Current Research

PHCRED supported research projects

• Breastfeeding rates and duration Tamworth area
  Robin Skewes

  The health benefits to infants and mothers of exclusive breastfeeding to six months are well established with the promotion of breastfeeding an action area in the prevention of obesity in children. However, whilst breastfeeding is a natural function it is also a learned technique that sometimes requires effort and assistance to establish and maintain with some mothers needing timely appropriate support, advice and assistance in order to sustain breastfeeding. Anecdotal evidence suggests that for many rural women, such support and assistance is not available resulting in cessation of breastfeeding. This project seeks to discover rural mothers’ reasons for weaning within the first 3 months postpartum. Local population data will hopefully assist in tailoring services to better provide the support needed to increase breastfeeding duration within the community.

• Occupational Violence in General Practice: A Cross Sectional Study of GPs and General Practice Staff
  Jenny May, Parker Magin

  The study aims to establish the prevalence of occupational violence and aggression suffered by support staff (non-GP staff such as receptionists, practice managers, practice nurses, and dieticians, podiatrists and other primary health care professionals) in Australian General Practice. It will also aim to establish the characteristics, demographic features, precipitants and sequelae of this violence and aggression and to compare the occupational violence experiences of GP support with those of GPs. There are no Australian studies of violence affecting the wider practice or other members of the GP team . The study will provide evidence to better inform these policies.

• Tamworth GP Workforce study
  Jenny May

  This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Managed Practice model instituted by the North West Slopes Division of General Practice (NWSDGP) in the New England region of New South Wales. Following on from this evaluation the project has continued to measure workforce participation of GPs in the Tamworth postcode and track changes in the number of full time Equivalent GPs in the area. This is continuing .Interim results have been presented at the AGM of the North West slopes Division of General Practice in November 2007. Two further rounds of data collection are planned in May 2008 and 2009.

• Experience of Parenting a Non Indigenous Premature Infant in a Rural Area
  Luke Wakely, Rod Cooper, Kym Rae

  The aim of this research is to explore in-depth the lived experiences of non-Indigenous parents of premature infants born within the Tamworth region. It is hoped that, by gaining a better understanding of the experience of caring for a premature infant in a rural area service delivery may be able to more closely respond to the needs of rural families. PHCRIS Infonet newsletter

• Are there Barriers to Accessing Antenatal and Child and Family Health Services for Aboriginal Families in the Tamworth area?
  Jo Blake, Kym Rae, Gaye Green, Renae Draws

  This research aims to establish what barriers there are for Aboriginal women and non-Aboriginal women with Aboriginal babies in accessing antenatal and Child and Family Health Care. The aim of this project is to establish what the current feelings and ideas Aboriginal families have about appropriate Antenatal care and Child and Family Health services in Tamworth. PHCRIS Infonet newsletter

• A balance training exercise program for community-dwelling rural older people: An RCT to assess feasibility and effect on falls risk
  Ms Karyn Blackman, Associate Professor Darren Rivett, Professor Peter Jones, Dr Catherine Sherrington

  A randomised control trial is being conducted to determine whether participation in a supervised weekly group exercise program with ancillary home exercises reduces falls risk in elderly persons living in rural communities.

UDRH Research Projects

• Investigating the Link between Constipation and Cows Milk Protein Allergy
  Elesa Crowley, Lauren Williams, Michelle Paul, Elizabeth Ellis, Hugh Dunstan, Tim Roberts, Rajendra Kumar, Peter Jones, Patricia Davidson

  Research project which aims to test the hypothesis that a causal relationship exists between the dietary intake of cow's milk A1 protein and constipation in children.

• Linking Major Life Event Stress to Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in Aboriginal Women in the Hunter New England Area
  Dr Kym Rae, Professor Roger Smith, Dr Keith Hollebone, Dr Kenneth Apen, Amy Creighton, Maria Bowman, Julia Smith, Fiona Little, Joanne Blake

  Exposure to stress in pregnancy is a major risk factor for premature delivery and low birthweight infants. There are great disparities in pregnancy and fetal outcomes between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations. This pilot study will obtain evidence to test the hypothesis that Aboriginal women are exposed to a higher proportion of disruptive life events that contribute to the untimely activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis resulting in an increased vulnerability to premature delivery and low birthweight babies. More

• Linking Cigarette Smoking to Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in Aboriginal Women in the Hunter New England Area
  Dr Kym Rae, Professor Roger Smith, Dr Keith Hollebone, Dr Kenneth Apen, Amy Creighton, Maria Bowman, Sharron Hall, Julia Smith, Fiona Little, Joanne Blake

  Exposure to stress in pregnancy is a major risk factor for premature delivery and low birthweight infants. There are great disparities in pregnancy and fetal outcomes between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations. This pilot study will obtain evidence to test the hypothesis that cigarette smoking in Aboriginal women contributes to the untimely activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-placental axis resulting in an increased vulnerability to premature delivery and low birthweight babies. More

• Improving the Wellbeing of Childrren in Aboriginal communities of the Hunter New England Region; an ArtsHealth Education program
  Dr Kym Rae, Professor Roger Smith, Professor Sid Bourke, Dr Edouard Tursan d’Espaignet, Professor Peter Jones, Amy Creighton, Professor Patrick Fuery, Dr Rachel Burgess, Dr Julie McLeod

  Aboriginal teenage pregnancy resulting in adverse fetal outcomes and subsequent long term health problems is a disturbing trend within Aboriginal communities. Studies have identified that Aboriginal women generally have their babies at younger ages than non-Aboriginal women and that Aboriginal teenage pregnancies are exposed to greater health risks resulting in a variety of adverse maternal, fetal and neonatal outcomes. More

• Stress During Pregnancy and the Developmental Origins of Renal Disease in Aboriginal Australians
  Dr Kym Rae, Professor Roger Smith, Professor Eugenie Lumbers, Professor Caroline Blackwell, Dr Edouard Tursan d’Espaignet, Professor Pathik Wadhwa, Dr Andrew Bisits, Sharron Hall, Dr Keith Hollebone, Dr Ken Apen, Julia Smith

  An epidemic of endstage renal disease (ESRD) has appeared over the last 20 years among Aboriginal people in Australia. ESRD is permanent and near total loss of renal function (about 95%). Without treatment by dialysis or transplantation it is terminal. The average current incidence of treated end-stage renal disease in Aboriginal Australians is more than 10 times that of non-Aboriginal Australians. More

• NSW Rural Allied Health Workforce Study
  Sheila Keane (Northern Rivers UDRH), Tony Smith (UDRH Northern NSW), Scott Wagner (NSW Institute for Clinical Services and Teaching), Michelle Lincoln (University of Sydney).

  This study aims to provide a detailed profile of the rural and regional allied health workforce in the four rural Area Health Services in NSW. These data will form the basis of further research on recruitment and retention of allied health professionals in rural areas, as well as potential applications in public health policy development.

• Determining the barriers to the introduction of best practice dietetic services in rural areas.
  Leanne Brown, Professor Sandra Capra and Dr Lauren Williams

  To identify the elements of a dietetics staffing model that constitutes best practice in rural areas. To determine the factors that support or inhibit the development of a best practice dietetic service in rural areas.

• Determining the factors that support the development of a best practice dietetic service in rural NSW
  Leanne Brown, Sandra Capra, Lauren Williams

  The aim of this research is to explore the factors that support or inhibit the development of a best practice dietetic service in rural NSW. It also aims to identify the elements of a dietetics staffing model that constitutes best practice in six different nutrition and dietetics service settings in the targeted study area.

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