Indigenous Birthing In An Urban Setting: The IBUS Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,345,514.00
Summary
Our novel and exciting multi-agency project will provide maternity care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women living in Brisbane. It will help ‘close the gap’ in maternal and infant health outcomes and provide much needed evidence-based information to redesign services across the country. Three organisations are involved as equal partners: the Institute of Urban Indigenous Health; the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service; and the Mater Mother’s Hospital.
Leveraging Women’s Health Data Resources To Reduce Chronic Disease Risk And Extend Healthspan
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$763,845.00
Summary
Chronic diseases, such as osteoporosis and asthma, pose serious risks for Australian women. Reproductive health is central to women’s use of health services across life and is linked with the risk of chronic diseases. This research will build on two decades of linked data in Australia’s leading study of women’s health. It aims to guide development of women’s use of reproductive and maternal health services as an opportunity to prevent chronic diseases and improve long-term health.
Novel Point-of-care Screening And Treatment Interventions To Improve Pregnancy Outcomes And To Prevent Cervical Cancer In High-burden, Low-income Settings
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$470,144.00
Summary
I lead newly-funded research grants worth nearly $10 million to conduct novel intervention trials in sexual and reproductive health. These projects build on the extensive collaborations and the robust nationwide network of clinical field sites that I have established in Papua New Guinea during the past five years. My research will lead to improved maternal and neonatal health outcomes, and prevent premature deaths due to cervical cancer, in high-burden, low-income settings worldwide.
Routine Screening For Intimate Partner Violence In Antenatal Clinics: A Qualitative Study Of How Aboriginal And Non-Aboriginal Women Decide Whether To Disclose Abuse They Have Experienced And Contributors To The Impact Of Screening.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$400,623.00
Summary
Intimate partner violence of women is a serious, widespread and hidden problem, a lead contributor to health problems and linked to significant complications of pregnancy. Practice guidelines suggest that antenatal health care providers routinely ask all pregnant women whether they are experiencing abuse.This study will determine how women make choices to tell about abuse they have experienced and how this strategy can help. The experiences of Aboriginal women will have particular emphasis in th ....Intimate partner violence of women is a serious, widespread and hidden problem, a lead contributor to health problems and linked to significant complications of pregnancy. Practice guidelines suggest that antenatal health care providers routinely ask all pregnant women whether they are experiencing abuse.This study will determine how women make choices to tell about abuse they have experienced and how this strategy can help. The experiences of Aboriginal women will have particular emphasis in the study.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100704
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$426,816.00
Summary
Reframing knowledge of preconception lifestyles: A socioecological approach. This project aims to reframe our understanding of women’s preconception lifestyle health using a novel, socioecological approach. This project expects to generate new knowledge on societal views of weight stigma for preconception women and identify policy stakeholders’ views on integrating preconception into healthy lifestyle policies. Expected outcomes of this project include a new theory- and evidence-informed concept ....Reframing knowledge of preconception lifestyles: A socioecological approach. This project aims to reframe our understanding of women’s preconception lifestyle health using a novel, socioecological approach. This project expects to generate new knowledge on societal views of weight stigma for preconception women and identify policy stakeholders’ views on integrating preconception into healthy lifestyle policies. Expected outcomes of this project include a new theory- and evidence-informed conceptual model for preconception lifestyle health that transcends the current focus on personal responsibility. This should provide significant benefits, such as informing policy to drive systems changes around preconception lifestyle health with concomitant cultural benefits to Australians, leading to improved population health.Read moreRead less
Investigation Of Factors That Influence Aboriginal Maternal And Infant Health Outcomes: Improvements To Be Achieved With The Introduction Of Aboriginal Health Workers Into Tertiary Care
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$590,790.00
Summary
Closing the gap in perinatal outcomes between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women requires improvement of antenatal and postnatal care. To date, no Aboriginal Health Workers (AHW) are involved in the provision of care at tertiary hospitals. This study will introduce AHWs in tertiary setting to improve cultural safety of the current biomedical model, assess their role in supporting perinatal care, and define the best model of care for Aboriginal women at high risk of pregnancy complications.
Elder Abuse: A Longitudinal Prospective Study of Perpetrators and Victims. This project aims to improve the quality of the available data and fill major gaps in knowledge about elder abuse in Australia. The study is significant as it aims to generate new knowledge about the perpetrators and victims of abuse and neglect of older women. The Council of Attorneys’ General of Australia has explicitly prioritised this need for further research on the population prevalence of elder abuse. The anticipat ....Elder Abuse: A Longitudinal Prospective Study of Perpetrators and Victims. This project aims to improve the quality of the available data and fill major gaps in knowledge about elder abuse in Australia. The study is significant as it aims to generate new knowledge about the perpetrators and victims of abuse and neglect of older women. The Council of Attorneys’ General of Australia has explicitly prioritised this need for further research on the population prevalence of elder abuse. The anticipated project outcomes will be to identify the prevalence, causes and consequences of elder abuse in Australia, with the intended benefit of the development of reliable and validated estimates of the population prevalence of elder abuse and identify the early life and current circumstances of women who experience elder abuse.
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Beyond Motherhood: A 27-year Follow-up Of The Mental Health Of Mid-age Women.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,755,651.00
Summary
There have been few studies of the causes and consequences of anxiety disorders yet they are disabiling, chronic and impair life prospects particularly for women. Environmental factors hold the greatest promise to understanding their natural history and for mitigating their effects. This proposal is for a 27 year follow up of women participating in the Mater University Study of Pregnancy to understand the development of anxiety disorders and comorbid depression and substance use.
Reducing Maternal Depression Two Years After Birth: Follow-up Of A Cohort Within A Community Randomised Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$359,920.00
Summary
Maternal depression following childbirth is a significant public health issue. Previous Victorian research has found that 15-17% of women experience depression 6-9 months after birth, and of those depressed then, 30% are likely still to be depressed or depressed again two years after the birth. In 1998 16 Victorian municipalities began participating in the first ever community randomised trial of prevention and early intervention in depression - PRISM (Program of Resources, Information and Suppo ....Maternal depression following childbirth is a significant public health issue. Previous Victorian research has found that 15-17% of women experience depression 6-9 months after birth, and of those depressed then, 30% are likely still to be depressed or depressed again two years after the birth. In 1998 16 Victorian municipalities began participating in the first ever community randomised trial of prevention and early intervention in depression - PRISM (Program of Resources, Information and Support for Mothers). PRISM involves eight areas participating in a range of primary care and community based strategies designed to mobilise appropriate community support for mothers and children with a view to reducing maternal depression and improving maternal physical health and recovery after birth. The other eight areas are participating as comparison communities. Evaluation in PRISM is assessing major health outcomes for mothers and wider community benefits (flow-on effects) of the intervention program. Process and impact evaluation has also been undertaken to document and assess the different program elements and enhance the reproducibility of the program if successful. All women giving birth in the 16 areas are currently being surveyed six months after birth (from August 2000-February 2002). Within PRISM it is now proposed to follow-up women again two years after birth, to assess the impact of the intervention program on: *recovery from depression among the group of mothers in both intervention and comparison areas who were depressed six months after birth; and *the overall prevalence of depression and physical ill-health in all mothers. This follow-up study has the capacity to provide infromation on the poorly documented natural history of maternal depression from birth through the next two years in a large sample, including both urban and rural residents.Read moreRead less
Uncovering The Hidden Impacts And Costs Of Exposure To Intimate Partner Violence In Childhood: A 20-year Cohort Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,595,473.00
Summary
Intimate partner violence (IPV) and adverse childhood experiences are common, and cluster within families. This longitudinal study will improve understanding of intergenerational impacts and costs of IPV and provide evidence regarding strategies that may reduce the risk of poor mental health in adult life for the more than 1 in 3 Australian children growing up in households where IPV is occurring.