Evaluating the impact of the HealthLAB's training and participation on First Nations trainees - Professor Heidi Smith-Vaughan
HealthLAB is a strengths-based model that empowers people with knowledge needed to actively reduce their risk of chronic disease and is helping the next generation of the NT health workforce by providing trainee opportunities for First Nations youth. As part of our Indigenous health grants program we have partnered with Menzies School of Health Research to evaluate the impact of HealthLAB training and participation on First Nations trainees.
Commenced 2024
The TRAIL W project - Professor Kay Crossley
Researchers from La Trobe University are co-creating and evaluating the use of a Womens Health Platform to understand whether the health outcomes are related to running participation.
Commenced 2024
Long term follow-up study of chronic post-surgical pain in the ROCKET Trial -Professor Philip Peyton
The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists Foundation and Medibank Better Health Foundation co-funded a research partnership grant to Assess the true chronicity of chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP) and quantitate its overall human and economic costs, to better inform future risk management and promote investment and innovation in primary prevention and treatment of chronic pain.
Commenced 2023
Partnering for high-value prosthesis selection and better patient outcomes (Phase Two) - Professor Steven McPhail
Following the successful completion of phase one of the Queensland University of Technology and Medibank research, phase two will leverage the established partnerships and collaborations to drive toward a co-designed, actionable pathway for stakeholder and consumer supported approaches to reducing costly unwarranted variation in joint replacement prosthesis selection in Australia.
Commenced 2023
Virtual walk-in family therapy: Getting the mental health support families need, when they need it, in the security of their own home or place of choosing - Naomi Rottem (Ph.D. Candidate, La Trobe University)
As part of the partnership between Medibank and La Trobe University, this collaborative Industry PhD scholarship aims to examine the impact of walk-in telehealth family therapy services on immediate and sustained clinical effectiveness using a controlled pilot trial, client acceptability and satisfaction using qualitative methods, scalability, and economic benefits and subsequent health service utilisation.
Commenced 2023
A-Part of the Crowd - Professor Victoria Palmer
The University of Melbourne and The ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation are developing a national picture on how Australian young people 18-25 y/o experience loneliness during life transitions, with the aim to co-design a model of care for at-scale delivery in primary care and community settings.
Commenced 2023
Reducing unnecessary knee surgery in young adults - Sean Kaplan (Ph.D. Candidate, La Trobe University)
As part of the partnership between Medibank and La Trobe University, this collaborative Industry PhD scholarship aims to address this evidence-to-practice gap by exploring facilitators and barriers to non-surgical care; designing and evaluating the effect of a consumer-informed best-practice rehabilitation intervention to improve uptake of appropriate non-surgical care for ACL injuries.
Commenced 2023
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Foundation (RACGPF) Digital Health Research Grant - Dr Nancy Sturman and Professor Meredith Makeham.
The RACGPF awarded two grants for digital innovations in primary care, co-funded by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and the Medibank Better Health Foundation.
Commenced 2023
Big Talks for Little People: Children’s Mental Health Literacy Program - Breakthrough Mental Health Foundation and Flinders University.
As part of our Indigenous health grants program, we have partnered with Breakthrough Mental Health Foundation and Flinders University to undertake a proof of concept of the cultural effectiveness of adapting the previously developed evidence-based ‘’Big Talks for Little People: Child Mental Health’’ program for improving Aboriginal student wellbeing.
Commenced 2023
The PROSPER Program: Providing affordable precision medicine care for breast cancer patients - Dr Dinny Graham
The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Westmead Breast Cancer Institute and Westmead Hospital is to develop a precision genomics assay to guide treatment for Australian women diagnosed with ER positive HER2 negative breast cancer at intermediate risk of recurrence.
Commenced 2023
In collaboration with Flinders University, we will implement patient-reported outcome measurement for two elective surgical conditions to assess the relationship between a patient's activation level and their health outcomes, and which surgical techniques and models of care provide best value.
Commenced 2022
Reducing knee injury in women’s football: Optimising the implementation of an injury risk reduction program in women’s Australian Football – Professor Kay Crossley
Recipient of a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant. In collaboration with various Australian and international universities (led by La Trobe University), the AFL, AFL Victoria, and various other peak bodies, this project is investigating if implementing a structured warm-up routine prior to training sessions and matches for female AFL players could reduce the incidence of injury.
Commenced 2021
Supporting researchers from the Whitlam Orthopaedic Research Centre to determine the effectiveness, safety and value of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair compared with placebo surgery in improving shoulder pain and function, and quality of life in people with symptoms attributed to non-acute, full-thickness rotator cuff repairs.
Commenced 2021
Success trial - Surgery for spinal stenosis: a randomised placebo-controlled trial - Professor Manuela Ferreira
This randomised placebo-controlled trial in collaboration with the University of Sydney will evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of decompressive surgery for spinal canal stenosis and represents a highly significant advanced knowledge in this field.
Commenced 2019
A problematic trilogy: Osteoarthritis, obesity and hip or knee arthroplasty – Natalie Pavlovic (Ph.D. Candidate, UNSW)
This Ph.D. scholarship aims to tackle the trilogy of osteoarthritis, obesity and the need for hip or knee arthroplasty by trialling obese osteoarthritis patients on an anti-inflammatory diet to see if this can improve symptoms.
Commenced 2019
Investigating out-of-pocket costs - Associate Professor Reema Harrison
In collaboration with researchers at Macquarie University, this project explored the association between out-of-pocket costs, healthcare quality, experience and outcomes.
Completed 2023
Partnering for high-value prosthesis selection and better patient outcomes – Professor Steven McPhail, Queensland University of Technology
Unwarranted variation in prosthesis selection could contribute to low-value care and have the potential to cause increased rates of harm. Researchers at Queensland University of Technology are explored the factors that influence prosthesis selection and potential approaches for reducing unwarranted variations.
Completed 2022
Developing a model for rehabilitation in the home – Professor Ros Poulos
In partnership with HammondCare and the University of New South Wales we were able to develop a model of high-quality and affordable Rehabilitation In The Home (RITH) and a practical decision support tool to identify patients who can be safely managed with RITH.
Completed 2022
Sustainable, effective and safe use of virtual care technologies – Professor Ani Desai, La Trobe University
One of three rapid research projects established with La Trobe University during COVID-19, this study investigated whether virtual care technology in a patient’s home can reduce their need for presentation to a hospital emergency room.
Completed 2022
Mental and physical health impacts of working at home – Dr Jodi Oakman, La Trobe University
One of three rapid research projects established with La Trobe University during COVID-19, this project explored the impacts of working from home on various study groups.
Completed 2022
Analysis of Australian Commission of Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) survey results on cultural safety – Margaret Banks, National Standards Program, Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
In memoriam of Professor Margaret Kelaher. The ACSQHC project aimed to improve care and treatment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by better understanding training programs being delivered nationally to inform future development of standards and resources that will improve cultural safety, patient experience and safety and quality of care.
Completed 2021
Uprise – Dr Michelle Lim, Swinburne University of Technology
This project evaluated the efficacy of a computerised cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness program, Uprise, in Australian tertiary students as well as a holistic health and wellbeing view of student engagement.
Completed 2021
Optimising use and reporting of the Australian Hospital Experience Questions Set (AHPEQS) for comparing performance between hospitals – Professor Kirsten McCaffery
We partnered with researchers at the University of Sydney to identify predictors of positive patient experience using the AHPEQS and additional factors to adjust for standardised hospital-based comparisons using this outcomes measure for day-stay admissions.
Completed 2022
Menzies HealthLAB: delivering self-determined health education and preventative health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities - Professor Heidi Smith-Vaughan
For ten years, Menzies HealthLAB has taken the message about healthy lifestyles to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in remote communities in the Nothern Territory. In partnership with Menzies School of Health Research, the HealthLAB team was able to evaluate and refine its HealthLAB program and services.
Completed 2022
E-health to empower patients with musculoskeletal pain in rural Australia – Professor Paulo Ferreira
This randomised-controlled trial in collaboration with the University of Sydney compared the benefits of decompressive spinal surgery for lumbar spinal canal stenosis with placebo surgery.
Completed 2022
Developing and using virtual reality, augmented reality or mixed reality for the management of chronic pain – Associate Professor Rachael McDonald, Swinburne University of Technology
Researchers at Swinburne University used existing virtual reality technologies together with the latest chronic back pain management techniques, and investigated the psychological profiles of users to determine if VR technology is an effective management tool for groups of people with chronic back pain.
Completed 2022
Rapid implementation of telehealth for cancer survivors – Dr Amy Dennett, La Trobe University
One of three rapid research projects established with La Trobe University during COVID-19, this project looked at the impact of delivering tele-rehab to cancer survivors from both the patient and provider perspective.
Completed 2021
Developing and piloting a framework to evaluate health apps to enable the promotion of a curated set of evidence-based health apps to consumers in the Australian setting – Professor Anna Peeters
With so many different health apps available on your smart device, how do we know which ones are good? This study designed an evaluation framework for healthcare providers and consumers to assess the quality of the health apps they use.
Completed 2021
Understanding awareness, barriers and enablers affecting rehabilitation decision to support equitable access to rehabilitation care – Professor Michael Nilsson
In partnership with the University of Newcastle, this study aimed to understand how health professionals make decisons about referring to and offering rehabilitation, what they percieve makes it easy or hard for patients to access to the rehabilitation they need and what they think could make things better. Several key barriers that impact on rehabilitation service referral and provision by a broad cross section of healthcare professionals were identified.
Completed 2020
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