Can E-Health Improve Post-marketing Surveillance Of Drugs And Vaccines? The Stimulated Telephone Assisted Rapid Safety Surveillance (STARSS) Randomised Controlled Trial.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$445,368.00
Summary
Despite the considerable benefits of vaccination there is public concern about the safety of newly introduced or seasonal influenza vaccines. Loss of confidence in vaccine safety can result in decreased vaccine coverage and resurgence of disease. The current system of monitoring vaccines after licensure is unable to detect all important adverse events following immunisation. The proposed study evaluates web based communication and mobile phone text messaging to identify adverse events following ....Despite the considerable benefits of vaccination there is public concern about the safety of newly introduced or seasonal influenza vaccines. Loss of confidence in vaccine safety can result in decreased vaccine coverage and resurgence of disease. The current system of monitoring vaccines after licensure is unable to detect all important adverse events following immunisation. The proposed study evaluates web based communication and mobile phone text messaging to identify adverse events following immunisation.Read moreRead less
Mis-reporting, adaptation and anchoring: the implications for self assessed health. In terms of targeting scarce public health resources, information concerning the true health status of different social groups is important. This project will provide more accurate information on the health of the Australian population using data already collected on a routine basis. Resources can then be targeted to reduce health inequalities.
Understanding recent Australian trends in alcohol consumption and harms. This project aims to provide critical insight into recent trends in alcohol consumption and related harm in Australia. Many indicators of harm from alcohol have increased dramatically in the past decade, while drinking behaviours appear largely unchanged. This project aims to investigate two potential explanations for these trends: that apparent increases in rates of alcohol-related harm are driven by operational or adminis ....Understanding recent Australian trends in alcohol consumption and harms. This project aims to provide critical insight into recent trends in alcohol consumption and related harm in Australia. Many indicators of harm from alcohol have increased dramatically in the past decade, while drinking behaviours appear largely unchanged. This project aims to investigate two potential explanations for these trends: that apparent increases in rates of alcohol-related harm are driven by operational or administrative practices rather than by increases in actual harm; and that stable per-capita consumption data obscures divergent drinking behaviours, with increases among heavy drinkers driving increasing harm rates. The project aims to inform alcohol policy debates, which rely on robust trend data.Read moreRead less
Nanny state or good public policy: Do the benefits of mandatory health programs justify the loss of consumer choice? Governments are increasingly turning to mandatory programs to improve health. Such programs are appealing because there are high health benefits from universal participation and low costs for promotion and monitoring the program. However, this apparent benefit relies on restriction of personal choice, which may impose welfare losses on consumers. Evaluations generally ignore loss ....Nanny state or good public policy: Do the benefits of mandatory health programs justify the loss of consumer choice? Governments are increasingly turning to mandatory programs to improve health. Such programs are appealing because there are high health benefits from universal participation and low costs for promotion and monitoring the program. However, this apparent benefit relies on restriction of personal choice, which may impose welfare losses on consumers. Evaluations generally ignore loss of choice, despite evidence suggesting consumers value the ability to choose. This study will estimate the impact and value this loss of consumer choice, explore program specific factors and consumer characteristics influencing the valuation, and determine whether and how restricted choice should be explicitly considered when evaluating public health programs.Read moreRead less
Resolving patients' complaints about hospitals: Responsive regulation by health ombudsmen. Ombudsmen help ensure integrity and accountability in societal institutions. This study of patients' complaints about hospitals to health ombudsmen in two states, and the responses of hospitals, will produce evidence on strategies for making hospitals more responsive to the public and more accountable for the quality of their care. Australia was a world leader in establishing health ombudsmen and this stud ....Resolving patients' complaints about hospitals: Responsive regulation by health ombudsmen. Ombudsmen help ensure integrity and accountability in societal institutions. This study of patients' complaints about hospitals to health ombudsmen in two states, and the responses of hospitals, will produce evidence on strategies for making hospitals more responsive to the public and more accountable for the quality of their care. Australia was a world leader in establishing health ombudsmen and this study will explore their impact upon the hospital system. Evidence-based strategies are needed to improve the accountability of service providers and regulators. Social and economic benefits flow from empowering patients and from improving hospital performance.Read moreRead less
Improving The Policy Development Process In Aboriginal Health: A Case Study Of Food And Nutrition
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$108,845.00
Summary
This research investigates the process through which policy decisions are made in the field of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. In this project, nutrition will be used as a case study to examine the policy-making process. This research is important because nutrition is a significant public health issue for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. However, little is known about the process by which nutrition and other health issues become policy priorities for Government
Centre For Informing Policy In Health With Evidence From Research (CIPHER)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,614,403.00
Summary
The Productivity Commission has recently said that without evidence, policy makers must fall back on intuition, ideology or conventional wisdom. CIPHER will make an internationally leading contribution to understanding how governments can most easily find and use research evidence. We will test strategies designed to make findings from research more readily available, to increase policy makers skills in using research and to encourage research that is of more immediate use to policy agencies.
The Distributional Impact of Health Outlays: Developing the Research and Modelling Infrastructure for Policy Makers. The Commonwealth recently concluded that the projected increase in health outlays over the next few decades is unaffordable. Policy makers are therefore going to face difficult decisions about health funding, the balance between government and consumer contributions to health costs, and about taxes (which fund public health outlays). They do not currently have adequate modelling t ....The Distributional Impact of Health Outlays: Developing the Research and Modelling Infrastructure for Policy Makers. The Commonwealth recently concluded that the projected increase in health outlays over the next few decades is unaffordable. Policy makers are therefore going to face difficult decisions about health funding, the balance between government and consumer contributions to health costs, and about taxes (which fund public health outlays). They do not currently have adequate modelling tools to help them make sound decisions. This project aims to redress this situation, by constructing a microsimulation model of the health sector, with a capacity to assess the likely distributional impact of possible policy changes and their revenue or expenditure implications.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100307
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$330,290.00
Summary
Food policies for population health: evidence, influence and accountability. The project aims to investigate ways to improve the development and implementation of policies to create healthy food environments in Australia. Currently, Australian food environments are dominated by cheap, heavily promoted, unhealthy food, and governments are seeking ways to reduce the economic and social burden of diet-related ill-health. Policy changes are needed to create environments that encourage healthy food c ....Food policies for population health: evidence, influence and accountability. The project aims to investigate ways to improve the development and implementation of policies to create healthy food environments in Australia. Currently, Australian food environments are dominated by cheap, heavily promoted, unhealthy food, and governments are seeking ways to reduce the economic and social burden of diet-related ill-health. Policy changes are needed to create environments that encourage healthy food consumption. The project aims to generate new evidence of the economic case for implementation of priority policy options, provide critical insight into the policy process, and identify levers for increasing the accountability of governments for creating healthier food environments. The project intends to identify strategies to improve population health.Read moreRead less
Financing aged care in Australia: Mitigating fiscal gaps and maintaining intergenerational equity. Aged care has been identified as a significant contributor to the growing fiscal problems predicted for Australian government finances during the next 10 to 20 years. This project will develop the cutting-edge modelling tools needed to allow Australia to make informed decisions about possible reforms in aged care financing. It will create significant national benefits by allowing detailed assessmen ....Financing aged care in Australia: Mitigating fiscal gaps and maintaining intergenerational equity. Aged care has been identified as a significant contributor to the growing fiscal problems predicted for Australian government finances during the next 10 to 20 years. This project will develop the cutting-edge modelling tools needed to allow Australia to make informed decisions about possible reforms in aged care financing. It will create significant national benefits by allowing detailed assessment of the distributional impact of a wide range of possible reforms, including how the outcomes of any policy change will affect disadvantaged sections of our society, whether different generations will be fairly treated, and the impact by gender.Read moreRead less