Discipline: Applied Public Health

The COVID 19 pandemic is the public health event of our generation. To counterbalance the public health control measures used to contain community transmission (e.g. shelter at home, closing businesses), Governments have responded by implementing economic strategies such as 'Job Keeper'. Despite this, there is evidence that certain groups have been disproportionately affected by COVID 19 such as black people, those of low socioeconomic status, frontline health care workers, and those with insecure employment. This project will examine the extent to which COVID has increased inequity in Australia by means of a systematic review. This project would suit an Honours candidate with an interest in inequity as a public health issue.

Supervisor: Dr John Oldroyd

Contact: john.oldroyd@acu.edu.au

Campus: Melbourne

The COVID 19 pandemic is a seismic event which is unfolding before our eyes. Despite governments implementing emergency response plans, the effects of COVID 19 have been widespread and include public health infectious disease morbidity and mortality, effects on mental health, education and the economy. Ethicists argue that aspects of the management of COVID such as indefinite lockdowns, border closures and economic shutdowns have done more harm than good. This project aims to explore the social impact of COVID 19. This can be in Australia or can be global in scope. This project would suit an Honours candidate with an interest in social data analysis.

Supervisor: Dr John Oldroyd

Contact: john.oldroyd@acu.edu.au

Campus: Melbourne

Community gardens are increasingly recognised as important health promotion and community development activities that are largely lauded. However, the gendered dimensions of these interventions are rarely uncovered that may positively or negatively impact on outcomes for participants. This qualitative research would interview community garden members to ask: How are decisions made? Are there gender differences in the 'meaning' of community gardens (instrumental/expressive/relational)? What is the balance between cooperation and competition? How does involvement impact on gender identity? This project would suit an Honours candidate with an interest in qualitative research, health promotion and women's health.

Supervisor: Dr S Fisher

Contact: stfisher@acu.edu.au

Campus: Melbourne

Men's violence against women continues to a major contributor to injury and harm to women's health and wellbeing. The women's movement has successfully achieved a number of changes to the legislative and policy environment to address both primary and tertiary prevention. Many workplaces have implemented formal policies to address this area although there has been little scrutiny of the content of this grey (unpublished) literature. A critical content analysis of these policies would be undertaken from a feminist understanding of men's violence against women. This project would suit an Honours candidate with an interest in desk research, prevention and women's health policy.

Supervisor: Dr S Fisher

Contact: stfisher@acu.edu.au

Campus: Melbourne

The COVID 19 pandemic is a seismic event that has shaped how we understand the role and place of public health bringing a range of understandings and a plethora of misinformation. This qualitative research would aim to understand how well are young Victorians able to navigate and negotiate the overwhelming information about how to ensure they maintain their health. It would critically examine decisions to purchase products and services that have no record or evidence of efficacy (complementary therapies), and uncovers motivations and decision making processes. This project would suit an Honours candidate with an interest in qualitative research, health behaviours and health promotion.

Supervisor: Dr S Fisher

Contact: stfisher@acu.edu.au

Campus: Melbourne

One of the central social determinants of health is related to people's structural location with the workforce. Our free market society has the tendency to undermine worker's pay and conditions and this situation is endemic in the hospitality industry. Using a participatory action research method this project would aim to identify aspects of exploitation of hospitality workers and also take steps for amelioration. This project would suit an Honours candidate with an interest in qualitative research, actions to support workers' rights and prevention policy.

Supervisor: Dr S Fisher

Contact: stfisher@acu.edu.au

Campus: Melbourne

The COVID 19 pandemic is a seismic event that has shaped how we understand the role and place of public health shifting the focus away from social determinants and towards biomedical framing. Little emphasis has been placed on the gendered nature of the impacts of lockdown restrictions. Women are commonly required to undertake double shifts with paid work and unpaid caring duties. This situation will have been amplified during 2020 and through qualitative interviews women's experiences will be documented. This project would suit an Honours candidate with an interest in qualitative research, prevention and women's issues.

Supervisor: Dr S Fisher

Contact: stfisher@acu.edu.au

Campus: Melbourne

The COVID 19 pandemic is a seismic event that has shaped how we understand the role and place of public health shifting the focus away from social determinants and towards biomedical framing. Members of Parliament (MPs) are crucial to the policy and budget allocations for public health prevention work and therefore their understanding of public health is crucial. This project would involve qualitative interviews with Victorian MPs to gauge their understanding of key principles of public health, social determinants of health and how they see their role in terms of advocating for public health. This project would suit an Honours candidate with an interest in qualitative research, prevention and policy.

Supervisor: Dr S Fisher

Contact: stfisher@acu.edu.au

Campus: Melbourne

This project will involve conducting a policy analysis on a selected contemporary public health issue (e.g. COVID-19, food labelling, regulation of e-cigarettes/tobacco control, electronic health records, etc.). An Honours student may develop a project to analyse the policy making process of a public health topic of interest in terms of its formulation, implementation and evaluation. Alternatively, they may focus on either a) design and development or b) implementation component of the policy making process.

Method: document analysis/content analysis (referred), and/or individual interviews/survey of key policy makers (subject to Ethics approval).

Supervisor: Dr Alison Hughes

Contact: alison.hughes@acu.edu.au

Campus: Melbourne

As the Australian Government continues to invest into its National Digital Health Strategy, it is important to understand clinicians' experiences with the use of current digital electronic health record (EHR) systems. This project aims to collect qualitative data on clinicians' perspectives on the use of digital EHRs in their work to facilitate patient care and make decisions about treatment. It will provide a strong basis for understanding how new digital technologies should be developed for a clinical setting and the educational approaches that should be undertaken to upskill the workforce. This project would suit a student who has a strong willingness to understand the emerging Australian digital health landscape in particular, the implementation of digital EHRs that are tailored for clinicians. Students who undertake this project will work closely with The Global eHealth Collaborative, a not-for-profit organisation that focusses on providing eHealth initiatives and outcomes to provide quality health care.

Supervisors: Dr Brandon Cheong and Dr John Oldroyd

Contact: brandon.cheong@acu.edu.au

Campus: Melbourne

COVID 19 had substantial effects on education in Australia. One effect was the need to deliver courses online via electronic technology. This was done at very short notice - for teachers and students. A proper evaluation of student's experiences of pivoting to online studies has not been performed among postgraduate (PG) students at ACU. This project will involve conducting primary qualitative research amongst PG students who have experienced firsthand online teaching during the pandemic. It will involve designing a suitable study among ACU students, obtaining ethics approval, data collection, data analysis and write up of the project. It will suit an honours student with an interest in education who is well organised to conduct a qualitative research project within 12 months.

Supervisor: Dr John Oldroyd

Contact: john.oldroyd@acu.edu.au

Campus: Melbourne