Research Area: Women's Health
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Partnering with consumers to co-design comprehensive abortion care in Melbourne’s North
MacHSR Future Leaders Fellowship program
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Understanding access to advanced gestation abortion services
MacHSR Future Leaders Fellowship program
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Late Gestation Abortion
Conducting abortions beyond 20 weeks gestation is known to result in complex health and psychosocial needs for the pregnant women. As there is only one Victorian service providing abortions at this gestational stage (Royal Women’s Hospital Abortion and Contraception Service), it is imperative that a high quality of care is provided for women and pregnant people accessing this service. This project will explore how women and people seeking abortions over 20 weeks experience this process and the subsequent care they receive.
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In my Prime: Promoting positive images of older women
“Gendered ageism”, the combined effect of discrimination based on gender and age, most commonly affect older women owing to pervasive societal values that emphasise youth and physical appearance. Poor body image and ageism are known to directly impact health through reduced uptake of health screening, social isolation, eating disorders and reduced confidence, ultimately leading to accelerated physical and mental decline that shortens life expectancy. Education and intergenerational contact are key methods to reducing ageism; yet there remains a disconnect with the lack of diverse older women representation in today’s media.
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CoMaND
Collecting high quality data is crucial to informing health care changes, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. CoMaND (Collaborative Maternity and Newborn Dashboard), an interactive digital data display, was created to provide rapid access to maternity and newborn data for clinical services, allowing MACH maternity partners to monitor the indirect impacts of the pandemic on the maternity population.
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Be Sweet to Babies
Newborn blood screening tests are commonly performed using the heel lance procedure. Though understandably painful, high quality synthesised evidence reveals breastfeeding and skin-skin care (SSC) to have an analgesic effect for newborns. Unfortunately, these strategies are inconsistently used in practice for both healthy term newborns and preterm infants. There is need to investigate and address the barriers preventing this knowledge-to-action gap to reduce unnecessary pain during this procedure.
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‘Find and Follow’: scoping the data capture, reporting and follow-up of (i) pregnancies complicated by congenital abnormalities, (ii) health and development among ‘high risk’ newborns.
There is currently no standardised approach to identifying and following up high-risk newborns, including those with a prenatal diagnosis of congenital abnormality. High-risk newborns are at risk of poor health and delayed developmental outcomes. Early intervention is key to support infants and families, yet there remains a disconnect between research and clinical practice.
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Clinical Decision Support Integrated with e-Screening for Postnatal Depression
One in seven women experience postnatal depression, yet only 10 percent receive adequate treatment. Postnatal depression screening is mainly conducted by time-poor Maternal & Child Health Nurses (MCHNs) who are not mental health specialists and receive limited clinical guidance for ongoing management and referrals. Current paper-and-pencil procedures are inconsistent and error-prone.