Reducing Alcohol Use And Related Harm In Young People
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$702,462.00
Summary
Nationally, 10,000 young Australians present to emergency departments with alcohol-related injuries and illnesses each month. Much of this adversity could be prevented if more young people had access to effective brief interventions (BIs) for alcohol use. Telephone-delivered BIs provide an innovative, youth friendly and accessible way of delivering treatment. This is the first clinical trial to compare the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of telephone-delivered BIs for reducing alcohol use and re ....Nationally, 10,000 young Australians present to emergency departments with alcohol-related injuries and illnesses each month. Much of this adversity could be prevented if more young people had access to effective brief interventions (BIs) for alcohol use. Telephone-delivered BIs provide an innovative, youth friendly and accessible way of delivering treatment. This is the first clinical trial to compare the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of telephone-delivered BIs for reducing alcohol use and related harm in young people.Read moreRead less
Moving Behavioural Neuroscience & Neuroeconomics Into Dementia Prevention: Spatial Tracking And Economic Decision-making As New Sensitive Measures Of Daily Function
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$595,588.00
Summary
This project will aim to develop new measures for clinical trials by learning the relationship between older people's movements around the house, ability to make decisions about their health and finance and their cognitive performance. These instruments may aid future trials of drugs and other interventions for preventing dementia by indicating how basic behavioural patterns respond to interventions.
Disentangling Aphasic Syndromes In Alzheimer's Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$682,936.00
Summary
Alzheimer’s disease, the main cause of disability in older Australians, can present with diverse and complex manifestations. Language disturbances are not entirely characterised and raises diagnostic difficulties. By development of novel clinical tools and cutting-edge structural brain imaging, this project aims to refine the spectrum of language disturbances, analyse the pattern of brain atrophy and investigate susceptibility factors across Alzheimer's presentations.
Improving Quality Of Care For People With Dementia In The Acute Care Setting
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,859,855.00
Summary
People with dementia are often undetected in hospital. This can result in problems which impact their long-term health and wellbeing. An electronic nursing assessment system for people admitted to hospital which reduces nursing admission documentation time, increases identification of patients with cognitive impairment and risk of delirium on admission, supports care planning and increases time for direct clinical care will improve the quality of care for patients with dementia in hospital.
Ageing And Dementia In Aboriginal Australians: Promoting Vitality, Identifying Decline And Supporting Communities
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$603,411.00
Summary
Dementia is a growing concern and burden on communities for Aboriginal Australians. This fellowship will develop effective, culturally appropriate, and accessible strategies to promote healthy brain ageing and prevent dementia in Aboriginal communities. It will also investigate better ways to assess memory and thinking in this population, in order to identify changes as early as possible for enhanced dementia research and treatment prospects.
Spatial Learning And Memory In Huntington's Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$475,969.00
Summary
This project will develop a spatial learning and memory test battery sensitive to dementia in Huntington’s disease, relate the task to atrophy in key brain regions, and then apply the test in a clinical trial aimed at developing a regeneration of damaged brain regions in Huntington’s disease. The overarching goal is to develop a cognitive test that is closely aligned to brain pathology in dementia as a tool for more precise, mechanism-based investigations in the dementia clinical trial setting.
Development And Validation Of The First Culturally Based Quality Of Life Tool For Aboriginal Australians Living With Dementia Or Cognitive Impairment
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$602,435.00
Summary
Enhancing quality of life (QoL) is the central goal of care providers for clients with dementia. A QoL tool identifies areas of need, enabling strategies to be planned and evaluated accordingly. Dementia is highly prevalent in Aboriginal Australians. There is no QoL tool for Aboriginal Australians living with dementia. This project will develop and test a QoL tool with Aboriginal Australians living with dementia or other cognitive impairment. The factors affecting QoL will also be identified.
Cross-comparison, Validation And Performance Of Computerised Neuropsychological Assessment Devices In The Evaluation Of Mild Cognitive Impairment And Dementia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$700,482.00
Summary
With an ageing population and associated increase in dementia there will be increased demand for neuropsychological assessment, with insufficient trained personnel and resources to meet this demand. Computerised tests offer excellent opportunities for large scale implementation of cognitive screening and monitoring of older adults. This is the first study to systematically evaluate and compare several popular computerised neuropsychological assessment devices in elders with and without dementia.
Dementia is an urgent global challenge with enormous health and economic cost to Australia. While the hope is for a cure, the number with dementia is growing and diagnosis is often delayed by ~3 years. This project will use innovative neurocognitive methods to achieve earlier diagnosis and develop tailored treatments. This will enhance or maintain function, promoting independence and community living, improving the quality of life and care for persons living with dementia.
Using Health Outcome Data From Pooled Longitudinal Studies Of Ageing To Develop Statistical And Microsimulation Models T
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,162,630.00
Summary
This project draws together data from nine Australian Longitudinal Studies of Ageing (LSAs), including 53484 participants, that will be used to identify factors capable of preventing disease, reducing ill-health, and promoting engaged and successful ageing for Australians. The focus is upon conditions that significantly contribute to the burden of disease including cognitive decline and dementia, sensory impairment, impairment in mobility and common mental disorders such as depression. Although ....This project draws together data from nine Australian Longitudinal Studies of Ageing (LSAs), including 53484 participants, that will be used to identify factors capable of preventing disease, reducing ill-health, and promoting engaged and successful ageing for Australians. The focus is upon conditions that significantly contribute to the burden of disease including cognitive decline and dementia, sensory impairment, impairment in mobility and common mental disorders such as depression. Although individual studies contain rich data on particular topics, there is only a small number of individuals in each study with specific medical conditions, or combinations of different conditions, especially at the older ages. Pooling data from nine studies will overcome this problem. This innovative and interdisciplinary study also involves development of the first Australian dynamic micro-simulation model of the health and social outcomes of the baby boomer and older cohorts. The simulation will allow for evaluation of the impact of modifying risk factors, and costs associated with different trajectories of health and ageing. Our program takes an interdisciplinary life course approach, incorporating interdependencies among demographic, behavioural, social, economic and health factors. Our multidisciplinary team and collaborative pooling of existing studies adds value and builds upon experience, as recommended in the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council 2003 report. The outcomes will direct health and social policy to promote health behaviour, and social and medical interventions to compress morbidity and optimize healthy ageing in Australian society over the next 40 years.Read moreRead less