Seed Funding

Projects funded in 2020

• Online Music Gatherings - Applying existing knowledge about music and connection to online groups

  This project aims to examine the ways in which online music gatherings can respond to the additional levels of isolation and restriction experienced by members of the disability community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Developing a telehealth physical rehabilitation program for people with moderate to severe stroke using an integrated knowledge translation approach

  The aim of this project is to develop a tele-health physical rehabilitation program for people with moderate/severe stroke.

• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on early childhood intervention services in Australia

  The aim of the proposed study is to examine the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on early childhood intervention service provision and to provide guidance to families and providers.

• Extending telehealth and remote family well-being support for children with Neurodevelopmental Disability

  This project aims to mitigate the adverse effects of the pandemic on high-risk children with complex developmental disabilities at Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Department of Neurodevelopment & Disability (NDD) and embed longer-term implementation where benefits are demonstrated.

• Impact of COVID-19 on Disability Support Workers (DSWs) in Australia

  The study provides important insights into the challenges experienced by staff working in Victorian disability residential settings in the second wave of Victoria’s COVID-19 pandemic.

• The impact of transitions to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic response on Victorian school students with disability

  This project aims to investigate the impact of transitions to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic response on Victorian school students with disability and their families.

• Crisis resilience in people with multiple sclerosis (C-RIMS); immediate concerns during the acute and adjustment phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

  This project identifies issues raised and experienced by people with MS and their carers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the National Disability Insurance Scheme allied healthcare services and consumer experiences transitioning to telehealth

  The aim of this project is to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted NationalDisability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) allied healthcare services and consumer experiences transitioning to tele-health.

• The impact of COVID-19 on service provision for children and young people following major traumatic injury: A longitudinal, qualitative study

  This project identifies enablers, barriers, and best-practice innovative approaches to meeting the ongoing needs of young people with traumatic injuries.

• Continuing to care in the time of COVID-19: Evaluation of a communication and service delivery program for Aboriginal Australians living with disability from remote Northern Territory Communities

  This project aims to address the needs of Aboriginal Australians living with disabilities from remote NT during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Risk of transmission of COVID-19 among people with disability and their support staff

  This project will collect data from people with disability and support workers to map networks of care.

• Remote but Connected: a co-created digital platform to enable caregivers to support independent living for people with disability in the face of Covid-19

  This project digitally links caregivers to resources and networks, as well as explores pathways for linking people with disability to these resources.

• Disaster Recovery for people with a disability across the lifespan: a scoping review

  This project aims to conduct a rapid review of the literature regarding the disaster recovery experience and needs of people with a disability, looking at the specific needs across age groups and life stages.

• NIV at Home

  NIV@Home will pilot whether using home NIV implementation and remote patient monitoring to substitute for day admissions and clinic attendance in people with disabilities is a feasible model for testing in a future, adequately powered, multi-centre study.

Projects funded 2018 - 2019

• Smoking Behaviours among People with Intellectual Disability

  A programmatic approach to understanding the smoking behaviours of people with intellectual disability and potential interventions for reducing smoking rates.

• Community Disability Inclusion in India

  The project, occurring over four phases, will produce, trial and evaluate a best-practice Community Disability Inclusion (CDI) Diploma course for CDI workers in India.

• Accessing the Home

  Collecting, analyzing and creating a centralized record of the Home Renovation scheme reports - which represent a comprehensive record of Victoria's housing stock for people with a disability or age-related restrictions.

• Inclusive City of Melbourne

  The City of Melbourne and University of Melbourne are teaming up to help make Melbourne a ‘city for people’ – one that is accessible and inclusive for all.

• A mixed methods evaluation of a wellbeing service for parents of children with complex neurodevelopmental conditions

  This project is to evaluate a Parent Wellbeing Service, a current pilot program within the Department of Neurodevelopment and Disability, Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH).

• The Impact of Low Vision Assistive Technology on Mobility in People with Vision Impairment

  This project develops methods for assessing assistive devices for people with low vision.

• Everyone’s Moomba

  This project is designed to inform the City of Melbourne on how to strengthen and future proof the festival for people with a disability.

• Trial and validation of the ASQ-TRAK Extended – a developmental outcome measure for Australian Aboriginal children

  This project is supporting the development of the ASQ-TRAK Extended; the validation of the ASQ-TRAK Extended; and the examination of the feasibility and the cost of implementing the ASQ-TRAK Extended.

• Exploring the interface of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and Disability Employment Services (DES) and the influence on employment outcomes for Australians with disabilities

  This project seeks to understand stakeholder perspectives and concerns on the functioning and positioning of NDIS/DES interface within the broader education, training and employment sector.

• Myth busting and number crunching: the disability pay gap

  This project will conduct an in-depth analysis of the “disability pay gap” – which will inform an online interactive tool to bridge the gap between evidence and understanding.

• Using total population data to produce policy-relevant evidence to increase access to services for Aboriginal children with intellectual disability / autism spectrum disorder in Western Australia

  This project will use total population data from Western Australia to understand why Aboriginal children with developmental disability are less likely to receive disability services prior to school than non-Aboriginal children.

• Improving paediatric advance planning for children with severe neurodisability

  This study aims to understand how paediatricians conceptualise ACP when caring for children with life-limiting conditions (LLC) who are unable to participate in decision-making for his/herself.

• Pathways for responding to conflict and high risk behaviours in families: A feasibility study based on families living with a child/young person with autism

  This study seeks to better understand the intersections between increased stress, familial conflict, high risk behaviours, and absence of social support for families living with a child/young person with ASD.

• Digitising Social Care: An Alternative Vision for Australia’s Digital Future of Care

  This project aims to describe the current information technology readiness of the social care sector, including the current state of information continuity between this sector and the health system.

• Violence against people with disabilities: maximising the use of data to inform the Royal Commission

  This project will inform the upcoming Royal Commission into Violence and Abuse against people with disability by providing the most up-to-date population-based estimates on the prevalence of violence among people with disability in Australia.

• Cultivating wellbeing by empowering families: Establishing evidence for and impact of the Now and Next Program

  This project will launch an inter-disciplinary, collaborative longitudinal impact study, with the intention of informing proactive policies and approaches to early childhood disability care.

• Evaluation of Safe Place Pilot Program

  This research project is to evaluate the economic and social impacts of this housing pilot program and examine possibilities for upscaling the model.

• National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Legal Clinic

  This project established the NDIS Legal Clinic at Melbourne Law School, which is the first of its kind in Australia.

• Towards a better understanding of how to reduce social stigma among medical students: A qualitative study

  The project aims to address the prejudicial and stigmatising views of healthcare professionals regarding persons with mental health conditions.

• Dental Health for People with Intellectual Disability

  This project aims to improve the oral health of people with intellectual disability and increase the volume of people with intellectual disability being treated in community and private dental practice settings.

• DigiTech4All: Optimising inclusive pedagogies for teaching the Digital Technologies curriculum

  This project will investigate effective teaching strategies so that students with disabilities and additional needs are included in Digital Technologies lessons alongside their peers.

• African Australians with disability and the NDIS: Exploring the support and service needs of African Australians with disability

  This project explores the experiences of African Australians with disability seeking access to the NDIS.

• This is me: Exploring how inclusive music workshops can support mental health and quality of life in autistic children and young adults

  This project examines and evaluates the benefits of group music making on the mental health and quality of life of participants from three different age groups of upper primary school aged children.

• Linking therapy and community participation through cycling (CycLink) for children with disabilities: a feasibility study

  This study investigates the feasibility of a cycling program for children with disabilities that is co-delivered by physiotherapists and community sport and recreational professionals with the goal of improving community participation in cycling.

• The prevalence and causes of hearing loss in the Kandal Province of Cambodia using the Rapid Assessment of Hearing Loss (RAHL)

  This project aims to provide evidence on the prevalence and causes of hearing loss in one province of Cambodia for people aged 50 and over.