create a sustainable volunteer sector into the future.Read moreRead less
Citizens' juries: enabling effective influenza pandemic policy through engagement with the community. The project will provide information and practical guidance to assist with South Australian pandemic management specifically and will have implications for the state and national disaster planning generally. The project will provide resources for both state and national policy makers in the form of technical reports and comprehensive public health information modules appropriate for disseminatio ....Citizens' juries: enabling effective influenza pandemic policy through engagement with the community. The project will provide information and practical guidance to assist with South Australian pandemic management specifically and will have implications for the state and national disaster planning generally. The project will provide resources for both state and national policy makers in the form of technical reports and comprehensive public health information modules appropriate for dissemination to the wider Australian community. The project will contribute to increased community awareness of pandemic influenza and enhanced community acceptance of (and cooperation with) pandemic management plans while establishing a mechanism for future pandemic and disaster policy planning and evaluation.Read moreRead less
Childhood obesity, physical activity and wellbeing: Discovering the influence of children's understandings and experiences of places, spaces and communities. The study aims to discover 3-13 yr old children's understandings, perceptions & experiences of physical activity & associated places & spaces. Childhood obesity is a modern 'epidemic' & governments agree that low physical activity levels contribute significantly. Epidemiological & clinical research has been undertaken, but we lack Australia ....Childhood obesity, physical activity and wellbeing: Discovering the influence of children's understandings and experiences of places, spaces and communities. The study aims to discover 3-13 yr old children's understandings, perceptions & experiences of physical activity & associated places & spaces. Childhood obesity is a modern 'epidemic' & governments agree that low physical activity levels contribute significantly. Epidemiological & clinical research has been undertaken, but we lack Australian studies that systematically listen to & understand the pivotal voices of children themselves. Failure to develop such theoretically sound, practice-based understandings may mean ineffective interventions that misunderstand children's worlds. This collaborative study unites highly experienced researchers, practitioners & policy makers who will actively involve children in creating & using new knowledge.Read moreRead less
Changing children’s chances: Exploring pathways to developmental inequities. This project aims to investigate the causes of health and developmental inequities between Australian children. Inequities are increasingly observed in Australian children’s physical health, social and emotional wellbeing, and academic learning. Such inequities are unjust, unnecessary and potentially preventable. This project aims to understand the pathways leading to these inequities by examining the many contexts in w ....Changing children’s chances: Exploring pathways to developmental inequities. This project aims to investigate the causes of health and developmental inequities between Australian children. Inequities are increasingly observed in Australian children’s physical health, social and emotional wellbeing, and academic learning. Such inequities are unjust, unnecessary and potentially preventable. This project aims to understand the pathways leading to these inequities by examining the many contexts in which children and their families live and grow. Through a series of innovative analyses using existing data, the project aims to identify potentially modifiable factors at the child, family, school, and community level that contribute to developmental inequities. Understanding of the most promising leverage points for interventions to reduce inequities for Australian children could be used to inform policy.Read moreRead less