Health-related physical activity: Psychological determinants, consequences, and experimental interventions. Increasingly sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity constitute a worldwide health problem. Despite well-known benefits of physical activity, preventive-medicine interventions have had limited success. Instead, we propose an innovative psychological approach, emphasising quality of subjective experience (flow), motivation, physical self-concept, and the transtheoretical model of beha ....Health-related physical activity: Psychological determinants, consequences, and experimental interventions. Increasingly sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity constitute a worldwide health problem. Despite well-known benefits of physical activity, preventive-medicine interventions have had limited success. Instead, we propose an innovative psychological approach, emphasising quality of subjective experience (flow), motivation, physical self-concept, and the transtheoretical model of behavioural change. We propose psychological determinants of physical activity and a new experimental intervention to significantly enhance health-related physical activity. The research breaks new theoretical ground, extending and integrating different theoretical perspectives, offering a synergy between qualitative and quantitative research traditions, and providing practical benefits to mental and physical health and to quality of life.Read moreRead less
Career and practice choices for Australian medical students: How, what, where and why - Stage 2 of a longitudinal study. The well publicised doctor shortage in Australia makes understanding how and where future doctors want to work critical to planning tomorrow's medical workforce and addressing access problems for Australians in health areas of need. This large national cohort study will provide valuable insights into how future doctors wish to practise and how these choices and determining fac ....Career and practice choices for Australian medical students: How, what, where and why - Stage 2 of a longitudinal study. The well publicised doctor shortage in Australia makes understanding how and where future doctors want to work critical to planning tomorrow's medical workforce and addressing access problems for Australians in health areas of need. This large national cohort study will provide valuable insights into how future doctors wish to practise and how these choices and determining factors change over time. Findings from this study will assist those who educate and train our medical students and those who plan our future health workforce to better meet our community health needs, especially those currently with reduced access to medical care. Read moreRead less
Development and evaluation of a motorcycle training intervention. In 2002, motorcyclists and pillions accounted for 224 road deaths in Australia - 13% of the total road toll although motorcycles accounted for less than 3% of all registered vehicles. They also accounted for nearly 20% of serious injuries. This collaborative project aims to reduce motorcycle crashes through an innovative training intervention focusing on the attitudinal and motivational factors influencing rider behaviour. The in ....Development and evaluation of a motorcycle training intervention. In 2002, motorcyclists and pillions accounted for 224 road deaths in Australia - 13% of the total road toll although motorcycles accounted for less than 3% of all registered vehicles. They also accounted for nearly 20% of serious injuries. This collaborative project aims to reduce motorcycle crashes through an innovative training intervention focusing on the attitudinal and motivational factors influencing rider behaviour. The intervention will be firmly grounded in theory and complement existing training frameworks to produce a highly transferable resource that can be adopted by other rider training centres both in Australia and overseas.Read moreRead less
Psychological determinants of physical activity across the life span and critical life-stage transitions: Cross-sectional, longitudinal causal modelling, and experimental interventions. Increasingly, sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity are major worldwide health problems. Despite well-established health benefits of physical activity, existing medical-oriented interventions have had limited effects on increasing population-levels of activity. We propose a psychological approach, emphasiz ....Psychological determinants of physical activity across the life span and critical life-stage transitions: Cross-sectional, longitudinal causal modelling, and experimental interventions. Increasingly, sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity are major worldwide health problems. Despite well-established health benefits of physical activity, existing medical-oriented interventions have had limited effects on increasing population-levels of activity. We propose a psychological approach, emphasizing quality of subjective experience (flow), motivation, physical self-concept, and the transtheoretical model of change. We will evaluate psychological determinants of health-related physical activity and implement experimental physical activity enhancing interventions at two critical life stages: for late-adolescents and older Australians. The proposal advances theory and methodology in a National Research Priority area, providing practical solutions to important societal problems with socioeconomic benefits for Australia.Read moreRead less
Career Choices for Australian Medical Students: How, what, where and why - A longitudinal study. The well publicised doctor shortage in Australia makes understanding how and where future doctors want to work critical to planning tomorrow's medical workforce and addressing access problems for Australians in health areas of need. This large national study will provide valuable insights about how future doctors wish to practise and how these choices and determining factors change over time. Finding ....Career Choices for Australian Medical Students: How, what, where and why - A longitudinal study. The well publicised doctor shortage in Australia makes understanding how and where future doctors want to work critical to planning tomorrow's medical workforce and addressing access problems for Australians in health areas of need. This large national study will provide valuable insights about how future doctors wish to practise and how these choices and determining factors change over time. Findings from this study will assist those who educate and train our medical students and those who plan our future health workforce to better meet our community health needs, especially those currently with reduced access to medical care. Read moreRead less
Optimising Performance Under Pressure: Testing and Developing Athletes' Attentional Focus Strategies. Sport has long played a significant role in Australia's cultural identity, but the economic value of this industry must also be recognised. Australia has invested heavily in supporting our athletes, teams and coaches, who have achieved high levels of success in international sports. In using innovative technology to optimise performance, the research has the potential to enhance Australia's inte ....Optimising Performance Under Pressure: Testing and Developing Athletes' Attentional Focus Strategies. Sport has long played a significant role in Australia's cultural identity, but the economic value of this industry must also be recognised. Australia has invested heavily in supporting our athletes, teams and coaches, who have achieved high levels of success in international sports. In using innovative technology to optimise performance, the research has the potential to enhance Australia's international reputation in the sport sciences, and may well prove essential to our future competitiveness. In promoting innovative, evidence-based coaching and psychological skills training that develop and foster human talent, the project will also assist strategic initiatives to increase community participation in sport.Read moreRead less
Moving On: Researching a drama based program designed to assist survivors of institutional childhood abuse to experience more fulfilling lives. In the past decade serious personal, social and economic consequences arising from the abuse of children in government and church institutions have been identified in a number of developed countries. In Queensland extensive counselling provided by the Industry Partner has ameliorated but not resolved the problems of the on-going trauma and negative exper ....Moving On: Researching a drama based program designed to assist survivors of institutional childhood abuse to experience more fulfilling lives. In the past decade serious personal, social and economic consequences arising from the abuse of children in government and church institutions have been identified in a number of developed countries. In Queensland extensive counselling provided by the Industry Partner has ameliorated but not resolved the problems of the on-going trauma and negative experiences of these adult survivors. The aim of this project is to research the effectiveness of a range of innovative drama techniques and theatre performance with ex-residents of institutions designed to empower them to experience more fulfilling lives, and to assist other survivors to do so.Read moreRead less