$2.1 million in new funding for Deakin health research

Professor Craig Olsson, SEED Lifespan and School of Psychology

Professor Craig Olsson and his research team are working with rural Victorian communities to co-design a new Comprehensive Monitoring System (CMS) that collects population data from early childhood to young adulthood. This CMS is intended to empower community groups to advocate for place-based changes to health, education and employment systems that directly improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.

In partnership with the Victorian Department of Education, the Municipal Association of Victoria, North Central Mallee, Greater Mildura and Yarra Ranges Regions, his project will examine the extent to which place-based CMS data collections can assist communities to identify trends and deliver interventions at critical developmental stages so as to promote mental health and wellbeing in young populations.

‘This project will extend CMS testing to larger and more complex areas (rural, regional and metropolitan), empowering communities with their own data to drive social change,’ says Professor Olsson.

The research team includes Professor Matthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Dr Christopher Greenwood, Professor Suzanne Robinson, Professor Peter Butterworth and Dr Kate Lycett from Deakin, alongside Emeritus Professor Stephen Zubrick, Professor Melissa Green and Associate Professor Rebecca Glauert from the University of Western Australia and Martin Guhn from the University of British Columbia.

Dr Christina Zorbas, Institute for Health Transformation (IHT) and School of Health and Social Development

Food insecurity – the lack of access to affordable, healthy food – is a critical risk factor for malnutrition and related chronic diseases. In Australia, the primary community response to food insecurity has been food relief programs, however these programs face significant constraints, including limited funding, reliance on donated foods with low nutritional quality, lack of culturally appropriate foods and potential stigmatisation of recipients.

Food vouchers are emerging as an alternative model to provide priority communities in Australia with better access to affordable, healthy and sustainably sourced foods. This new research project led by Dr Christina Zorbas will evaluate The Grocer Gift and Merri Food Hub’s food voucher programs to fill critical knowledge and data gaps regarding the implementation and impacts of community-based food voucher programs in Australia.

This project partners closely with The Community Grocer, Open Food Network, cohealth and VicHealth, working together to advance the evidence base for new food security solutions, such as these food voucher programs, that better connect communities with healthy foods and each other.

‘Partners like The Community Grocer are leading the implementation of these types of programs nationally, and we get to help unpack some of the benefits in terms of nutrition, health and social connection as well as broader economic and societal outcomes’, says Dr Zorbas.

The research team includes Associate Professor Jaithri Ananthapavan, Dr Rebecca Lindberg, Professor Kathryn Backholer, Professor Liliana Orellana and Dr Anna Chapman alongside Professor Anna Peeters from VicHealth, Professor Shu Wen Ng from the University of North Carolina and Dr Suzanne Kleve from Monash University.

Professor Ben Horan, School of Engineering

The aged care sector, particularly in rural and regional areas, is increasingly challenged by job turnover. Work stress is a major contributor to job turnover, but as the inherent demands of the job may be difficult to modify, efforts to reduce the effects of work stress may go a long way to improving retention.

Recent research has shown how physiological measures of stress can assist with identifying stressed employees and how stress can be reduced by even just 10 minutes of guided breathing or immersion in nature.

Using a state-of-the art virtual reality program, Professor Ben Horan will lead a project to identify stressed aged care workers. Program users will then be able to access guided breathing exercises within a serene nature environment to lower stress levels, potentially lowering rates of job turnover.

Professor Horan partners with Associate Professor Brad Wright from La Trobe University and Sundale, a large regional aged care provider in southeast Queensland.

‘This funding is going to allow us to use virtual reality to help identify and reduce stress to support aged care workers and the very important job they have,’ says Professor Horan.