Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100387
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$363,782.00
Summary
User driven interventions in the reduction of drug-related harm: analysing structural barriers and capacity building among drug user organisations. Although Australia's consumer-centred approach to harm reduction has been widely praised, consumer participation remains limited in countries such as Britain and Canada. Entailing an international comparative analysis of these three sites, this project focuses on building capacity and reducing structural barriers among drug user organisations.
Developing the capacity to model the impact of interventions that target high-risk drinking among young Australians. Alcohol use is a major contributing factor to social and health problems among young Australians. The project will inform the development of effective policy by providing multidisciplinary research evidence and the capacity to model how various interventions impact on the prevalence of alcohol-related problems.
A disease of the brain: how do neurobiological explanations of addiction influence the attitudes and behaviour of smokers? This project explores the impact of promoting addiction as a "brain disease" on smokers' confidence in their ability to quit smoking, and the methods they use to quit. This is essential to inform public health policies designed to reduce the burden of tobacco related harms.
Smoking cessation program for smokers admitted to public hospitals. This project will implement and evaluate a multidisciplinary healthcare intervention initiated by hospital pharmacists and followed up by primary health professionals to assist smokers admitted to three Victorian tertiary public hospitals to give up smoking. This program could potentially reduce smoking-related death, illness and healthcare costs.
Alcohol and caffeinated energy drinks: exploring patterns of consumption and associated harms. Very little research has been conducted on the functions, contexts, effects and harms associated with combining energy drinks and alcohol, despite the widespread consumption of these beverages by young people. This project will contribute to the knowledge base of this under-researched area and inform harm reduction policy and practice.
Exposure to alcohol advertising and sponsorship in Australian televised sport: association with explicit and implicit alcohol cognitions and drinking. The project will examine whether alcohol advertising and sponsorship in televised sport is related to positive alcohol-related thoughts and alcohol consumption in young adults. The project will use novel methods that assess both conscious and unconscious alcohol-related attitudes, and will provide important evidence for informing alcohol policy.
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
Non-medical use of prescription stimulants by Australian university students: attitudes, prevalence of, and motivations for use. This study will provide a comprehensive understanding of student non-medical use of prescription stimulants. The findings will inform initiatives to prevent the abuse and misuse of pharmaceuticals, protect health and reduce the cost associated with inappropriate use of medicines.
Mothers' little helper: Alcohol use in working mothers. This project aims to generate unique insights into the strains that Australian working mothers face in their daily lives and the impact these strains have on their alcohol consumption. Using innovative methods to understand strains resulting from two major life domains, family and work, the project expects to generate new knowledge which can be used to develop interventions to address this important issue. The results of this study can prov ....Mothers' little helper: Alcohol use in working mothers. This project aims to generate unique insights into the strains that Australian working mothers face in their daily lives and the impact these strains have on their alcohol consumption. Using innovative methods to understand strains resulting from two major life domains, family and work, the project expects to generate new knowledge which can be used to develop interventions to address this important issue. The results of this study can provide significant benefits not only to the quality of life of working mothers in Australia but also has society-wide implications. This is due to alcohol use being a leading avoidable cause for productivity loss alongside other social, community and economic costs.Read moreRead less
Reducing the burden of alcohol and other drug use in Australia. The costs of alcohol and other drug use to the Australian community are significant. This research will aim to reduce this burden by developing the evidence for effective intervention and then working with policymakers and practitioners to improve responses to alcohol and other drugs in the community.