To what extent does Australian food policy consider its health impact. This research will examine how public policies relating to food can be made healthier. The diet of Australians currently contributes to high rates of disease including diabetes, heart disease and the underlying issue of obesity. It will examine Australian agriculture and food processing, manufacturing and marketing and the environmental impacts of these sectors. The research will analyse policy documents and interview key peo ....To what extent does Australian food policy consider its health impact. This research will examine how public policies relating to food can be made healthier. The diet of Australians currently contributes to high rates of disease including diabetes, heart disease and the underlying issue of obesity. It will examine Australian agriculture and food processing, manufacturing and marketing and the environmental impacts of these sectors. The research will analyse policy documents and interview key people involved in each sector to determine their views on the ways in which our food supply affects our health. It will result in policy recommendations advising how the Australian food sector can be made more supportive of health and equity. Policy makers will be engaged with our findings through a Food Policy Summit. Read moreRead less
Investigating the Indirect Effects of Child-Targeted Food Promotion on Children's Diets. Obesity is forecast to cost the Australian community more than $58 billion in 2008. The prevention and reduction of obesity thus has the potential to create significant savings in terms of obesity-related treatment costs and impairments. Children have been identified as a population requiring particular attention in efforts to combat obesity. The proposed study will provide an enhanced understanding of the r ....Investigating the Indirect Effects of Child-Targeted Food Promotion on Children's Diets. Obesity is forecast to cost the Australian community more than $58 billion in 2008. The prevention and reduction of obesity thus has the potential to create significant savings in terms of obesity-related treatment costs and impairments. Children have been identified as a population requiring particular attention in efforts to combat obesity. The proposed study will provide an enhanced understanding of the role that food promotion plays in sub-optimal food choices made by children and their parents. The results of the study will be translated into specific public policy recommendations to assist governments and health agencies in determining appropriate courses of action to promote healthy diets among children and their families.Read moreRead less
'Just right' job design: A new model using the Goldilocks paradigm. This proposal will generate new knowledge about designing jobs with the right amount of human movement. Prolonged sitting is now a serious work hazard that contributes to cardiovascular risk and obesity. The high incidence of these conditions in many work systems, such as rail, also presents a critical safety hazard due to threat of sudden incapacity while driving. Expected project outcomes are a ‘Just Right’ Job Design model sh ....'Just right' job design: A new model using the Goldilocks paradigm. This proposal will generate new knowledge about designing jobs with the right amount of human movement. Prolonged sitting is now a serious work hazard that contributes to cardiovascular risk and obesity. The high incidence of these conditions in many work systems, such as rail, also presents a critical safety hazard due to threat of sudden incapacity while driving. Expected project outcomes are a ‘Just Right’ Job Design model showing how tasks can be designed to enhance safety and health while maintaining productivity, and in the unlikeliest of workplaces. This will provide significant benefits for the many working Australians whose safety and health are compromised by exposure to prolonged sitting in seemingly intractable environments.Read moreRead less
Exploring Wellbeing Outcomes in the Aquatic and Recreation Industry. This project aims to investigate the impact on individual wellbeing through use of public aquatic and recreation centres in Australia. Through the use of mixed methods across multiple locations, the project expects to generate new knowledge on the effect on users of different management and service models for the provision of aquatic and recreational infrastructure. Expected outcomes include a quantifiable measure of social and ....Exploring Wellbeing Outcomes in the Aquatic and Recreation Industry. This project aims to investigate the impact on individual wellbeing through use of public aquatic and recreation centres in Australia. Through the use of mixed methods across multiple locations, the project expects to generate new knowledge on the effect on users of different management and service models for the provision of aquatic and recreational infrastructure. Expected outcomes include a quantifiable measure of social and emotional wellbeing that can be utilised by centre management and government. This will help assessment of best practice for maximising community wellbeing, and can guide investment decisions by state and local government.Read moreRead less
Social practices of oral health in Australian preschool children. The aim of the study is to explore "social practices" of oral health in Australian (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) preschool children. We use this emerging theory to move away from focusing on individuals and individual behaviour (and blame) to identify and map social practices: actions, materials and meanings families attribute to
child’s oral health. Expected project outcomes include identifying practices promoting or underminin ....Social practices of oral health in Australian preschool children. The aim of the study is to explore "social practices" of oral health in Australian (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) preschool children. We use this emerging theory to move away from focusing on individuals and individual behaviour (and blame) to identify and map social practices: actions, materials and meanings families attribute to
child’s oral health. Expected project outcomes include identifying practices promoting or undermining children’s oral health that can inform upstream and downstream policy directions and practices to improve health outcomes. This offers a new approach to "wicked" problems such as oral health where extensive
effort has not reduced morbidity and cost despite rhetoric that oral health is preventable.Read moreRead less
The NSW child development study. Research shows that a child's development predicts health and social outcomes later in life. This Australian project will be the first to identify risk and protective factors associated with these outcomes in 87,000 children from birth to 10 years. The results will help inform governments to improve our children's health and educational achievements.
Driving performance and self-regulation practices in drivers with dementia . Despite the high prevalence of dementia in older drivers, a substantial gap remains in the evidence regarding the natural progression of the disease and its impact on fitness to drive. This project will use a combination of real-time, in-vehicle driver monitoring devices and a state-of-the-art driving simulator. Together, these will objectively measure natural driving patterns and self-regulation practices, and provide ....Driving performance and self-regulation practices in drivers with dementia . Despite the high prevalence of dementia in older drivers, a substantial gap remains in the evidence regarding the natural progression of the disease and its impact on fitness to drive. This project will use a combination of real-time, in-vehicle driver monitoring devices and a state-of-the-art driving simulator. Together, these will objectively measure natural driving patterns and self-regulation practices, and provide a comprehensive assessment of driving performance for drivers with mild dementia and a comparison group without dementia. The project will create a partnership between leading researchers, clinicians and policy makers in order to provide an answer to a complex problem.Read moreRead less
Options, Opportunities and Older people: An exploration of care transitions of older people. Older Australians experience transition points in type and level of support needed to age in their place of choice. Transition points refer to some form of destabilisation in the life of the older person resulting in a changed level of care required along the continuum of care options and opportunities available. This multi-stage, multi-State, qualitative study will determine what constitutes a 'good t ....Options, Opportunities and Older people: An exploration of care transitions of older people. Older Australians experience transition points in type and level of support needed to age in their place of choice. Transition points refer to some form of destabilisation in the life of the older person resulting in a changed level of care required along the continuum of care options and opportunities available. This multi-stage, multi-State, qualitative study will determine what constitutes a 'good transition' for older people, how 'transition points' are identified by consumers and service providers, and what happens after such identification. The study contributes to prevention and early intervention responses enabling older people to age in place wherever possible.Read moreRead less
Policy orientation of non-health sectors to social determinants of health. This project aims to advance understanding of how Australian government policies in four sectors (justice, environment, planning, and industry) are oriented to action on social determinants of health equity (SDHE), including Indigenous health. Evidence shows that government policy in all sectors affects health. The World Health Organization and the United Nations have called for whole-of-government approaches to SDHE. The ....Policy orientation of non-health sectors to social determinants of health. This project aims to advance understanding of how Australian government policies in four sectors (justice, environment, planning, and industry) are oriented to action on social determinants of health equity (SDHE), including Indigenous health. Evidence shows that government policy in all sectors affects health. The World Health Organization and the United Nations have called for whole-of-government approaches to SDHE. The project plans to apply theory to understand how policy values and strategies in the selected sectors provide for or present barriers to this approach. Expected project outcomes will produce evidence for policy-makers on how to strengthen policy coherence across sectors to address SDHE more effectively in order to promote Australian health and reduce health inequities.Read moreRead less
Strengthening Indigenous adolescent mental health and wellbeing. Using Continous Quality Improvement processes, the research will collaboratively conceptualise, design, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of new approaches to mental health service delivery for adolescents aged 10-24 in three regionally diverse Indigenous Primary Healthcare Services. Expected research outcomes are a rigorous assessment of the impact and economic benefits of making quality improvements to mental health servic ....Strengthening Indigenous adolescent mental health and wellbeing. Using Continous Quality Improvement processes, the research will collaboratively conceptualise, design, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of new approaches to mental health service delivery for adolescents aged 10-24 in three regionally diverse Indigenous Primary Healthcare Services. Expected research outcomes are a rigorous assessment of the impact and economic benefits of making quality improvements to mental health services for Indigenous adolescents, Key benefits are 1) A locally-responsive adolescent mental health screening instrument; 2) Comprehensive evidence-informed service model in adolescent mental healthcare; 3) Best practice protocol for developing and managing adolescent mental health as a service delivery stream. Read moreRead less