FACULTY RESEARCH DAYCOLLABORATIVE OPPORTUNITIES IN

THE SCHOOL OF POPULATION HEALTH

Presented by:A/Prof Angus Cook MBChB (Auckland, NZ), PhD (Otago, NZ)

SPH Research Coordinator

Five major collaborative opportunities to discuss:

INTERVENTION RESEARCH / CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY POLICY AND TRANSLATION APPROACHES TO MEDICAL

RESEARCH SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH/HEALTH

DISPARITIES NURSING RESEARCH SOCIAL WORK, ESPECIALLY IN MENTAL HEALTH AND

CHILD HEALTH ISSUES

Also attempt to overcome some major misconceptions of Population Health:

Are we about more than just theory and numbers?

Range of Centres, groups and projects

Centre for Health Services Research

Centre for the Built Environment and Health

Marine Safety Research

Occupational Respiratory Epidemiology

The Cardiovascular Research Group

Environmental Epidemiology

Busselton Health Study

Ecology and Health

Catastrophic Injury Study

Women's Health

Aged Care Research and Evaluation

Nursing Research

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FIELDS OF INTERVENTION RESEARCH / CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY

SPH research groups are currently engaged in work on mental health, cardiovascular disease, aged care, a range of respiratory disease, and cancer.

We are extending our involvement in interventionresearch (ranging from non-experimental program evaluations to experimental fieldtrials and clinical trials).

This includes an emphasis on:

• establishing and advancing collaborations between population health and clinical researchers

• providing a research nexus to examine the population risk profiles, management, intervention and mitigation, especially for chronic diseases

• developing and implementing education programs relating to chronic disease

OPPORTUNITIES FOR POLICY AND TRANSLATION APPROACHES TO MEDICAL RESEARCH

Many SPH projects have a strong health economics and/or health policy dimension.

We are seeking collaborative links on projects that support research-informed changes in policy and practice.

This strategy includes:

• engaging with health economists and policy-makers to optimise services to people with acute and chronic illnesses

• developing and evaluating new delivery models for:

─ primary prevention programs─ primary medical, nursing and allied─ health care─ cross-cultural health programs

OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESEARCH IN SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH/HEALTH DISPARITIES

Much of our research often encompasses or explicitly explores the social, economic and cultural components of health and illness.

We are extending research linkages on health disparities and the social determinants of health, including in the following populations:

• Indigenous Australians• people in rural and remote areas• people in socio-economically

disadvantaged areas• minorities, migrants and marginalised

population groups• people with mental disorders, chronic

diseases and disabilities (including cardiovascular disease; cancer) and comorbidities

• at-risk aged populations

Expansion of School from “core” Population Health to new disciplines

Now encompasses research and education in Nursing and Social Work

Master of Nursing Science students at

SPH

Nursing research teams

OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATIONS IN NURSING RESEARCH

Our Nursing group is currently involved in several projects within the Faculty and with external partners including Brightwater, Silver Chain, SCGH, Bethanie Group and Bethesda Hospital.

We are seeking to extend our collaborative links in this field as the number of Nursing researchers increases in the next couple of years.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATIONS IN SOCIAL WORK, ESPECIALLY MENTAL HEALTH AND CHILD HEALTH

ISSUESThe Department of Social Work will be joining the School from 2011/12.

SPH will work with the Social Work team in providing training and in building research capacity.

As the academic staff numbers expand in Social Work, we will be seeking interdisciplinary, collaborative links, particularly in the aspects of social work that impact on mental health and child health issues

MORE DETAILS ON COLLABORATIVE OPPORTUNITIES CAN ALSO BE FOUND:

- AT OUR SCHOOL WEBSITE

http://www.sph.uwa.edu.au/research

- IN OUR 2010 SCHOOL STRATEGIC PLAN:http://www.sph.uwa.edu.au/staff/strategic-plan

…OR CONTACT ANGUS COOK DIRECTLYangus.cook@uwa.edu.au