1+1- A Healthy Start To Life:Targeting The Year Before And The Year After Birth In Aboriginal Children In Remote Areas
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$587,272.00
Summary
Indigenous Australians in remote communities are less healthy and more socially disadvantaged than other Australians. This influences the quality of the intrauterine environment. Babies often suffer malnutrition and recurring infections during infancy which are exacerbated by their less than optimal birth status and contribute to chronic conditions (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, renal failure) in adulthood. Existing health services are costly to Government and do not achieve their potential ....Indigenous Australians in remote communities are less healthy and more socially disadvantaged than other Australians. This influences the quality of the intrauterine environment. Babies often suffer malnutrition and recurring infections during infancy which are exacerbated by their less than optimal birth status and contribute to chronic conditions (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, renal failure) in adulthood. Existing health services are costly to Government and do not achieve their potential for promoting health and providing quality care. Evidence suggests redesigned models based on continuity of care, focused, proactive family support and workload reform will improve maternal and infant outcomes. New models need to be developed, costed, implemented and evaluated providing governments with the evidence base to initiate service improvement. Such models will have applicability elsewhere in Australia. Professor Lesley Barclay and her team of researchers from Charles Darwin University will conduct research into developing such a model. The project aims to improve the quality of care for remote dwelling Aboriginal women and infants in the year before, during and the year after birth by providing evidence for, and facilitating changes to, service delivery. This will enhance the potential for the development of resilience and well-being of their children. It will also test if service improvements can improve the health of women and reduce childhood disease and therefore reduce the impact of health conditions occurring in adulthood which have their origins in the early stages of life.Read moreRead less
Intermittent Preventive Treatment In Pregnancy With Sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine Plus Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine To Reduce Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes And Prevent Malaria In Papua New Guinea: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,938,453.00
Summary
Millions of pregnancies are complicated by malaria worldwide. Monthly sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) treatments, the current treatment strategy, no longer protects from malaria but improves birth outcomes through non-malarial effects. Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine clears malaria but babies are smaller compared to women who received SP. A clinical trial of their combination has potential to substantially improve health outcomes for women and babies in Papua New Guinea and beyond.
School drug education for junior high school students in Victoria - Assessing the impact of a state-wide, evidence-based intervention
. Young people are faced with numerous and powerful influences to use both legal and illicit drugs, and drug education can play an important counterbalancing role in shaping a normative culture of safety, moderation and informed decision making in this group. The research will develop, implement and evaluate one all encompassing, evidence-based, drug education pr ....School drug education for junior high school students in Victoria - Assessing the impact of a state-wide, evidence-based intervention
. Young people are faced with numerous and powerful influences to use both legal and illicit drugs, and drug education can play an important counterbalancing role in shaping a normative culture of safety, moderation and informed decision making in this group. The research will develop, implement and evaluate one all encompassing, evidence-based, drug education program for junior high school students across Victoria. The study is unique in its size and scope and will be of national benefit because its findings will influence the nature of future drug education in all secondary schools in Australia.Read moreRead less
Determining implementation drivers in resilience education. Determining implementation drivers in resilience education. This project aims to develop implementation frameworks to help the education sector universally provide resilience education programmes. More young people have mental health problems. Although evidence-based resilience education reduces these problems, education sectors do not know how to address barriers to school provision. The solution is implementation research. This projec ....Determining implementation drivers in resilience education. Determining implementation drivers in resilience education. This project aims to develop implementation frameworks to help the education sector universally provide resilience education programmes. More young people have mental health problems. Although evidence-based resilience education reduces these problems, education sectors do not know how to address barriers to school provision. The solution is implementation research. This project will study system and school-level factors influencing primary and high school uptake of social and emotional learning curricula that enhance resilience; and implementation drivers at both system and school levels, and influences on uptake and student and staff resilience. The outcome is universal provision of resilience education programs that benefit young people.Read moreRead less
Playing for Life: A Case Study in Childhood, Culture and Transition. This study will advance Australian research on identity formation in postcolonial societies; develop child-focused research in academic anthropology; align Australian Aboriginal Studies with recent international progress in the field of children's social imagination; innovate the analysis of transforming Indigenous worldviews; create a perspective for in-depth psychological research with Aboriginal Australians; build a rich res ....Playing for Life: A Case Study in Childhood, Culture and Transition. This study will advance Australian research on identity formation in postcolonial societies; develop child-focused research in academic anthropology; align Australian Aboriginal Studies with recent international progress in the field of children's social imagination; innovate the analysis of transforming Indigenous worldviews; create a perspective for in-depth psychological research with Aboriginal Australians; build a rich resource for comparative research and for teaching. It also offers distinct social benefits: fostering the understanding of Aboriginal children's social and mental needs in processes of cultural transformation; enhancing equality by identifying the positive potentials in children and Aboriginal society.
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Exploring the myth of the single solution: an anthropological study of housing maintenance and infrastructure issues in Australia. Indigenous housing is a core challenge for improving Australia's social and economic fabric. Urgent issues of amenity, maintenance and responsibility remain unresolved. By documenting what is involved in taking a difficult yet successful intervention model for targeting small-scale repairs and maintenance to scale in Australia, the research will shed critical light o ....Exploring the myth of the single solution: an anthropological study of housing maintenance and infrastructure issues in Australia. Indigenous housing is a core challenge for improving Australia's social and economic fabric. Urgent issues of amenity, maintenance and responsibility remain unresolved. By documenting what is involved in taking a difficult yet successful intervention model for targeting small-scale repairs and maintenance to scale in Australia, the research will shed critical light on: the complexities of program replication and effect; the social and political context such programs operate within; the characteristics required for sustained reform. It will also add an Australian contribution to a growing international field: namely, the anthropology of policy, aid and development. Read moreRead less
Strategies to reduce risk of heat induced illness during intermittent, high intensity activity in a tropical environment. Regular intermittent, high intensity physical activity (IHIA) affords protection against modern life-style diseases (type II diabetes, coronary heart disease and some cancers) but when conducted in the tropics, exposes persons to the risk of dehydration, heat cramps, hypotension, heat syncope, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Australia has rapid population growth in the tropi ....Strategies to reduce risk of heat induced illness during intermittent, high intensity activity in a tropical environment. Regular intermittent, high intensity physical activity (IHIA) affords protection against modern life-style diseases (type II diabetes, coronary heart disease and some cancers) but when conducted in the tropics, exposes persons to the risk of dehydration, heat cramps, hypotension, heat syncope, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Australia has rapid population growth in the tropics and key sporting fixtures have moved to the region. We have set up the research capability and must now move on a range of IHIA in sport, workplaces, armed and emergency services to provide strategies to reduce the risk of heat induced illness in a tropical environment.Read moreRead less
Pathways to better practice: developing human resources in child protection services for Indigenous communities in Western Australia and Queensland. This study addresses the serious and escalating problem of providing child protection services to Indigenous children and their families in rural and remote areas. Service delivery to rural and remote environments in Australia is a high cost exercise and, to date, little research has been conducted to understanding the complex nature of professiona ....Pathways to better practice: developing human resources in child protection services for Indigenous communities in Western Australia and Queensland. This study addresses the serious and escalating problem of providing child protection services to Indigenous children and their families in rural and remote areas. Service delivery to rural and remote environments in Australia is a high cost exercise and, to date, little research has been conducted to understanding the complex nature of professional (non-medical) interventions in communities with high proportions of Indigenous families and children. The study, conducted across two states, will contribute to national benefit in 3 key areas: the health and wellbeing of Indigenous children; skills shortage in rural areas and intergenerational change in professional disciplines.Read moreRead less
Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Mobile Preschool For Child Health And Development In Remote Aboriginal Communities
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$456,369.00
Summary
This project is a retrospective study of the effectiveness of the NT Mobile Preschool Program using assessment data for children's emergent literacy, social and emotional competencies and health status. Effectiveness will be established by comparison with achievement and health status data for children not attending preschool and those in communities with no preschool service. The study will identify and describe the key factors influencing the health and learning outcomes of the three groups.
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR120100005
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,198,392.00
Summary
National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network. The National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network will capacity build and increase Indigenous higher degree, early and mid career researchers to develop new approaches to undertaking research and producing outcomes. NIRAKN's members include a number of universities, AIATSIS, and partner organisations.