Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354823
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
National network for the study of cognitive processes and treatment across the phases of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is associated with great costs to the community and individual. Controlled studies have demonstrated Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is efficacious in treating symptoms of schizophrenia. Studies of cognitive processes have also advanced understanding of psychotic phenomena. This initiative affords the opportunity to
1) Improve treatment efficacy by developing, testing and appl ....National network for the study of cognitive processes and treatment across the phases of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is associated with great costs to the community and individual. Controlled studies have demonstrated Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is efficacious in treating symptoms of schizophrenia. Studies of cognitive processes have also advanced understanding of psychotic phenomena. This initiative affords the opportunity to
1) Improve treatment efficacy by developing, testing and applying theoretically-driven models of psychotic symptoms.
2) Disseminate the findings of research on CBT for psychotic disorders in clinical settings by (a) training the work-force, and (b) facilitating CBT delivery in routine practice.
3) Apply CBT in various settings with a variety of psychotic populations to test its effectiveness in routine clinical settings.
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Improving Medication Safety In Seniors: A Cross-Jurisdictional Linkage Project
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$636,717.00
Summary
The project will identify priorities for tackling the current epidemic of hospitalisation of Australians aged 65+ years due to side effects of their medications. Two different groups of medications will be investigated. The first will be the prescribed drugs most often recorded as causes of hospital stay, including those taken to stop blood clotting, for high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems, for rheumatism or strong pain relief, anti-cancer drugs and steroids. The study will exa ....The project will identify priorities for tackling the current epidemic of hospitalisation of Australians aged 65+ years due to side effects of their medications. Two different groups of medications will be investigated. The first will be the prescribed drugs most often recorded as causes of hospital stay, including those taken to stop blood clotting, for high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems, for rheumatism or strong pain relief, anti-cancer drugs and steroids. The study will examine which of these drugs taken under what circumstances has the highest risk, so prevention can be better targeted. The study will investigate if adequate laboratory monitoring of the anti- clotting drugs is taking place and whether the guidelines should be updated. The second group will be 68 medications that should be avoided in seniors according to an international expert panel. The research will see how often these 'inappropriate medications' are still prescribed in the Australian setting, and the size of their contributions to unplanned hospital stays. The researchers suspect that this problem is much larger than immediately apparent from routine statistics, because many of the side effects of inappropriate medications are non-specific, such as confusion, drowsiness or difficulty standing up, thus putting seniors at risk of falls and neglect of other aspects of their health. The study will use a unique and new Australian research facility, which has brought together health data on the entire population of WA from both the State and Commonwealth levels, including information on pharmaceuticals, Medicare use, hospital stays and deaths. The facility works in such a way as to preserve patient and GP privacy. A strong feature of this research will be the degree of involvement of a representative and voluntary group of older Australian patients who attend GP clinics, and the GPs themselves, in advising the researchers on what's important to consumers and GPs.Read moreRead less
The impact and cost of short-term health staffing in remote communities. This project aims to examine the impact of the increasing levels of short-term health staffing in remote communities upon service acceptability to patients, workload and attitudes of long-term resident primary health care staff, and the effectiveness and cost of health services. There is a dearth of information about this 'fly in/fly out' (FIFO) workforce in remote communities, which have the worst health outcomes in the co ....The impact and cost of short-term health staffing in remote communities. This project aims to examine the impact of the increasing levels of short-term health staffing in remote communities upon service acceptability to patients, workload and attitudes of long-term resident primary health care staff, and the effectiveness and cost of health services. There is a dearth of information about this 'fly in/fly out' (FIFO) workforce in remote communities, which have the worst health outcomes in the country. The project aims to inform consumers, health practitioners, health service planners and policy-makers about the impact of FIFO, as well as to contribute to the development of strategies designed to stabilise the remote health workforce.Read moreRead less
Staffing practices in Aboriginal primary health care services. This project aims to generate new knowledge about the impact of short-term staffing in remote Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services on service acceptability to patients, workload and attitudes of long-term staff and the effectiveness and cost of services. The project intends to compare these results to recent findings about the impact of short-term staffing in government-run clinics, in order to quantify and describe the po ....Staffing practices in Aboriginal primary health care services. This project aims to generate new knowledge about the impact of short-term staffing in remote Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services on service acceptability to patients, workload and attitudes of long-term staff and the effectiveness and cost of services. The project intends to compare these results to recent findings about the impact of short-term staffing in government-run clinics, in order to quantify and describe the potential positive effect of community control. Expected outcomes include rigorous evidence about the 'fly in/fly out' workforce and the impact of community control which can inform new policy that will stabilise the remote health workforce, save money and contribute to 'closing the gap' in health outcomes.Read moreRead less
Disaster risk reduction practices that leave nobody behind. This project aims to answer critical questions about how to assist people with disabilities (PWD) in disasters, what their support needs are and how they might help themselves to better prepare for disasters. Significance includes coupling a person-centred emergency preparedness tool with cross-sectoral processes to collect and use data about the support needs of PWD in emergencies, increase cross-sector communication and collaboration ....Disaster risk reduction practices that leave nobody behind. This project aims to answer critical questions about how to assist people with disabilities (PWD) in disasters, what their support needs are and how they might help themselves to better prepare for disasters. Significance includes coupling a person-centred emergency preparedness tool with cross-sectoral processes to collect and use data about the support needs of PWD in emergencies, increase cross-sector communication and collaboration between emergency managers and community services, and improve equitable access for PWD to community-level disaster risk reduction (DRR). The expected outcome will be the co-design of effective mechanisms that state & federal decision makers can use to scale-up disability-inclusive DRR across Australia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100663
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$440,850.00
Summary
The Real Price of Health: Experiences of Out-of-Pocket Costs in Australia. This project aims to investigate the experiences and preferences of Australian families and individuals on low, middle, and high incomes in managing the out-of-pocket costs of chronic disease. This project aspires to ensure outcomes that are relevant to the public and patients through involving people living with chronic disease in the research team. The project expects to generate a discrete choice model that describes p ....The Real Price of Health: Experiences of Out-of-Pocket Costs in Australia. This project aims to investigate the experiences and preferences of Australian families and individuals on low, middle, and high incomes in managing the out-of-pocket costs of chronic disease. This project aspires to ensure outcomes that are relevant to the public and patients through involving people living with chronic disease in the research team. The project expects to generate a discrete choice model that describes people with chronic diseases’ preferences, and the trade-offs that they are faced with when deciding how to manage out-of-pocket health costs. The evidence arising from this innovative study will be used to directly inform Australian health policy, leading to wide-ranging health and economic benefits for the whole community.Read moreRead less
3D Printed Food for People with Swallowing Disability. This project aims to identify ways that 3D food printing (additive manufacturing using real food in a device like a ink-jet printer) could be used to improve the visual appeal of puree meals for people with swallowing difficulty, who make up ~8% of the world's population. This study will be the first to include people with swallowing disability (e.g., related to cerebral palsy, stroke, older age) and their supporters in examining the views a ....3D Printed Food for People with Swallowing Disability. This project aims to identify ways that 3D food printing (additive manufacturing using real food in a device like a ink-jet printer) could be used to improve the visual appeal of puree meals for people with swallowing difficulty, who make up ~8% of the world's population. This study will be the first to include people with swallowing disability (e.g., related to cerebral palsy, stroke, older age) and their supporters in examining the views and experiences of stakeholders on the impact of 3D food printing on quality of life, enjoyment, participation, and safety. Outcomes include new knowledge on factors affecting the implementation of 3D food printing in disability and aged care services, to inform policy, practice, and future research.Read moreRead less
Chronic Disease Outcomes And Enhanced Primary Care In Seniors: A Cross-Jurisdictional Linkage Project
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,077,766.00
Summary
This project will provide evidence on how best to use the efforts of Australian GPs to obtain better outcomes in patients aged 65+ years who suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, asthma and emphysema, seizures and stomach disorders. It will also examine the best way that GP visits can promote healthier ageing in all older seniors, aged 75+ years. For each disease and in older seniors, the study will be able to detect which of the following factors ....This project will provide evidence on how best to use the efforts of Australian GPs to obtain better outcomes in patients aged 65+ years who suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, asthma and emphysema, seizures and stomach disorders. It will also examine the best way that GP visits can promote healthier ageing in all older seniors, aged 75+ years. For each disease and in older seniors, the study will be able to detect which of the following factors are the most important for better patient health: (i) seeing a GP more times, (ii) seeing a GP at more even intervals, (iii) seeing the same GP, or (iv) seeing a GP with a lot of experience in chronic diseases. Separate investigations will be made in older people living in hostels and nursing homes, because their needs may be different. The study will also evaluate the benefits of a major change that occurred to Medicare in 1999, when GPs were paid to perform health assessments and to prepare health plans (with other health workers) for patients with chronic health problems. The results will enable this important initiative to be further improved. The study will use a unique and new Australian research facility, which has brought together health data on the entire population of WA from both the State and Commonwealth levels, including information on Medicare use, pharmaceuticals, hospital stays and deaths. The facility works in such a way as to preserve patient and GP privacy. A strong feature of this research will be the degree of involvement of a representative and voluntary group of older Australian patients who attend GP clinics, and the GPs themselves, in advising the researchers on what's important to consumers and GPs.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
A new quality of life instrument with older people for economic evaluation. This project aims to develop and validate a new preference-based quality-of-life instrument with applications in aged-care. The new instrument will be developed with older people receiving aged care services, and will focus upon incorporating their values into the measurement and valuation of quality of life for economic evaluation. The new instrument will have immediate applications in quality assessment and economic ev ....A new quality of life instrument with older people for economic evaluation. This project aims to develop and validate a new preference-based quality-of-life instrument with applications in aged-care. The new instrument will be developed with older people receiving aged care services, and will focus upon incorporating their values into the measurement and valuation of quality of life for economic evaluation. The new instrument will have immediate applications in quality assessment and economic evaluation, improving the quality of life and wellbeing of older Australians, and will assist in determining the relative cost effectiveness of new and existing services.
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