Innovative approaches to vaping, vaccinations and risky drinking

NDRI researchers are contributing to new MRFF- and NHMRC-funded projects that take innovative digital-based approaches to improving the health of young and Indigenous Australians.

NDRI Professor Tanya Chikritzhs and Research Associate Dr Annalee Stearne will join NDRI Adjunct Associate Professor Kylie Lee, who is leading the ‘Making it easier for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care services to screen for risky drinking and provide tailored feedback: adapting the Grog Survey App’ project.

Led by the University of Sydney and receiving $3m in funding under the MRFF’s Primary Health Care Digital Innovations program, the study will deliver a reliable and acceptable digital alcohol screening tool for First Nations Australians.

A second MRFF-funded project is focusing on vaping among adolescents.

Led by The Matilda Centre, ‘Our Futures Vaping: A cluster randomised controlled trial of a school-based eHealth intervention to prevent e-cigarette use among adolescents’ will conduct a randomised controlled trial with 3,500 students in WA, NSW and Queensland to evaluate efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a school-based eHealth preventive intervention targeting e-cigarette use among young Australians.

NDRI Professor Steve Allsop, Associate Professor Nyanda McBride and Adjunct Professor Nicole Lee are Chief Investigators, and Kathleen Blackburn is the WA Research Assistant on the project.

Meanwhile, NDRI Needs of Aboriginal Australians Program Leader Dr Jocelyn Jones is a Chief Investigator on the ‘Improving HPV vaccination rates for Aboriginal young people through social media’ project.

Led by Edith Cowan University and funded by NHMRC’s Ideas Grant program, the four-year project aims to improve human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates among young Aboriginal people by co-creating health promotion messages and developing, delivering and evaluating a social media campaign. HPV is a common sexually transmitted infection that can lead to HPV-related cancers.

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Posted on: 9 May 2023

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