Regional cancer survival
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Australia. More than 26000 Queenslanders are diagnosed with cancer each year. On average, the survival prospects for regional Queenslanders diagnosed with cancer are five years shorter than their counterparts in the city.
USQ researchers are working on several joint initiatives with Cancer Council Queensland and Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia to improve cancer survivorship and quality of life for people living in regional Queensland. Find out more.
Super foods – the new medicine
In less than ten years, more than two-thirds of the Australian population will be classified as overweight or obese.
The prevalence of chronic diet-induced conditions such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and a range of cancers are growing at an exponential rate. There is an urgency to find solutions that change the way the public views the connection between food and health to stem the global ‘obesity’ epidemic.
USQ researchers are providing the foundation for the scientific validation of ‘super-foods’ that deliver optimal health benefits and significantly reduce the risks associated with chronic ‘lifestyle’ diseases. The potential is there for functional foods, including Queen Garnett plums, purple carrots and seaweeds, chia seeds, ellagitannins, and cardamom, to reverse human obesity and chronic inflammatory diseases affecting the heart and liver.
Hugh McIntosh, Director of Nurtafruit is busy scaling production to meet the insatiable demand for the new superfood, the Queen Garnet plum. Find out more.
Helping young people overcome anxiet
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. In Australia, it's estimated that 45 per cent of people will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime. In any one year, around 1 million Australian adults have depression, and over 2 million have anxiety. One in six young Australians currently experience an anxiety condition and one in 16 currently experience depression.
Sadly, people living in rural areas, Indigenous Australians, young people, and disadvantaged groups are at risk for experiencing mental illness, yet, they are amongst those least likely to seek treatment.
Researchers within USQ’s Institute for Resilient Regions are developing and implementing new solutions that improve mental health, wellbeing and resilience across the lifespan and across Australia using innovative technologies and platforms.
In partnership with beyondblue, Griffith University, and University of Queensland, USQ researchers have developed an online treatment program for childhood anxiety. Currently in use in several national contexts, the BRAVE Program, has been accessed by more than 15,000 young Australians from the comfort of their own home. Of those who engaged with the program, over 70% of children and over 50% of adolescents no longer show problem levels of anxiety.
The program is currently delivered as a national mental health intervention in Australia, available to all children, adolescents and parents, free of charge (supported by beyondblue). Wider impacts have been noted as a result of the program being introduced into practice in New Zealand as part of the mental health response to the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Following an initial trial, it was continued as a community service program. The program is also currently being offered in several Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in the UK.
This research is also being extended to the development of an online resiliency-building intervention for high-stress health professionals such as medical doctors.
