Flash Point in the Third Sector: A longitudinal follow up study of the clergy care 'battle' within The Salvation Army. Increasing community demands for social support from clergy, along with organisational pressures is thought to underlie the repeated observation that clergy work is highly stressful. The Salvation Army specifically is alarmed by current low retention and recruitment rates.
This innovative longitudinal study of clergy well-being and productivity uses a participatory action re ....Flash Point in the Third Sector: A longitudinal follow up study of the clergy care 'battle' within The Salvation Army. Increasing community demands for social support from clergy, along with organisational pressures is thought to underlie the repeated observation that clergy work is highly stressful. The Salvation Army specifically is alarmed by current low retention and recruitment rates.
This innovative longitudinal study of clergy well-being and productivity uses a participatory action research design to follow-up army officers over a one year period, during which time one-third will be required to relocate to various Australian states in accord with their vocation. Findings will be important for increasing awareness and implications for clergy care in both The Salvation Army and clergy universally.
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Investing and Cashing in Social Capital: Using denominational differences among Christian churches to identify the costs and benefits of different network patterns. How much do Christian churches contribute to strengthening Australia's social fabric? Do different denominations contribute in different ways, with some more concerned with relationships within the congregation while others are more concerned with reaching out to the wider community, crossing boundaries of age, class, gender, religi ....Investing and Cashing in Social Capital: Using denominational differences among Christian churches to identify the costs and benefits of different network patterns. How much do Christian churches contribute to strengthening Australia's social fabric? Do different denominations contribute in different ways, with some more concerned with relationships within the congregation while others are more concerned with reaching out to the wider community, crossing boundaries of age, class, gender, religious affiliation and ethnicity? This project utilises the large National Church Life Survey (NCLS) databases to assess the contribution to social capital of churches across Australia. NCLS Research is the world leader in surveys of church life and this project will form a new basis for international comparisons with the USA, England and New Zealand.Read moreRead less
Improving aged care with memory conversations. This project aims to investigate conversational techniques known as "elaborative reminiscing" as a tool for aged care staff to practice relationship-based care in their day-to-day interactions with older clients. The project expects to generate new knowledge about which specific techniques increase reminiscing during routine care, and how these tools have ongoing benefits for aged care clients. Expected outcomes include an evidence-based training pr ....Improving aged care with memory conversations. This project aims to investigate conversational techniques known as "elaborative reminiscing" as a tool for aged care staff to practice relationship-based care in their day-to-day interactions with older clients. The project expects to generate new knowledge about which specific techniques increase reminiscing during routine care, and how these tools have ongoing benefits for aged care clients. Expected outcomes include an evidence-based training program and improved understanding of facilitators and barriers to meeting aged care clients' social needs. This should provide significant benefits by improving wellbeing of clients in aged care, reducing hospitalisations, and enabling aged care providers to meet new industry standards.Read moreRead less
Developing the Framework for Locally Based Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue. This project will: strengthen Australia's multicultural fabric and social cohesion; enhance Australia's international reputation as an effective multicultural society able to develop programmes for locally based interfaith and intercultural dialogue; boost the prospects for a successful Fifth Parliament of World Religions; provide governments guidelines for multicultural and interreligious community based dialogue ....Developing the Framework for Locally Based Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue. This project will: strengthen Australia's multicultural fabric and social cohesion; enhance Australia's international reputation as an effective multicultural society able to develop programmes for locally based interfaith and intercultural dialogue; boost the prospects for a successful Fifth Parliament of World Religions; provide governments guidelines for multicultural and interreligious community based dialogue initiatives; endow faith communities with a greater capacity to help defuse potential tensions within Australian society and support at-risk communities; establish a solid framework for future research on the role of religion and culture in society.Read moreRead less
Subjective wellbeing and depression in Australia: A longitudinal study involving people in remote locations. This project is an extension of the Australian Unity Wellbeing surveys currently conducted as in a partnership between the industry partner and Deakin University. The project will involve the participants of current cross-sectional surveys into a longitudinal study. There are three aims: To investigate the ability of decreased levels of subjective wellbeing to signal depression; To tr ....Subjective wellbeing and depression in Australia: A longitudinal study involving people in remote locations. This project is an extension of the Australian Unity Wellbeing surveys currently conducted as in a partnership between the industry partner and Deakin University. The project will involve the participants of current cross-sectional surveys into a longitudinal study. There are three aims: To investigate the ability of decreased levels of subjective wellbeing to signal depression; To track the normal course of subjective wellbeing recovery following a life event that has caused it to decrease; To monitor the subjective wellbeing of rural-remote Australians. These outcomes will provide further understanding of depression and the wellbeing of Australians living in remote setting.Read moreRead less
History of the Brotherhood of St Laurence, 1930-2003. This project will research and write the history of the Melbourne based Anglican welfare organisation, the Brotherhood of St Laurence since its foundation. It will be a multi-focussed history, which will reassess the Brotherhood's origins in the social divisions of the depression, examine its culture, including the interaction between its religious and secular missions, investigate its record of innovative social policy and service delivery, ....History of the Brotherhood of St Laurence, 1930-2003. This project will research and write the history of the Melbourne based Anglican welfare organisation, the Brotherhood of St Laurence since its foundation. It will be a multi-focussed history, which will reassess the Brotherhood's origins in the social divisions of the depression, examine its culture, including the interaction between its religious and secular missions, investigate its record of innovative social policy and service delivery, and interrogate its changing relationship with the local communities where it has a physical presence. The research will include interviews with present and former staff. The age of some of these makes this aspect of the research urgent.Read moreRead less
Finding meaning in the experience of dementia: The place of spiritual reminiscence work. This project will use spiritual reminiscence work to study the experience of dementia and the spiritual dimension focussing on how people with dementia find meaning and develop coping strategies. Dementia is a significant issue for an ageing society where estimates of prevalence indicate a rise of 254% from 1995-2041. The greatest challenge to people diagnosed with dementia is their search for meaning lead ....Finding meaning in the experience of dementia: The place of spiritual reminiscence work. This project will use spiritual reminiscence work to study the experience of dementia and the spiritual dimension focussing on how people with dementia find meaning and develop coping strategies. Dementia is a significant issue for an ageing society where estimates of prevalence indicate a rise of 254% from 1995-2041. The greatest challenge to people diagnosed with dementia is their search for meaning leading to the development of effective coping strategies as their memory loss and confusion progresses. Outcomes will impact on persons with dementia, staff and carers, with improved quality of life for allRead moreRead less
Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back. Episodic Volunteering for Non-Profits. This project seeks to improve the policy and practice of volunteer involvement in the non-profit sector. Non-profit organisations rely on volunteers, and their capacity to deliver vital community services is threatened by the decrease in long-term, continuous volunteering and increase in episodic (short-term, flexible) volunteering. The interdisciplinary project aims to use mixed methods (qualitative interviews and quantitat ....Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back. Episodic Volunteering for Non-Profits. This project seeks to improve the policy and practice of volunteer involvement in the non-profit sector. Non-profit organisations rely on volunteers, and their capacity to deliver vital community services is threatened by the decrease in long-term, continuous volunteering and increase in episodic (short-term, flexible) volunteering. The interdisciplinary project aims to use mixed methods (qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys) and multiple perspectives (volunteers and staff who manage them) to develop an episodic volunteering definition; to explore the economic and social impact of episodic volunteering, and to develop a theoretical model of volunteer retention. The findings are intended to provide an evidence base and recommendations for non-profit sector policy and practice.Read moreRead less
Predicting the evolution of psychosocial and cognitive difficulties in epilepsy: A preventive approach. Chronic epilepsy is associated with significant psychosocial and cognitive difficulties. Research has neglected to examine how these problems evolve from the time of a first seizure, limiting our ability to predict ?at risk? patients and apply evidence-based preventive strategies. We will follow a cohort of 90 first seizure patients over two years in a prospective longitudinal investigation, m ....Predicting the evolution of psychosocial and cognitive difficulties in epilepsy: A preventive approach. Chronic epilepsy is associated with significant psychosocial and cognitive difficulties. Research has neglected to examine how these problems evolve from the time of a first seizure, limiting our ability to predict ?at risk? patients and apply evidence-based preventive strategies. We will follow a cohort of 90 first seizure patients over two years in a prospective longitudinal investigation, mapping psychosocial and cognitive change. This study entails a multidisciplinary collaboration with industry, applying innovative psychosocial and cognitive measures that will ultimately improve the detection of adverse pharmaceutical side-effects. The project is an international first, and will provide an important foundation for implementing preventive healthcare.Read moreRead less
Understanding the school as an intergroup system: Implications for school reform and improving student and staff outcomes. This project applies a novel social psychological understanding of group processes and intergroup relations to Australian schools. The result is a new and promising framework that will be trialed and evaluated through this project. The central idea is that one's group memberships and associated norms and practices directly impact on the attitudes and behaviours of individ ....Understanding the school as an intergroup system: Implications for school reform and improving student and staff outcomes. This project applies a novel social psychological understanding of group processes and intergroup relations to Australian schools. The result is a new and promising framework that will be trialed and evaluated through this project. The central idea is that one's group memberships and associated norms and practices directly impact on the attitudes and behaviours of individual members. The aim is to change the relevant groups within a school and how they relate in order to build a more positive school climate and higher school identification and as a result, improve school outcomes (e.g., attendance, academic achievement, well-being).Read moreRead less