Speakers for 2005
- Mr Save Kaunisela, ‘Community Capacity Building Implementation in Fiji’
- Professor Ross Homel, ‘Pathways to Prevention’
- Dr Gillian Pugh, Dr Alan France, Dr Edward Smith and Professor Robert MacDonald, ‘Prevention Policy and Practice in Community Settings’.
- Professor Marianne Berry, - Evaluation and Child Welfare
- Dr Karen Barnett, Dr Richi Nayak, Dr Evonne Miller and Associate Professor Jan Lovie-kitchen, ‘ Triple A (Australians Active Ageing) Study’.
- Professor Alan Lopez, ‘Burden of Disease’
- Dr Zohl de Ishtar, ‘Strategies for Culturally Respectful Research and Provision in Indigenous Communities’
Mr Save Kaunisela
Savenaca Kaunisela is Deputy Secretary, Ministry for Provincial Development (MPD), Fiji. In this position, Savenaca is responsible for overseeing the diverse range of activities undertaken by his Ministry, including disaster management, rural housing, developing and maintaining non-cane and cane access roads, and supporting community projects co-funded by government.
In Savenaca Kaunisela’s presentation he outlined the Community Capacity Building Program currently being implemented by the Ministry of Provincial Development, Fiji and drew from his experience on the deployment of the “Participatory Project Cycle Management” model - a participatory approach to community development planning.
Professor Ross Homel
Professor Homel is Foundation Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University. He has a PhD from Macquarie University in behavioural sciences. As well as a PhD, he has a Master of Science degree and a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree, both in mathematical statistics.
The Pathways to Prevention Project is a developmental prevention (or 'early intervention') project focussed on the transition to school in one of the most disadvantaged urban areas in Queensland. It involves the integration of family support programs with pre-school and school-based programs in seven schools within a community development framework.
Professor Homelused the Pathways to Prevention Project as an example of a researcher-practitioner partnership for applying empirically-based knowledge to the development of programs and services. He discussed what has been learned to date including consideration of contextual factors that influence outcomes for children and also our understanding of how this association is mediated by interventions, techniques used to track individual patterns of stability and change within children and the importance of policies and practices that promote strong connections between the systems and contexts within which children function, grow and develop.
Dr Gillian Pugh, Dr Alan France, Dr Edward Smith and Professor Robert MacDonald
The presenters and their topic addressed are listed below:
- ‘Evidence-led’ prevention services contributing to policy development in the UK’. Dr Gillian Pugh,Re tired Chief Executive of Coram Family.
- ‘Key learning from the implementation of Community based Early Intervention and Prevention programs in the UK.’ Dr Alan France & Dr Jean Hine. Dr. France is the Director of the multi-disciplinary Research Centre for the Study of Childhood and Youth at the University of Sheffield. Dr. Hine is Reader in Criminology at De Montfort University, England. She is Director of the Economic & Social Research Council Research Network.
- ‘Adapting evidence-based programs to new contexts: What needs to be changed?’ Professor Linda Caldwell & Dr Edward Smith. Dr Caldwell is a professor of recreation, park and tourism management at Penn State University. Dr Smith is Director of Evaluation Research in the Prevention Research Centre at Penn State.
- ‘Working with juveniles in deprived communities; problems with transitions and development of the Connexions service.’ Professor Robert MacDonald,. A Professor at University of Teesside
Professor Marianne Berry
Marianne Berry is Professor of Social Welfare at the University of Kansas, USA. She has over 80 career publications on evidence-based practice with children and families. She is a founding member of the International Association of Cross-National Evaluation in Child and Family Services.
Prof Marianne’s discussed the challenges in evaluation and performance measurement in children's services - experiences in the US and other countries.
Her presentation represented an excellent opportunity for key policy, program design and service delivery staff to meet with an internationally renowned scholar in areas of interest to these departments.
If you would like a copy of her PowerPoint presentation please email research@communities.qld.gov.au or 322 78579.
Dr Karen Barnett, Dr Richi Nayak, Dr Evonne Miller and Associate Professor Jan Lovie-kitchen
A team of researchers from Queensland University of Technology presented their ideas on Exploring Active Ageing in Australia. Their presentation focused on the findings of the Australian Active Ageing (Triple A) Study, the first national study to investigate multiple dimensions of life for people older than 50.
Research among 2,620 people aged 50 years and over has revealed that, for most Australians, health is not the only thing that determines 'active ageing'. While good health is certainly important, quality of life depends on a complex mix of dimensions.
Several members of the research team presented information from the study, including the importance of social interactions, continued learning and comparisons between rural ageing in Australia and America.
Professor Alan Lopez
Professor Alan Lopez is Professor of Medical Statistics and Population Health and Head of the School of Population Health at the University of Queensland.
The ‘burden of disease' framework provides a comprehensive health accounting method to ascertain the comparative impact of diseases, injuries and risk factors for a population using a common metric.
Professor Lopez's groundbreaking work also indicates that the determinants of health may have more to do with social and economic factors than with hospitals and doctors. This concept can be extended to the factors that determine the social health of a community - the ‘social determinants of wellbeing’, making it relevant to all public sector agencies and social service providers.
Professor Lopez discussed Improving Health Outcomes: Building the Evidence Base for Policy and Priority-Setting in Health
Dr Zohl de Ishtar
Dr Zohl dé Ishtar holds a PhD in Social Inquiry, Women’s Studies, and Masters Degrees in both Applied Social Research, Behavioural Sciences Philosophy (Sociology), and Social Work & Social Policy.
Zohl has worked in collaboration with Indigenous Australian and Pacific peoples since 1979. Publishing extensively on the Pacific, Zohl is the author of Daughters of the Pacific (1994) and editor of Pacific Women Speak Out for Independence and Demilitarisation (1998). Her PhD thesis, “Holding Yawulyu: White Culture and Black Women’s Law”, gained her the prestigious Isi Liebler Prize 2003 awarded “for advancing knowledge of racism, religious or ethnic prejudice” and furthering “multiculturalism and community relations in Australia”.
Dr de Ishtar is one of six Australians included in the group of women acknowledged by the 1,000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize organisation, which each year recognises 1,000 women across the globe for their contribution to peace.
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