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“Nothing about us, without us” - that’s the mantra Professor Caleb Ferguson lives by when it comes to finding the best care and treatment options for patients, leading to the development of UOW: Health Innovations.

“UOW: Health Innovations was borne from the SMAH Voyager Project – a five-year blueprint to reimagine research entities in the Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health,” says Professor Ferguson. 

“Health Innovations includes over 200 health and medical researchers, with focus on applied, translational health research, spanning expertise across chronic and primary care, mental health, dietetics and nutrition, sports-leisure and prevention and digital health.” 

Under the leadership of Professor Ferguson and team, Health Innovations partners patients with researchers to work together to trial new health strategies and learn from firsthand experience across a range of health themes.

Nutrition, food and sustainability 

A landmark study by nutrition and dietetics experts Professor Karen Charlton and Dr Katherine Kent is surveying Illawarra residents about their food habits to understand the prevalence of food insecurity in the region. 

Food insecurity refers to an individual’s access to adequate nutritious foods and exists on a moderate to severe spectrum. This can range from feeling anxious about affording meals, swapping healthy foods for cheaper, unhealthy options, or skipping meals altogether.  

“Hearing from consumers is also fundamental to making change. We can’t fix our food environment without hearing from as many members of the community as we can about what worries them, how they feel about access to food, if they can afford it, if they prefer to buy directly from farmers. All these elements matter into building a holistic picture of the food environment in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven,” says Dr Kent. 

Chronic disease management, aged care and ageing 

Professor Ferguson, alongside Professor Louise Hickman, Dr Julee McDonagh and PhD candidate Kirsten Parker are trialing a new program for hospitalised older adults living with frailty to reduce subsequent readmissions to hospital.  

The project connects older patients with a nurse navigator who helps them transition back home by providing a care plan, support and advocacy, and facilitate healthcare engagement.  

The project comes after findings from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that almost half of preventable hospitalisations were for patients over the age of 65.  

“Seeing the negative effects that multiple readmissions have on vulnerable populations has been the true catalyst for the design and development of this project. We hope to improve patients' experience and safety in the high-risk journey from hospital to home," says Ms Parker. 

 Primary care and health services research 

Professor Liz Halcomb from the UOW School of Nursing is working in collaboration with researchers from the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵapp of Sydney (USYD) on a groundbreaking study mapping out the workforce of nurses in general practice and exploring their roles.  

The Occasions of Care Explained and Analysed (OCEAN) study is the first national study of its kind and aims to investigate nurses' roles in general practice. 

“We want to better understand the day-to-day of what nurses do in these settings and see how we can better meet the needs of patients and improve health outcomes through nursing care,” says Professor Halcomb.  

The study, funded by the Australian Department of Health, looks to survey nurses from all over Australia over the next four years, to gain insights into their professional profile, experience and whether their skills are being fully utilised.  

“We want to fully understand the role of nurses in primary care and see how this can inform nurse training, education, primary care policy and funding.” 

Mental health  

A team of mental health nurses is investigating how patients with mental illness are treated and cared for in emergency department settings. 

Led by Professor Timothy Wand, the Psychotherapeutic Skills on the Run project will engage with emergency department staff and patients to identify better practices for treating emergency patients with acute mental health issues.  

“It stands to reason that ED clinicians are skilled and trained to respond promptly to people presenting in acute states of agitation and mental distress. Being underprepared places ED clinicians and patients at risk,” says Professor Wand. 

“We haven’t found any existing examples of this type of formal training for ED clinicians, so we are building one from scratch. This co-production approach will engage ED staff, consumer representatives and managers in a participatory action research process. We want to ensure that training content is useful to clinicians and meets the needs of patients. We also want to find the best way to deliver training and practice psychotherapeutic skills with busy ED clinicians.” 

Sport, leisure and prevention 

A group of exercise physiologists are looking into the physical activity of pregnant women and how it can aid or prevent gestational diabetes. 

Gestational diabetes is a pregnancy complication that can have adverse effects on both mother and child and affects up to 10 per cent of pregnant women, according to  

“Physical activity levels are globally lower than recommended and recommendations are light in terms of exercise in pregnancy. This pattern of activity is more substantial in women with gestational diabetes,” says Dr Natalie Kwai from the School of Medical, Indigenous and Health Sciences. 

“I am building a new arm of research on barriers and facilitators for participating in physical activity in women with gestational diabetes and in pregnancy. It is our goal to deploy physical activity programming which leverages facilitators identified and build in supports for participants to independently manage their physical activity in the postnatal period and beyond.” 

Inclusion, equity and cultural diversity 

Dr Della Maneze from the UOW School of Nursing is investigating the impact of social isolation on the health of older immigrants, and how to address gaps in health data collection in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations.  

“Being socially isolated and having no social connections impacts the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of older people. Older immigrants are especially vulnerable because of language barriers, different social, cultural and geographic environment, loss of what was familiar, separation from families, and unexpected change in the values of immigrant family members,” says Dr Maneze.

Research has shown that social isolation and loneliness among older people can be as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, says Dr Maneze and increases the risk of depression, anxiety and cognitive decline.  

She is also working with researchers from UOW and Johns Hopkins ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵapp to explore issues of race and ethnicity in health data collection. 

“These concepts are dynamic, multifaceted and highly contextual that pinning down a definition to ensure accuracy is a challenge. Traditional population descriptors or labels fail to fully capture the complexities of identity and experiences and the social determinants that shape health,” says Dr Maneze. 

“I am hoping that through research, we can find ways to bridge the gap between CALD consumers, health service providers, researchers and policymakers which hopefully will make collection of race and ethnicity more accurate and interventions more culturally appropriate and tailored, ultimately improving health outcomes.” 

Learn more about UOW: Health Innovations and how to connect with the Community and Consumer Network.