Evaluating the impact of neuromusculoskeletal impairment on athletic performance. Sufficient physical activity is required for good health. Competitive sport is a culturally significant physical activity in Australia and the prospect of participating in fair competition is known to drive participation. In Paralympic sport, fair competition is enabled by classification, which aims to minimise the impact of impairments on competition outcome. Unfortunately classification methods are not evidence-b ....Evaluating the impact of neuromusculoskeletal impairment on athletic performance. Sufficient physical activity is required for good health. Competitive sport is a culturally significant physical activity in Australia and the prospect of participating in fair competition is known to drive participation. In Paralympic sport, fair competition is enabled by classification, which aims to minimise the impact of impairments on competition outcome. Unfortunately classification methods are not evidence-based, reducing confidence in the process and discouraging participation. This project will inform the development of the first evidence-based classification system, creating the possibility that, in the future, the prospect of truly fair competition may motivate sports participation among Australians, regardless of disability.Read moreRead less
Improving determinants of Australian sports talent identification and development: a multi-disciplinary approach. Sport is important to many Australians. Our sport successes enhance our national identity, generate community pride and attract mega sport events. Currently our sport talent identification and development (TID) systems have been surpassed by our international rivals who borrowed from and improved our knowledge. This project will help regain Australia's international advantage and aga ....Improving determinants of Australian sports talent identification and development: a multi-disciplinary approach. Sport is important to many Australians. Our sport successes enhance our national identity, generate community pride and attract mega sport events. Currently our sport talent identification and development (TID) systems have been surpassed by our international rivals who borrowed from and improved our knowledge. This project will help regain Australia's international advantage and again make Australian TID the international benchmark. Results will highlight the role of TID practices in improving recreational participation and maximising, attracting, developing and retaining sport talent. This will result in improved use of sports limited TID funding by providing greater understanding of factors that influence elite selection and sport development.Read moreRead less
Learning and mentoring in high performance sports coaching. Effective coaching is held responsible for Australia's international sporting performance. Yet little is known about how best elite sports coaches learn effective and innovative high-performance coaching practices. This project aims to identify and contribute to effective elite sport coaching development in Australia. This will be achieved through understanding how best current elite coaches learn through their coaching work. Implicatio ....Learning and mentoring in high performance sports coaching. Effective coaching is held responsible for Australia's international sporting performance. Yet little is known about how best elite sports coaches learn effective and innovative high-performance coaching practices. This project aims to identify and contribute to effective elite sport coaching development in Australia. This will be achieved through understanding how best current elite coaches learn through their coaching work. Implications here extend across sport and to other domains of human activity. The contribution of sport to Australian national identity is well established and the economic benefit of sport and more specifically sporting success in Australia is also well recognised.Read moreRead less
Social Impact and Connection Outcomes Associated with Community Sport. Outcomes of social connection from community sport are widely touted and supported to exist. However, we know little about how social infrastructure actually delivers these benefits. It is difficult to understand and develop practices that organisations can use to maximise the outcomes of sport participation. This research aims to investigate how social infrastructure delivers social connection outcomes associated with commun ....Social Impact and Connection Outcomes Associated with Community Sport. Outcomes of social connection from community sport are widely touted and supported to exist. However, we know little about how social infrastructure actually delivers these benefits. It is difficult to understand and develop practices that organisations can use to maximise the outcomes of sport participation. This research aims to investigate how social infrastructure delivers social connection outcomes associated with community sport. Expected outcomes include novel practice based tools and guidance for community groups to enhance social connection outcomes and new understanding about the role of social infrastructure in enhancing community connection. Improved social connection is expected to improve resilience and community wellbeing.
Read moreRead less
Optimising the spring in your step to enhance footwear design. This project aims to examine how the nervous system adjusts the mechanical function of our feet across a spectrum of speeds, from slow running through to maximal effort sprinting. The proposed research will explore how the nervous system controls the function of the foot to meet the ever-varying demands of locomotion in the real-world. Expected outcomes of this project are to determine if running shoes help or hinder the natural spri ....Optimising the spring in your step to enhance footwear design. This project aims to examine how the nervous system adjusts the mechanical function of our feet across a spectrum of speeds, from slow running through to maximal effort sprinting. The proposed research will explore how the nervous system controls the function of the foot to meet the ever-varying demands of locomotion in the real-world. Expected outcomes of this project are to determine if running shoes help or hinder the natural spring-like function of the foot. It will explain a conceptually novel design allowing shoes to support our feet, whilst harnessing the energetic benefits of the foot's spring-like function. This research has the potential to revolutionise athletic footwear design and has direct implications for enhanced performance in running athletes.Read moreRead less
Citizen engagement: Listening to citizens' views about Australia's health system and prevention. This project will yield new and important perspectives from citizens on preventive health and health promotion, which can be used to develop better targeted and more effective prevention and promotion policies and strategies. Citizens views will be investigated in relation to vexed issues such as: new approaches to financing and program delivery, reorienting the health insurance sector, reorienting ....Citizen engagement: Listening to citizens' views about Australia's health system and prevention. This project will yield new and important perspectives from citizens on preventive health and health promotion, which can be used to develop better targeted and more effective prevention and promotion policies and strategies. Citizens views will be investigated in relation to vexed issues such as: new approaches to financing and program delivery, reorienting the health insurance sector, reorienting the health system to focus more on prevention and health promotion, improving current approaches of consumer participation in prevention and chronic disease management, tackling broader issues in public policy trade-offs between health and non-health, diversifying workforce roles and involving health professionals in prevention and promotion.Read moreRead less
Long term economic impacts of disease on older workers to 2030: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. This project will fill substantial gaps in Australian evidence about the health conditions of the future that will keep older workers out of the labour market and diminish their own immediate and long-term livings standards, thereby reducing funds available to government. We will address one of the most significant issues resulting from the fundamental changes t ....Long term economic impacts of disease on older workers to 2030: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. This project will fill substantial gaps in Australian evidence about the health conditions of the future that will keep older workers out of the labour market and diminish their own immediate and long-term livings standards, thereby reducing funds available to government. We will address one of the most significant issues resulting from the fundamental changes to the demography of the Australian labour market and one that is regularly raised by the government following the release of the 2002 and 2007 Intergenerational Reports. This project will also examine the interventions that would improve the health of older workers and increase labour force participation over the long term.Read moreRead less
The role of muscle and tendon mechanics in human muscle damage. This project aims to examine what sort of forceful stretch is required to cause exercise induced muscle damage (EIMD) in humans and how muscles adapt to limit future damage. Specifically, the project aims to examine how the elastic properties of tendons might reduce muscle damage by buffering stretch in muscle fibres. Using cutting-edge ultrasound imaging technology, human muscle strain in different regions of muscle will be examine ....The role of muscle and tendon mechanics in human muscle damage. This project aims to examine what sort of forceful stretch is required to cause exercise induced muscle damage (EIMD) in humans and how muscles adapt to limit future damage. Specifically, the project aims to examine how the elastic properties of tendons might reduce muscle damage by buffering stretch in muscle fibres. Using cutting-edge ultrasound imaging technology, human muscle strain in different regions of muscle will be examined to quantify the temporal relationship between muscle power absorption and EIMD. The importance of muscle and tendon mechanical properties in buffering the muscle from potential damage will be gauged. This could be a critical mechanism for preventing EIMD in exercising humans.Read moreRead less
Driving Change: Using Emergency Department Data To Reduce Alcohol-related Harm
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,468,026.00
Summary
The proposed project is a system change within partner emergency departments, providing them the information and tools to act on both risky alcohol consumption in individual patients and the sources of alcohol in the community which cause the harm they experience. Most importantly, the proposed public health interventions act as a tool for emergency departments to regularly raise awareness with the public and policymakers regarding the impact of alcohol on patients, clinicians and hospitals.
Effectiveness of social skills training for children with autism. Our industry partner, Aspect Australia, is one of the world's largest providers of educational and other services for people with autism. The demonstration of effectiveness of the program in Aspect classes will likely lead to widespread use and benefit of the program in the education sector nationally and internationally. This in turn would lead to potential lessening of disability in children with autism with improvements in thei ....Effectiveness of social skills training for children with autism. Our industry partner, Aspect Australia, is one of the world's largest providers of educational and other services for people with autism. The demonstration of effectiveness of the program in Aspect classes will likely lead to widespread use and benefit of the program in the education sector nationally and internationally. This in turn would lead to potential lessening of disability in children with autism with improvements in their mental health and significant cost savings to the community.Read moreRead less