Generating Credible Evidence For Health Care Decision Making: Advancing Methods For Evidence Synthesis And Meta-analysis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,476.00
Summary
Systematic reviews often underpin recommendations in guidelines and are therefore critical to the translation of research evidence into practice. However, weaknesses in the conduct of reviews can yield biased results, which may lead to patients receiving ineffective or harmful treatments. During my fellowship I will develop and evaluate novel methods to assess and adjust for bias in reviews, to improve the credibility of evidence needed to make well-informed choices about health care.
Investigating The Psychosocial And Socioeconomic Predictors Of Osteoporosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$302,123.00
Summary
Osteoporosis is ranked the 7th national health priority, in recognition of the enormous impact on quality of life and greater risk of mortality following osteoporotic fracture. With few exceptions, socially disadvantaged individuals tend to have poorer health outcomes. However, little is known of psychosocial and socioeconomic determinants of osteoporosis, and barriers to preventive healthcare. This project will inform future health promotion messages targeted toward those most at risk.
The Natural History Of Unassisted Smoking Cessation In Australia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$329,595.00
Summary
The majority of ex-smokers who successfully quit have done so without using pharmaceutical or counselling support. This study will produce pioneering insights into how and why so many smokers successfully quit without formal assistance. The findings will be conveyed to government, not-for-profit groups, and tobacco cessation professionals in order to help foster favourable social climates for smoking cessation and construct empowering messages about smoking cessation via self-change strategies.
Are Cardiac Conditions In Older Women Managed Appropriately?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$289,492.00
Summary
Cardiac conditions, including heart attach, heart failure, angina and high blood pressure are very common among older Australians. They account for large proportions of deaths, morbidity and health care costs. For most of these conditions there are highly effective treatments, however there is evidence that these are not as well used as they should be. Also, for women, diagnosis may be delayed due to perceptions that heart disease is a problem mainly among men. The project is based on the Austra ....Cardiac conditions, including heart attach, heart failure, angina and high blood pressure are very common among older Australians. They account for large proportions of deaths, morbidity and health care costs. For most of these conditions there are highly effective treatments, however there is evidence that these are not as well used as they should be. Also, for women, diagnosis may be delayed due to perceptions that heart disease is a problem mainly among men. The project is based on the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health which includes more than 10,000 women, over half living in rural and remote areas. Women with cardiac conditions will be surveyed about their medical care. This information, together with data they have provided over the last 6 years (and Medicare data if the women have given their consent), will be compared with best practice guidelines established by NHMRC and the Heart Foundation. In this way the project will examine the adequacy of medical care among older women in sufficient detail to make actionable recommendations to health authorities for where improvements are needed.Read moreRead less
Improving Health Outcomes With Ageing And Diabetes: A Focus On Prevention And Management Of Cardiovascular Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$638,517.00
Summary
My research combines interventional trials, epidemiology and health services implementation research with a focus on prevention of cardiovascular disease, disability and dementia, including in the elderly and those with diabetes. With direct impact on the routine care of people who succumb to disabling vascular complications, it will evaluate treatment strategies but also influence change in health care and policy through the provision of trial evidence and evidence-based health services.
Optimising Men’s Uptake Of FIT Screening For Bowel Cancer: A Population Based Randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$552,522.00
Summary
Men are more likely to die from bowel cancer but are not participating in the National Bowel Cancer Screening program to the same extent as women. The research group has devised simple messages that their previous research shows encourages men to use the screening kit. The team will compare the use of kits among men who get the Government’s usual invitations, with a group who receive invitations with the messages for men.
Blood Pressure Lowering In Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: Evidence From Prospectively Planned Overview Analyses
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$257,271.00
Summary
This study will provide highly reliable information about the best way of managing blood pressure in people with chronic kidney disease. It will use sophisticated methods to summarize information from 25 large clinical trials and 160,000 participants to determine whether lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of heart disease and further kidney damage.The study will also determine whether currently recommended blood pressure drugs are those which will provide the most benefit.
A Multiple Health Behaviour Approach To Prevent Common And Emerging Risk Factors For Chronic Disease: Development And Evaluation Of A Novel Online Intervention For Australian Adolescents
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,768.00
Summary
Chronic disease is the major cause of death in Australia. This fellowship will develop and evaluate the first online program to simultaneously target the “Big 6” risk factors for chronic disease: smoking, physical inactivity, alcohol use, poor diet, sedentary behaviour and unhealthy sleep among adolescents. This program not only has the potential to improve the health of young Australians, but also to make a substantial public health impact by reducing the incidence of chronic disease.
A Scalable Intervention For Increasing Vigorous Physical Activity Among Older Adolescents: The ‘ Burn To Learn ’ Cluster RCT
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$636,912.00
Summary
Physical inactivity has been described as a global pandemic and only 15% of Australian adolescents are sufficiently active. The pressure to perform in major school assessments drives many older adolescents to sacrifice physical activity to maximise academic performance. Our team has designed a time-efficient solution to increase physical activity in senior high school students using high intensity interval training which will be evaluated using a cluster randomised controlled trial.