The Women’s Wellness After Cancer Program: A National Multisite Randomised Clinical Trial Of An E-Health Enabled Lifestyle Modification Intervention To Improve The Health And Wellness Of Women After Cancer Treatment
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,209,031.00
Summary
Advances in diagnostics, treatment and clinical practice have transformed some cancers from fatal to chronic and sometimes curable diseases. Many Australian women now live with the effects of cancer treatment and are at risk of cancer recurrence, chronic disease and poor quality of life. The Womens Wellness After Cancer Program aims to maximise the wellbeing of women treated for cancer, utilising internet and Smartphone technology to support them to live healthier lifestyles.
InforMS – An Electronic Patient-driven Health Care Model With Digital Biomarker Monitoring That Improves The Clinical Care Of People With MS.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$703,705.00
Summary
Clinicians are lacking timely and sensitive data to detect treatment failure in MS. We will create a paradigm shift in MS care by developing an electronic patient-centred health care system, ‘InforMS’, that becomes a “one-stop-shop” management system which empowers and activates people with MS to collect invaluable time-sensitive monitoring data. We will test InforMS on around 3,000 people with MS to measure uptake and ensure it supports health improvements and changes to clinical practice.
Development And Evaluation Of A Tailored Fatigue Self-management Behavioural Intervention For Patients With Advanced Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$157,836.00
Summary
Fatigue (tiredness and exhaustion) is one of the most distressing symptoms experienced by 74% of patients with advanced cancer. This research program aims to develop a sustainable intervention for enabling patients to use self-management strategies, thereby reducing the severity and impact of fatigue.
Patient non-compliance, such as the failure to take prescribed medicines, reduces the potential benefits of healthcare and represents a major cost to the public healthcare system. A financial incentive for patient compliance is one method which has been used to attempt to reduce this public health cost. However, the use of financial incentives has been viewed as unethical. This thesis aims to critically evaluate the main ethical objections to the use of such incentives.
The aim of the Healthy Living after Cancer program is to evaluate the integration of a telephone-delivered lifestyle intervention for cancer survivors into the existing Cancer Council 13 11 20 information and support telephone service offered by Cancer Councils South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. The program is available to patients treated for any cancer with curative intent within the last five years, and who have completed treatment.
Improving Implementation Of Guideline Recommendations For Early Detection And Prevention Of Cancer In General Practice
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$277,205.00
Summary
An intervention targeting key barriers to preventive care will be implemented in 3 general practices. A multiple baseline design will be used to evaluate the success of the intervention. Key outcomes will include the proportion of eligible patients within each practice for whom 3 or more health risk behaviours have been assessed in accordance with guidelines recommendations; and the proportion of eligible patients who have been screened appropriately for breast, cervical and bowel cancer.
A Co-Designed Patient-Centred Model-of-Care For Gestational Diabetes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$128,224.00
Summary
Gestational diabetes affects more than 1 in 10 women and is becoming more common. It increases the risk of complications to the pregnancy and may also adversely affect the future health of the mother and her children. There has been little prior research into the best system of education and pregnancy care for women with gestational diabetes. We will work with these women to develop an innovative model for pregnancy care that provides individualised guidance to impact health positively.
This award will allow Associate Professor Marie Pirotta to continue her work in establishing whether the complementary medicines widely used in our community for cancer are actually effective and safe. Her research plans include a clinical trial of acupuncture for arm swelling after breast cancer surgery and of the nutrient lycopene, found in tomatoes, for symptoms in men after treatment for prostate cancer.