Reducing preventable health risks

Members of the Centre have a strong track record in developing measures for monitoring preventable disease risks, and implementing efficacious interventions for reducing the prevalence of health risks, including smoking, unhealthy alcohol use and inadequate sun protection, and increasing appropriate rates of cervical, bowel and breast cancer screening. This work has led to national and international changes in public health policy and practice. The Centre is expanding its research directions to include as yet untested strategies for reducing health risk behaviours at the individual, as well as systems level.

The prevention of overweight and obesity in children and adults has become a recent focus of a number of members of the Centre, through the Good for Kids Good for Life program which is the largest of its kind in Australia.

With a history of promoting Indigenous health, close links with Wollotuka School of Aboriginal Studies, and addressing health disparities, among its proposed members, the Centre is strengthening and extending research capacity in these areas through exploration of barriers to and solutions for conducting research in Indigenous health, trials to reduce smoking among pregnant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, developing sexual and antenatal health education for Aboriginal women, and trialling a diabetes prevention program which focuses on the nutrition and physical activity of Aboriginal children in rural communities.