Influences on farmer suicide in Queensland and New South Wales. Australian farmers have been identified as being at high-risk of suicide. This project will provide direction for targeted suicide prevention strategies by quantifying the individual and environmental factors that place farmers at higher risk of suicide, as well as the protective factors that may buffer against suicide and suicidal behaviours.
Normative study of a checklist of emotional and behavioural disturbance in adults with intellectual disability. People with intellectual disability (ID) are three times more likely to suffer mental illness than the general community, making this a bigger problem than schizophrenia. They are a great burden to their carers and cost to the community but their mental health problems remain largely untreated. This study aims to conduct the largest and most comprehensive survey of the mental health ....Normative study of a checklist of emotional and behavioural disturbance in adults with intellectual disability. People with intellectual disability (ID) are three times more likely to suffer mental illness than the general community, making this a bigger problem than schizophrenia. They are a great burden to their carers and cost to the community but their mental health problems remain largely untreated. This study aims to conduct the largest and most comprehensive survey of the mental health of adults with ID that has been undertaken internationally to date. The population will cover the age span of late adolescence (16 years) through the transition to adult life then through to the elderly. The research will establish the prevalence and nature of mental illness and potential risk factors in a large representative population of adults with ID.Read moreRead less
State, organisational, and team interventions to build psychosocial safety climate using the Australian Workplace Barometer and the StressCafe. The project is inspired by the nationally agreed target of 40% reduction in workplace injuries by 2012. Informed by leading indicators assessed through the Australian Workplace Barometer, this research will build evidence-based interventions at both a state, organisation, and team level to reduce risks and psychological injury. This project is promoting ....State, organisational, and team interventions to build psychosocial safety climate using the Australian Workplace Barometer and the StressCafe. The project is inspired by the nationally agreed target of 40% reduction in workplace injuries by 2012. Informed by leading indicators assessed through the Australian Workplace Barometer, this research will build evidence-based interventions at both a state, organisation, and team level to reduce risks and psychological injury. This project is promoting good health and well being, Preventative healthcare, and Strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric. An innovative platform will be built, the StressCafe´, for the translation of research into policy and practice, through better access by stakeholders to information and discoverable data.Read moreRead less
Time scarcity in Australian families: another inequity? The globalising economy, financial uncertainties and major democratic changes are all affecting family time. Parent's time is a resource on which children depend, but time scarcity has become a widespread problem for families. Our study helps focus policy attention on this problem. We deliver new methods to assess the experience of time scarcity in families, identifying those who are most likely to experience it, where they live, and how ti ....Time scarcity in Australian families: another inequity? The globalising economy, financial uncertainties and major democratic changes are all affecting family time. Parent's time is a resource on which children depend, but time scarcity has become a widespread problem for families. Our study helps focus policy attention on this problem. We deliver new methods to assess the experience of time scarcity in families, identifying those who are most likely to experience it, where they live, and how time scarcity affects them. This evidence can help support policy approaches to time, benefiting the twin economic and social policy goals of encouraging workforce participation while supporting the health and wellbeing of families.Read moreRead less
"Evidence based" evaluation of treatment in ADHD. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is marked by limitations in diagnostic accuracy, psychobiological characterisation and assessment of treatment efficacy. A national consortium of scientists and clinicians is planning to address these issues using an assessment protocol recently developed by the Brain Resource Company Ltd, which involves integrated neuroscientific and psychometric measurement that taps many of the brain's informati ...."Evidence based" evaluation of treatment in ADHD. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is marked by limitations in diagnostic accuracy, psychobiological characterisation and assessment of treatment efficacy. A national consortium of scientists and clinicians is planning to address these issues using an assessment protocol recently developed by the Brain Resource Company Ltd, which involves integrated neuroscientific and psychometric measurement that taps many of the brain's information processing networks. Specifically, the aims of the project are to identify biological and cognitive markers that reflect ADHD in its untreated form, and markers that discriminate treatment effects relative to the pre treatment profile. The results from this study will be translated into a product that uses the protocol to provide a service able to profile ADHD more accurately and evaluate the effects of treatment.Read moreRead less
A randomised controlled trial assessing the effects of a school-based sleep intervention in Year 6 and 7 students. Inadequate sleep is associated with a wide range of health problems in children, including obesity and poor performance at school. Children are sleeping less than ever before, and there is an increasing pattern of “yo yo sleeping” (sleep deprivation on school days followed by catch up sleeps on weekends). This study will trial a school-based program designed to improve the sleeping ....A randomised controlled trial assessing the effects of a school-based sleep intervention in Year 6 and 7 students. Inadequate sleep is associated with a wide range of health problems in children, including obesity and poor performance at school. Children are sleeping less than ever before, and there is an increasing pattern of “yo yo sleeping” (sleep deprivation on school days followed by catch up sleeps on weekends). This study will trial a school-based program designed to improve the sleeping habits of children. Better sleep is expected to result in improved alertness, better life satisfaction, and improved weight status.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.
Evaluation of a Training Program for Staff to Recognize Depression Among Aged People Living in Residential and Community Care. Depression is a significant problem among older people, and is likely to increase in prevalence with the aging of the population. A large percentage of depressed older people fail to receive treatment because their depression is not diagnosed. This illness leads to high economic and social costs if it is not diagnosed and treated. This project will evaluate the effective ....Evaluation of a Training Program for Staff to Recognize Depression Among Aged People Living in Residential and Community Care. Depression is a significant problem among older people, and is likely to increase in prevalence with the aging of the population. A large percentage of depressed older people fail to receive treatment because their depression is not diagnosed. This illness leads to high economic and social costs if it is not diagnosed and treated. This project will evaluate the effectiveness of a training program to assist carers to detect depression, and so refer older people for treatment of this condition. Read moreRead less
Stopping the run-around: comorbidity action in the north (CAN). The purpose of the project is to identify the barriers and facilitators to effective use of mental health and drug and alcohol services in a metropolitan region of South Australia. The evidence base will then drive the development and implementation of effective change to service delivery to improve outcomes for people with comorbidity.
The importance of gender and socio-economic disadvantage for the mental health of people living with disabilities. The twenty per cent of Australians reporting a disability are more likely to live in disadvantaged circumstances such as inadequate housing, unemployment, and lower levels of education all of which may contribute to poor mental health. Yet there has not been research on the mental health of people with disabilities. This means that disability services and advocacy groups, which deal ....The importance of gender and socio-economic disadvantage for the mental health of people living with disabilities. The twenty per cent of Australians reporting a disability are more likely to live in disadvantaged circumstances such as inadequate housing, unemployment, and lower levels of education all of which may contribute to poor mental health. Yet there has not been research on the mental health of people with disabilities. This means that disability services and advocacy groups, which deal daily with the lived experiences of disadvantage and poor mental health in people with disabilities, do not have evidence to support policy and service sector reform. This project will provide this critical evidence as well as build research capacity in disability-related research and lead to better monitoring of disability-related health inequities.Read moreRead less