College of Healthcare Sciences

Lisa Shaw

Lisa Shaw

Stephen Yu

Stephen Yu

Karen Smith

Karen Smith

Chae Rose

Chae Rose

Helen Petsky

Helen Petsky

Lucy Bird

Lucy Bird

Matthew Yau

Matthew Yau

Alyssia Merrick

Alyssia Merrick

Louise Myles

Louise Myles

Sandra Dash

Sandra Dash

Becoming a soldier: A Qualitative Study into Construction of the Army Identity and its Impact on Mental Health
Ylona Chun Tie
20 Nov 2024 - 31 Jan 2029
Student-led project (PhD) - agreement sought between JCU and DoD to allow access to current serving members (Army personnel) for the purpose of qualitative interviews and focus groups. Access to DoD policy documents including personnel manuals, Defence health policy/manuals, standard operating procedures
Becoming a soldier: A Qualitative Study into Construction of the Army Identity and its Impact on Mental Health
Carolyn Heward
20 Nov 2024 - 31 Jan 2029
Student-led project (PhD) - agreement sought between JCU and DoD to allow access to current serving members (Army personnel) for the purpose of qualitative interviews and focus groups. Access to DoD policy documents including personnel manuals, Defence health policy/manuals, standard operating procedures
Rural and Remote Generalist Nurse Pathway Scoping Review
Tracey Ahern
04 Jun 2025 - 30 Sep 2025
This is a joint collaborative project with Queensland Health Office of the Chief Nurse, USQ, CQU, USC. The project is a scoping review that we will undertake together and publish collaboratively to inform a new nursing pathway in Queensland for rural and remote nurses.
Rural and Remote Generalist Nurse Pathway Scoping Review
Pauline Calleja
04 Jun 2025 - 30 Sep 2025
This is a joint collaborative project with Queensland Health Office of the Chief Nurse, USQ, CQU, USC. The project is a scoping review that we will undertake together and publish collaboratively to inform a new nursing pathway in Queensland for rural and remote nurses.
NurtureNextGen: Co-design of a digital tool to support families of children with genetic neurodevelopmental conditions to receive balanced prognostic information
Pieta Shakes
01 Jan 2025 - 30 Dec 2027
This project, led by Dr Erin Turbitt (UTS) was a successful MRFF application from the 2023 Consumer-Led Research Grant Opportunity. The project start was delayed due until 2025 due to parental leave. The AIMS of this project are to: 1. Co-design an evidence-based, consumer-led intervention: NurtureNextGen, a digital tool to promote a strengths-based approach to discussing genetic neurodevelopmental conditions. 2. Investigate the implementation and feasibility of NurtureNextGen to inform the design of future research testing outcomes in controlled trials.
The SUPPORT-TFMR Project: Strengthening the Understanding of Parental Preferences and Options for Receiving supporT during and following a Termination For Medical Reasons Project
Pieta Shakes
01 Jan 2025 - 01 Jan 2027
Project led by Dr Sarah Fogarty to undertake research to inform the development of guidance for care related to termination for medical reasons (successful application - funded by Stillbirth Foundation to commence in 2025). The care and support parents receive around their stillbirth is pivotal to how they manage their grief journey. The loss of a baby before they are born, or shortly after, has wide-reaching and long-lasting impact for parents, family members, and communities. Captured within the experience of stillbirth are parents who have experienced a termination for medical reasons (TFMR). Australian surveillance of stillbirth includes unborn babies with a congenital anomaly who died through TFMR. In fact, congenital anomalies were the leading cause of stillbirth in Australia in 2021.(1) While strides have been taken in antepartum stillbirth care over the last 10 years, this care and support does not always meet the needs of parents who have experienced a TFMR. The TFMR journey has unique challenges that are not experienced by parents who have a spontaneous loss. These challenges can include complex medical information, tests and waiting, time-pressured decisions based on uncertain or ambiguous information, isolation from typical supports, procedures to end the life of the baby or induction to deliver early, and stigma, judgement or dismissal of the perceived “choice” around TFMR. This is evidenced by a participant in our research who states: “you get to make a decision which is a crappy decision that you don't want to make a choice on, and then you get to also carry that forever with you”.(2) Parents who have experienced a TFMR have indicated that even though ‘miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal loss’ might be how their loss is classified, they can struggle to feel part of the pregnancy and neonatal loss communities. Research shows that the burden of TFMR is high for parents, and this is an area where non-judgemental, compassionate, and sensitive support
Enhanced network of real-time tropical cyclone monitoring weather stations
Connar McShane
01 Jan 2025 - 31 Dec 2026
This project seeks to build a fully functional mobile weather station network for disseminating real-time, community-based, weather data during tropical cyclones. The second aspect to this program is to relate the measured wind data against community perceptions.
Playgrounds with a purpose: Facilitating free physical activity opportunities at local community parks/playgrounds
Denise Turner
This research seeks to determine how instructional videos demonstrating creative use of existing infrastructure available in public parks with playgrounds can increase community user accessibility to physical activity experiences.
Leveraging AI simulations for allied health education: Pilot study for Psychology
Denise Turner
This project will test IDA with psychology students to determine its effectiveness before expanding to other healthcare disciplines, ultimately providing students college-wide (and university-wide) dynamic and scalable simulations
Exploration of park playground features and opportunities to advance fundamental movement skills and/or components of fitness for community users
Denise Turner
This project aims to audit local community park playgrounds (i.e. playgrounds not on school/day care/kindy/private properties) to ascertain what physical activity opportunities they present community users to work on advancing fundamental movement skills (FMS) and/or components of fitness.
Title: At home with your dog? 3 ways to connect and lift your spirits, The Conversation
Reseracher: Jessica Oliva (Senior Lecturer, Psychology)
Start Date: 25 Aug 2021
Title: How Prevalent is Men's Pornography Use? And Why Sexuality Educators Need to Know (Presentation for Sex Ed Lecture Series, 2021)
Reseracher: Daniel Miller (Senior Lecturer, Psychology)
Title: Research: dog owners more resilient, cat owners more neurotic, Townsville Bulletin
Reseracher: Jessica Oliva (Senior Lecturer, Psychology)
Start Date: 13 Oct 2024
Title: Research: dog owners more resilient, cat owners more neurotic, Cairns Post
Reseracher: Jessica Oliva (Senior Lecturer, Psychology)
Start Date: 13 Oct 2024
Title: How dog moves us in mysterious ways, Townsville Bulletin
Reseracher: Jessica Oliva (Senior Lecturer, Psychology)
Start Date: 11 Oct 2024
Title: Psst, don't tell anyone, but I've become a cat person, The Age
Reseracher: Jessica Oliva (Senior Lecturer, Psychology)
Start Date: 30 Jan 2025
Title: Psst, don't tell anyone, but I've become a cat person, Brisbane Times
Reseracher: Jessica Oliva (Senior Lecturer, Psychology)
Start Date: 30 Jan 2025
Title: Psst, don't tell anyone, but I've become a cat person, MSN Australia
Reseracher: Jessica Oliva (Senior Lecturer, Psychology)
Start Date: 30 Jan 2025
Title: Psst, don't tell anyone, but I've become a cat person, WA Today
Reseracher: Jessica Oliva (Senior Lecturer, Psychology)
Start Date: 30 Jan 2025
Title: Psst, don't tell anyone, but I've become a cat person, Sydney Morning Herald
Reseracher: Jessica Oliva (Senior Lecturer, Psychology)
Start Date: 30 Jan 2025