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Effect of an aggression management module on student knowledge, skills and confidence: A randomised controlled trial.
Following a systematic review and research led by the chief investigator Dr. Kristin Lo, we have found that: 1. Aggression is common in the healthcare setting. The 2011 Victorian Government Parliamentary Inquiry into violence and security arrangements in Victorian hospitals reported 2,662 potential or aggressive events occurring across four major regional hospitals over a 6-month period. 2. Aggression happens to students. An Australian study identified nearly 60% of second and third year (87 total) nursing students had experienced non-physical aggression and violence in the clinical setting. Physical aggression amounted to over a third of the second year students and one quarter of third year students (51 total). 3. Students are more likely to be on the receiving end of acts of aggression as inexperienced. 4. Student do not feel confident managing clients who are aggressive. 5. Consequences of aggression include: increased student attrition, long term physical and psychological damage to the student population. 6. There are a lack of high quality trials, such as randomised controlled trials, investigating the effects of specific education on management of aggression. 7. Education delivered in studies reporting increased student confidence include lower duration combined with a mixture of online and face to face delivery of the content. Short simulations are also found to be sufficient to improve knowledge in managing aggression. So, we know that aggression in clinical placements is common for health professional students, students are needing support, and there are suggestions regarding education delivery for improving students' management of aggression. We believe the significance of providing students with basic aggression management education before attending placements will result in: 1. Increased student confidence in identifying and managing aggression. 2. Reducing the negative physical and psychological effects of aggression. 3. Improved client management
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Comparison of the efficacy and safety of steroid-impregnated self-crosslinked hyaluronic acid (PureRegen®) and steroid-impregnated bioabsorbable polyurethane foam (Nasopore®) in adults undergoing functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS): a randomised controlled trial.
Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) affects between 12 and 15.2% of the adult population in the United States, with direct and indirect costs of management exceeding twelve billion US dollars annually. In patients whose CRS is refractory to pharmacological or medical management, functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) has become a well-recognised, established and safe surgical option to re-open sinus ostia, restoring the physiological drainage pathways of the sinuses and facilitating mucociliary clearance. This enables the thorough application of topical therapies to the sinonasal mucosa, increasing the likelihood of successful medical management. The efficacy and desirable outcomes of FESS can be reduced by postoperative inflammation, polyp recurrence and adhesions. Topical steroids in the form of nasal sprays are well established in preventing these adverse outcomes and as such, there has been considerable recent investigation of intraoperative placement of bioabsorbable products to both improve and increase the longevity of the desired postoperative outcomes, thereby reducing rates of revision FESS. To our knowledge, whether steroid-impregnated bioabsorbable synthetic polyurethane foam (Nasopore®) confers any objective or subjective postoperative benefit over steroid-impregnated self-crosslinked hyaluronic acid (PureRegen®), and the systemic and ocular safety of their use have not yet been studied.
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Transdisciplinary stroke assessment: Can it improve allied health efficiency and care on an acute stroke unit?
The study will evaluate benefits or drawbacks of adopting a transdisciplinary model of assessment on the Mater Hospital Brisbane (MHB) Acute Stroke Unit (ASU), through implementing a Transdisciplinary Initial Neurological Screening Assessment (TINSA). All other components of patient care will be undertaken as usual. The study will recruit patients with mild stroke/Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) as they are admitted to the MHB ASU. Consenting participants will receive Allied Health (AH) assessment via the existing multidisciplinary model of assessment (evaluated during Phase 1 and 3) or the novel TINSA (evaluated during Phase 2 and 4). The primary hypothesis states, compared to the existing multidisciplinary model of assessment, utilising the novel TINSA on the MHB ASU will reduce AH assessment time by at least 20 minutes in the initial occasion of service. The expected outcomes include: improved AH time efficiency (measured by time spent completing AH assessment, length of stay); improved cost-effectiveness; patient safety (measured by patient falls, readmission, outcome measures at 3-months); improved compliance to national standards (AH assessment within 48hours); improved patient/staff satisfaction and staff trust (surveys).
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A mixed methods feasibility study of a COMorbidity-adapted Exercise program for older adults with low BACK pain (COME-BACK)
Low back pain is common, with the prevalence of low back pain increasing across the lifespan where it has a profound impact on physical and psychosocial health. Also, with increasing age comes increasing comorbidity and this also has pronounced health consequences. While exercise is beneficial for a range of health conditions, trials of low back pain and exercise often exclude older adults. This mixed methods study will assess the feasibility of an eight-week comorbidity-adapted exercise program for older people with low back pain and comorbid conditions.
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Integrating a digital mental health screening tool for youth into primary care
Three-quarters of mental illnesses emerge before age 25 (Kessler et al. 2005), with suicide being the leading cause of death in Australians aged 15-24 (AIHW, 2020). General PRactitioners (GPs) play a critical role in reducing mental illness in this population because they are the most common health service used by Australian adolescents (ABS 2019d), and the primary pathway via which adolescents seek mental health care (Lawrence et al. 2015). However, although youth report a desire to be asked about their mental health (Turner et al. 2017), approximately half of all mental health problems in youth are not recognised by the GP (Haller et al. 2009; Hickie et al. 2007). New methods are urgently needed to help GPs better assist young people. Responding to the Australian Government’s call for the adoption of stepped-care models for primary mental health care, the Black Dog Institute developed a digital mental health screening and treatment-recommendation tool for GP practices. This tool, known as ‘StepCare’ (Proudfoot et al., 2019), has been rolled out to >100 GP practices across Australia, with more than 5,000 adults screened. More than 1,400 cases of anxiety and depression have been detected, 1 in 4 of whom were individuals who were previously undetected/untreated (Whitton et al., under review). The growing reputation StepCare, combined with increasing concerns over youth mental health, has prompted expressions of interest for a youth-focused service. In response, ‘Youth StepCare’ was developed, and a pilot trial was conducted in 2 general practices (Parker et al., 2020). Results showed that Youth StepCare was acceptable and feasible, and that 22% of cases of depression/anxiety identified were not receiving treatment. However several implementation barriers were identified. This study aims to conduct a larger-scale evaluation of Youth StepCare, incorporating modifications based on learnings from the pilot study and the adult StepCare service, and as well as a head-to-head comparison of two implementation models. This study is important because it constitutes a critical evaluation of a tool that may increase identification of mental health conditions in youth, thereby facilitating greater access to mental health services for this vulnerable population.
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Effect of Fish oil supplementation on inflammation of blood vessels in people with heart disease
Aims: To investigate the effect of high-dose fish oil supplementation on inflammation of blood vessels in participants with stable heart disease receiving standard cholesterol-lowering therapy. Hypothesis: In participants with elevated Lp(a) levels and stable heart disease, high-dose fish oil supplementation will significantly reduce inflammation of blood vessels.
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Development and evaluation of the 'Learning to Lead' program for children's leadership skills
The overall aim of our innovative project is to provide a comprehensive and original contribution to understanding the direct and indirect effects of a school-based leadership program for primary school students. In partnership with the New South Wales Department of Education School Sport Unit, we will evaluate the ‘Learning to Lead’ (L2L) program, which aims to: (i) enhance Stage 3 students’ (Peer leaders) leadership skills, leadership self-efficacy, and time on-task in the classroom; (ii) increase Stage 2 students’ (Peers) physical activity levels, executive functioning, actual and perceived fundamental movement skill competency; and (iii) decrease teachers’ work-related stress and improve their well-being. More specifically, we will answer the following research questions: RQ1) What is the impact of the L2L program on the primary outcome, Peer leaders’ leadership effectiveness? RQ2) What is the impact of the L2L program on the secondary outcomes, Peer leaders’ leadership self-efficacy and time ‘on-task’ in the classroom? RQ3) What is the impact of the L2L program on secondary outcomes, including Peers’ school-based physical activity, actual and perceived FMS competency, health-related fitness, and executive functioning? RQ4) What is the impact of the L2L program on teachers’ work-related stress and job satisfaction? RQ5) Do changes in Peer leaders’ on-task behaviour mediate the effect of the L2L program on teachers’ work-related stress and well-being? RQ6) Do changes in peers’ fundamental movement skills mediate the effect of the L2L program on their executive functioning?
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Randomised controlled trial of a brief e-mental health program with Australian university students
This project is a randomised controlled trial of a brief video-based e-mental health intervention designed to improve the mental health of university students. Students from all universities in Australia will be recruited and randomised to one of two conditions, an intervention condition in which participants will receive bi-weekly e-mails containing brief video-based modules containing health information and strategies for a period of 6 weeks, or an attention control condition, in which they will receive bi-weekly e-mails containing health information (not related to mental health) for a period of 6 weeks. Participants will complete outcome assessments at baseline, post-intervention, and 3 and 6 months post intervention. Outcome measures include depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, psychological distress, academic self-efficacy, quality of life, help seeking behaviour, engagement and satisfaction with the intervention.
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A preliminary study of a sulfide-reducing diet in patients with an ileoanal pouch
Resection of the large bowel and creation of a new rectum or reservoir by forming a pouch from the small bowel is the surgical treatment of choice for ulcerative colitis (UC) and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). The new reservoir is termed ileal pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA) or ileoanal pouch. Quality of life following IPAA creation is generally good. However, a considerable number of patients have persistent pouch-related symptoms of increased frequency, urgency, leakage and incontinence. Furthermore, most patients report food intolerances and the need to alter their diet to mitigate or improve symptoms. Additionally, around 40-50% of UC IPAA and 10-20% of FAP IPAA develop inflammation of the pouch, called pouchitis. Increased exposure of the pouch mucosa to hydrogen sulphide (H2S), reduced exposure to SCFA, particularly butyrate, and excessive delivery of water to the pouch are putatively pathogenic factors in pouch dysfunction. We hypothesised that dietary change that reverses these might lead to improved pouch function and less inflammation and have designed a dietary approach that manipulates carbohydrate and protein fermentation such that H2S production can be minimised and SCFA deficiency can be corrected, the free water content of ileal effluent can be reduced, and substrates that contain sulphur minimised so that reductive pathways to H2S production can be suppressed. An innovative whole food diet strategy called a ‘5-strategies to a SUlphide-REducing’ (5URE) diet was developed.The study would include a baseline period of 1 week whereby a patient’s usual diet is assessed through a food diary. A dietitian educates participants on the components of the SURE diet, which patients then follow for 5 weeks. During this time, they will complete food diaries and receive a phone call three weeks after starting the diet to inquire about adherence and to help answer any questions. Participants are encouraged to contact the research for any query. The total study will include three visits. Questionnaires are be used to assess how the subject is tolerating and accepting the diet, and to document the effects on bowel symptoms and health-related quality of life. Participants are asked to collect a small sample of stool on the day before they start the diet (reflecting their usual diet), and the last day of the SURE diet (to assess the effects of the diet). The results will inform further adjustments to the dietary approach and form the basis from future clinical trials.
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Effectiveness of website education for adults with plantar heel pain: a randomised controlled trial
Plantar heel pain (PHP) is a common source of pain and disability with an estimated prevalence between 3.6 and 9.6% (1, 2, 3). PHP predominantly affects middle-aged as well as older adults (1), and is estimated to contribute 8.0% of all injuries related to running (4). Evidence also suggests that up to 40% of people continue to have symptoms two years after the initial diagnosis (5). PHP has a significant negative impact on foot-specific and general health-related quality of life. Furthermore, people with PHP experience higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress than people without PHP (6). PHP also presents a financial burden to the community; in 2007, it was estimated that the cost of treatment for PHP to third party payers in the United States ranged from $US192 to 376 million (7). A range of treatment options have been found to be effective for PHP (8), however there are currently limited, readily accessible education resources capable of translating this information to patients with this condition. It is essential to address this issue to allow patients to make more informed treatment choices and optimise self-management. To develop quality, targeted and engaging education resources requires consultation with the end user, the consumer. We recently conducted and published a qualitative study (9) that investigated the lived experience and attitudes of people with heel pain. This study informed the content and approaches needed to educate people with heel pain including the development of the MyHeelPain website. The website provides multimedia information about heel pain including the characteristic features, causes, and an easy-to-follow treatment plan. It has been designed to promote self-management but can also be used alongside a consultation with a health professional. The website has gone through two cycles of usability testing, which have involved focus groups with people with PHP. The findings of the focus groups have guided us to implement several improvements to the website. A previous systematic review found computer-based programs, designed to educate people with chronic disease can improve the users' knowledge, social support, health behaviours and clinical outcomes (10). Accordingly, similar education approaches may be of benefit to people with PHP. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the MyHeelPain website for people with PHP. The corresponding references are listed in the 'Public notes' field below.