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Dementia is a condition that is in the top 5 leading causes of death for Australians. Informal carers report high levels of mental health concerns such as stress, anxiety, depression, social isolation, and poor quality of life (QoL). They are known to face significant strain associated with caregiving responsibilities. Maintaining the health and wellbeing of carers is essential to enable the continuation of care of family members as well as to prevent poor mental and physical health in carers. Despite the well-recognised need to support carers, limited programs have been delivered in Australia to promote their mental health and coping strategies. This aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an online psychosocial intervention on family carers’ coping skills, psychological wellbeing and QoL. The study hypotheses include: Hypothesis 1: Participants in the intervention group will demonstrate significantly greater improvements in appraisals of coping at post-intervention than the control group. Hypothesis 2: Participants in the intervention group will demonstrate a significantly greater reduction in depression at post-intervention than the control group. Hypothesis 3: Participants in the intervention group will demonstrate significantly greater improvements in quality-of-life at post-intervention than the control group. Hypothesis 4: Participants in the intervention group will demonstrate a significantly greater reduction in perceived burden at post-intervention than the control group.

Young people who have been diagnosed with cancer may experience long term adverse effects on their emotional and mental wellbeing. This study aims to determine whether it is feasible to deliver an online age and cancer-specific mindfulness intervention, and to investigate the potential for this intervention to impact these patients' quality of life and wellbeing. Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are aged between 15 and 30 years and you have been diagnosed with cancer. Study details Participants who choose to enrol in this study will be randomly allocated by chance (similar to flipping a coin) to either receive the intervention immediately, or to receive the intervention at the end of the study (waitlist group). Participants who are allocated to the immediate intervention group will be given access to the web-based mindfulness program by an email and participants in the waitlist group will receive access on completion of the post- survey (after 6 weeks). The online intervention will involve completion of one 60 minute module each week for 6 weeks. After the 6 weeks both groups will complete the post-test questionnaires of the same quantitative measures and in addition the immediate intervention group receives a post program survey with open-ended questions to assess the feasibility of the mindfulness program. It is hoped this research will demonstrate whether it is possible to recruit and deliver a mindfulness-based intervention online. If the mindfulness program shows a positive impact on the quality of life and wellbeing of participants in this pilot study, a larger study enrolling a greater number of patients may go ahead and could lead to future benefits for more young cancer patients.

This fixed size, single-blind, randomised control trial is the first step in the development and optimisation of a community-based intervention for children struggling from Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) or 'Listening Difficulties'. There are limited effective interventions to improve these children's listening and associated developmental impacts. Current treatment options, such as assistive listening devices or speech training, have high costs, do not treat co-occurring challenges such as mental health, and often require cognitive functioning at a level beyond many children. Hence, CAPD is often left unresolved and issues persist into adulthood causing social, emotional, health and economic burdens on individuals. These challenges highlight the urgent need to develop and implement treatment that is easily accessible, engaging and beneficial for children. This study will investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of exercise, rhythm and music in remediating CAPD or 'Listening Difficulty', as well as its effects on physical literacy, fitness and quality of life. It is hypothesized that incorporating aspects of rhythm and music into exercise will be more effective in remediating CAPD or 'Listening Difficulty' than exercise alone.

Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings are a particularly important setting to reach young children with physical activity (PA) promotion efforts. As children aged 3-5 years spend an average of 25-35 hours a week in ECEC services, these settings provide a broad reach for intervention delivery to increase child activity at a population level. In light of the lack of sustained implementation documented following the introduction of outdoor free play public health policies, the aim of this study is to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and potential impact of a sustainability strategy to increase the sustainment of recent indoor-outdoor free play practice in ECEC services. The 6-month intervention will target ECEC service Nominated Supervisors (NS), and an educator responsible for supporting the implementation of physical activity programs in the ECEC service. Specifically, services will be supported to continue to deliver the evidence-based intervention; indoor-outdoor free play through the development of eight sustainability strategies. This will be compared to a control group that does not receive the sustainability strategy. It is hypothesised that the sustainability strategy will be feasible to implement, acceptable to ECEC services, and will produce sustained implementation of indoor-outdoor free play compared to the control group.

The phenomenon of ambulance ramping is a significant challenge to healthcare systems. Reducing the burden on emergency departments (ED) is imperative. In Australia, suspected cardiac chest pain represents nearly 1 million ED presentations annually, yet approximately 85% of these patients do not have acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The clinical work-up for these patients is laborious and inefficient, especially in low-risk individuals. This study will investigate whether we can safely reduce ED presentations by shifting the initial assessment of chest pain to an out-of-hospital setting. Making it possible for paramedics and general practitioners to assess chest pain with portable blood test devices and digital algorithms, which accurately categorise a patient’s risk of ACS, means low-risk patients can be directed to a Priority Care Centre instead of ED. Priority Care Centres provide community-based health care for patients with urgent but non-life-threatening conditions, who would otherwise be seeking a service from an Emergency Department. The objectives of the study are two-fold: 1. Evaluate the non-inferiority of a model of care initiated pre-hospital using point of care High-Sensitivity Troponin I and artificial intelligence (AI)-based decision-support compared with standard ED care. 2. Establish the cost effectiveness and define the funding approaches to support the sustainable implementation of a prehospital model of care for the effective assessment of chest pain and suspected ACS.

This pilot study will recruit 75 adolescents and ask them to use the Health4Life app – an evidence-based healthy lifestyles mobile phone app developed by the research team, for one month. During the month, participants will receive text messages to remind them to access the app. The timing and content of these text messages will be randomised with participants receiving, on average, one message a day. The purpose of the study is to assess the acceptability of these text messages and their timing as well as the feasibility and acceptability of the Health4Life app as a whole.

The overarching aim of this project is to develop, refine, implement and report on two concurrent changes in the service model in the Sleep Disorders Centre at TPCH to incorporate a “Direct to Psychology Insomnia” referral pathway, and a “Stepped Care” model of care within the TPCH Sleep Psychology Service, flexibly delivered across the continuum of care. The project will measure the impact of the service change in our target population. The service change will be compared to the current service models for key outcomes.

There is compelling evidence that people experiencing homelessness are more likely to experience poor health outcomes and die up to 30 years prematurely. Housing status has a substantial impact on a person’s burden of disease and injury, and capacity to access care, yet healthcare professionals do not routinely screen for housing status. Without identifying the level of homelessness, it is not possible to respond appropriately to the often, complex healthcare needs and health-related vulnerability of people experiencing homelessness. For this reason, we have developed an intervention called the ‘Homeless Health Response Bundle’ to improve access to healthcare in the Emergency Department setting. The Homeless Health Response Bundle comprises the Homeless Health Access to Care Tool to assess the level of health-related vulnerability, and a Decision Assistance Guide that facilitates the prioritisation of health needs and streamlines healthcare for people experiencing homelessness. Testing the impact of this tool on access to healthcare is required. Through this randomised controlled trial, we will determine the effect of the Homeless Health Response Bundle on reattendances within 28-days to the St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne Emergency Department.

In people with asthma, there is more muscle around the airways. The greater the amount of muscle, the more severe the asthma. In this project, we are testing a new method to measure airway smooth muscle around patients' airways during a bronchoscopy using light. Measurements will be made in a number of airways in a number of patients to provide information about the reliability of this technique, particularly how much it varies between airways within the same patient and between patients. It can then be used to improve current treatments and develop new treatments aimed at the increased smooth muscle in asthma. During the bronchoscopy, measurements will be made through the bronchoscope using a laser beam. The bronchoscopists involved will be taking the measurements. This will probably add 10-15min extra to the duration of the procedure. The equipment required for this procedure is a PS-OCT system (packaged in a trolley); a flexible fibre-optic endoscopic probe and a sterile sealed transparent tubing for use during the bronchoscopy.

Being physically active is important for preventing stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. People who have already suffered a stroke are at a higher risk of future health problems. It can be challenging for stroke survivors to be active. This research aims to test a pathway to personalised physical activity programs that our team has designed together with stroke survivors and clinicians. The aim is to determine what physical activity dose (how much and how intense) is acceptable, feasible and safe for stroke survivors, and is also effective at improving their cardiovascular health. This will ultimately reduce their risk of future stroke and cardiovascular disease. Participants (stroke survivors) will be prescribed a personalised physical activity program. The process will involve a shared decision-making and planning process to develop a personalised physical activity program. The first 2 weeks will involve program set up. Support will be provided by a physiotherapist or exercise physiologist at least weekly over the first 3 months and may be face to face, via videoconference, phone or email–depending on the participants’ preference. Monitoring and support will continue, but decrease in frequency over the following 3 months.