What Do Australians Think About Privacy And Participation In Epidemiological Research?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$443,015.00
Summary
There is very little research available, in Australia or internationally, about what the general public considers privacy to be; or how important privacy protection is in the context of high and low risk epidemiological studies. We also know little about what affects willingness to participate in epidemiological research. Our research will provide an evidence base, and develop resources for the legislature, the NHMRC, ethics committees and researchers.
An Australian Community Of Practice In Research In Dementia (ACcORD) To Improve Health Outcomes For People With Dementia And Their Carers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,382,819.00
Summary
The ACcORD project brings together a multidisciplinary team to improve health and quality of life of people with dementia and their carers. A program of research driven by end users will be conducted across four key themes: 1) Development of measures for assessing unmet needs; 2) Exploring barriers to service delivery; 3) Medico-legal and financial impediments to providing care; and 4) Testing innovative strategies to improve health outcomes for people with dementia and their carers.
Validation Of A Competency Assessment Method For Persons With Dementia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$580,451.00
Summary
Deciding what if any aspects of their financial affairs a person with dementia or suspected dementia can responsibly manage is a difficult process for health and legal professionals as well as for guardianship boards and tribunals. This process is often stressful for the older person, and families can find deciding when to “take over” stressful. Also, having family members manage the older person’s assets may result in family conflict. There is a small amount of overseas research examining this ....Deciding what if any aspects of their financial affairs a person with dementia or suspected dementia can responsibly manage is a difficult process for health and legal professionals as well as for guardianship boards and tribunals. This process is often stressful for the older person, and families can find deciding when to “take over” stressful. Also, having family members manage the older person’s assets may result in family conflict. There is a small amount of overseas research examining this issue. However, no comprehensive and validated method exists internationally or in Australia to determine competency in this context. We will test a methodology for assessing the capacity of individuals to manage their own financial affairs where dementia is an issue. This method involves the use of a number of reliable and well-validated instruments measuring the older person’s mental state, anxiety levels, depression, and social vulnerability combined with an interview exploring the personal circumstances of the older adult in relation to their financial affairs. We will work with the Office of the Adult Guardian in Queensland to recruit participants and to verify both the utility and usability of our methodology with stakeholders (e.g. solicitors, the Office of the Adult Guardian). A comparison will be made between the results obtained in approximately 200 financial competency cases with the competency opinions independently arrived at by the Office of the Adult Guardian in Queensland. As a result of this research, we will be able to ascertain the viability and utility of this assessment method, improve the method as per the data gathered, and ultimately seek future funding to trial the methods across multiple jurisdictions (e.g. other states) and contexts (e.g. various cultural contexts).Read moreRead less
Centre Of Research Excellence - Better Health Outcomes For Compensable Injury
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,500,000.00
Summary
Many people do not recover after a road traffic injury but develop chronic pain, disability and poor mental health. Health outcomes are worse for people who lodge a claim for injury compensation and/or engage a lawyer. The CRE will extend research and implementation beyond health services to the compensation and legal systems. Results will improve health outcomes advancing knowledge of system processes mediating recovery and implementing interventions that promote not hinder recovery.
Development Of 'omics-based Approaches To Investigate Labelling Accuracy And Legality Of Herbal Medicine In Australia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$494,883.00
Summary
Herbal medicines such as tradition Chinese medicine (TCM) are popular across Australia, but little has been done to ensure they are accurately labeled, don’t contain adulterants and that ingredients are legal. Preliminary work suggests that TCM, even those approved by regulators, contain pharmaceuticals and illegal species. Our research will develop a new two-pronged DNA and toxicological auditing toolkit with the aim of providing accurate information on herbal medicines for sale in Australia.
Ensuring The Utility And Sustainability Of Tissue Banks: Supporting Translational Research In Australia Through Informed Regulation And Community Engagement.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$481,885.00
Summary
Tissue banks provide a critical resource for translational research into the causes and treatment of many diseases affecting children and adults, such as cancer.Their success and contribution to medical research depends on addressing the many unresolved and emerging challenges that impact their work. This is the first national empirical study engaging the Australian research community, legal experts tissue donors and the public about the challenges to tissue banks to inform ethico legal regulati ....Tissue banks provide a critical resource for translational research into the causes and treatment of many diseases affecting children and adults, such as cancer.Their success and contribution to medical research depends on addressing the many unresolved and emerging challenges that impact their work. This is the first national empirical study engaging the Australian research community, legal experts tissue donors and the public about the challenges to tissue banks to inform ethico legal regulation and deliver better health care systems.Read moreRead less
Investigating The Inclusion Of Vulnerable Populations In Advance Care Planning: Developing Complex And Sensitive Public Policy
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$379,368.00
Summary
People from Indigenous, and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities, and those living with chronic disease, tell us that current Advance Care Planning (ACP) policy and practice doesn’t meet their needs. This Partnership Project will work with these communities to develop inclusive, sensitive policy and practice for ACP— so all Australians get the care they deserve. It will also establish how to include vulnerable populations in developing health policy on complex and sensitive issues.
Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the world. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, is known to be preferentially taken up into fat tissue where it can be stored for weeks, months and possibly years. Boy fat has the capacity to store large quantities of THC and the slow passive release of THC from fat cells into the blood accounts for why THC remains at detectable levels in the blood or urine for weeks after exposure to cannabis. Under n ....Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the world. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, is known to be preferentially taken up into fat tissue where it can be stored for weeks, months and possibly years. Boy fat has the capacity to store large quantities of THC and the slow passive release of THC from fat cells into the blood accounts for why THC remains at detectable levels in the blood or urine for weeks after exposure to cannabis. Under normal conditions the slow passive release of THC from fat cells has negligible effects on the user as the amounts involved are so small. However, we have recent preliminary evidence to show that conditions associated with increased fat metabolism (e.g. dieting, exercise or stress) cause a greatly enhanced release of THC from fat stores into the blood supply. Further, we have demonstrated that such levels attained promote significant behavioural and physiological changes The current proposal aims to further characterise this phenomenon. We aim to: (1) determine the length of time that THC can be stored in fat before being released into blood, (2) establish that the release of THC stored in fat tissue may be promoted by fat breakdown associated with food deprivation, stress or exercise, (3) characterise the physiological and behavioural effects of THC released from fat, (4) determine the mechanisms responsible for THC release from fat, and (5) determine if THC released from fat can cross from the bloodstream into saliva. This proposal has far reaching consequences for our understanding of the long-term effects on cannabis use on physical health and behaviour. Further, it may have major implications for the correct interpretation of analytical data from road-side saliva testing and forensic and criminal cases involving cannabis use.Read moreRead less
Difficult Decisions: A Critical Analysis Of Consent To High-risk Medical Procedures
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$320,918.00
Summary
Consent is the cornerstone of ethics as applied to healthcare and is central to the relationship between healthcare and the law. Whilst no-one would deny the importance of seeking consent to high-risk medical procedures, much depends on the practical manner in which this is done. By studying consent for high-risk procedures with the participation of patients and their health care providers, we will both test the limits of consent and find practical ways to address those limits. In doing so, the ....Consent is the cornerstone of ethics as applied to healthcare and is central to the relationship between healthcare and the law. Whilst no-one would deny the importance of seeking consent to high-risk medical procedures, much depends on the practical manner in which this is done. By studying consent for high-risk procedures with the participation of patients and their health care providers, we will both test the limits of consent and find practical ways to address those limits. In doing so, the project will re-cast consent processes in a way that better accommodates the contingencies of clinical practice in high-risk settings in which patient autonomy is often compromised. Because this reformulation of consent will be grounded in the realities of high-risk clinical practice, our findings will reflect the needs and values of relevant stakeholders (patient and health professionals) and more likely to make a significant contribution to patient care and health policy. This project also addresses what the High Court of Australia has acknowledged as widespread weaknesses in the common formulation of consent in medicine. Finally this project, which operates in an important area of overlap between the law and medicine, will show how these disciplines can work jointly to serve the interests of all Australians, and Australian society.Read moreRead less
The Role Of Learning In The Development, Maintenance, And Treatment Of Paediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$189,604.00
Summary
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in children is a severely debilitating mental health problem affecting between 0.5 and 1% of the population at any point in time. Children with OCD frequently experience high functional impairment as a result of their symptoms, including deteriorating school performance and poor peer relationships. Family life is often disrupted, causing significant distress and hardship to parents and siblings. However, little research attention has been paid to how families ....Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in children is a severely debilitating mental health problem affecting between 0.5 and 1% of the population at any point in time. Children with OCD frequently experience high functional impairment as a result of their symptoms, including deteriorating school performance and poor peer relationships. Family life is often disrupted, causing significant distress and hardship to parents and siblings. However, little research attention has been paid to how families affect and are affected by this disabling condition. This research examines the role of learning in the development, maintenance and treatment of OCD. Specifically, the study aims to: 1. explore the way in which children with OCD process threatening information 2. investigate the influence of parents on children's processing of OCD-relevant information 3. develop and implement the world's first randomised control trial of cognitive-behavioural plus parent training (CBT + PT) for childhood OCD 4. evaluate parent-assisted treatment in comparison to a standard cognitive-behavioural treatment (CBT) and a placebo control 5. examine the long-term maintenance of each type of treatment The outcomes of this project will be: 1. an improved understanding of OCD in children, and their families 2. an increased knowledge of the relationship between parenting processes and OCD symptomatology 3. the development and dissemination of an evidence-based treatment for childhood OCDRead moreRead less