Public Health Research & Practice

Objectives and importance of study This study aimed to identify short message service (SMS) reminder content perceived as most likely to prompt bowel cancer screening, examine differences across sociodemographic subgroups, and explore preferences for timing and frequency. Methods Australian residents (N = 1016) aged 50–74 years completed an online survey rating five SMS reminders presented in ran…

Objectives Recognising the need to address high rates of smoking within priority populations, the Cancer Council New South Wales launched the ‘Tackling Tobacco’ program in 2006. This program aims to reduce tobacco-related disparities among groups experiencing social and economic disadvantage in the state of New South Wales (NSW). After almost 20 years of implementation, this paper describes the d…

Healthcare workers who experienced an early hospital-centred COVID-19 outbreak in regional Tasmania, Australia, highlighted the need for enhanced preparedness in terms of infection control training and personal protective equipment availability, adequacy and access for future outbreaks. Planning for a successful future pandemic response also should include emergency communication preparedness, pl…

Globally available and approved HPV vaccines, although successful, are still expensive in LMICs. Therefore, India has been putting efforts into a locally produced HPV vaccine. The affordability of this vaccine makes the impact potentially transformative, but its future success depends on scaling up and utilizing effective strategies for nationwide implementation.

Despite growing interest in reducing the mortality burden from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), data that enable systematic monitoring of trends in NCD mortality among Australian adolescents remain scarce. Our study highlights inequities in the reduction of deaths caused by NCDs between 2001 and 2019 among Australian adolescents, particularly for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Objectives and importance of study Evaluate the effectiveness of training workshops aiming to improve researchers' consumer and community involvement (CCI) related awareness, attitudes, and behaviours, and capture remaining barriers to CCI. Design Cross-sectional questionnaires. Setting University of Queensland researchers attending a CCI training workshop, facilitated by The Kids Institute betwe…

Objectives and importance of study Public health aims to improve health at scale through a variety of preventive, protective and response measures. As a deep and broad profession, public health necessitates a wide variety of roles, specialisations and career pathways. This breadth can lead to many public health students experiencing career uncertainty, particularly related to awareness of career …

Objectives Promoting the Australian National Bowel Cancer Screening Program in general practice has been identified as an effective strategy to increase participation rates. Despite the positive influence general practitioners (GPs) have on patient decision-making, program endorsement is not routinely included within the national program's policy and practice. The aim of this study was to gain a …

Background In Victoria, Aboriginal maternal and infant health services are funded by the Victorian Government with coordination led by the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO). This research aims to compare the distribution of these services with the Aboriginal infant population across all local government areas (LGAs) of Victoria and identify gaps in service ava…

Objective The objective of this study was to examine the experiences of Australian residents living in mould-affected homes; the perceived physical and mental health effects of indoor mould exposure; and personal, social, and institutional barriers to remediation of homes affected by mould. Methods Using a multi-method approach, this study combined analyses of data from semi-structured, in-depth …

Objectives The value of engaging health service users and their families (consumers) in research is increasingly being recognised in planning and evaluating health services to meet diverse needs. This project aimed to co-design a strategic consumer involvement framework and implementation plan for a public Australian hospital and health service. Methods A co-design approach was used to adopt a fr…

Given that the focus of this journal is the connection between public health research, policy and practice, our reflections at this 10-year point in the journal's history are upon lessons to be drawn from recent efforts to achieve effective, evidence-based prevention in Australia. The accompanying commentaries on progress in critical areas of public health action (refer to Part 2 - centring First…

Primary health care provides a comprehensive range of preventive care for the Australian population. Prevention is now a core activity of general practice, and engagement of a range of non-medical providers and digital tools has enhanced its capacity. There are promising strategies to further engage primary health care from both the government and the profession. However, funding, workload and sy…

Ten years ago, Australia's tobacco plain packaging laws significantly shifted the tobacco control landscape. The smoking rate for people aged ≥18 years has continued to decline from 16.4% in 2013 to 11.1% in 2022-23. In 2023, the tobacco control policy inertia that had occurred since the introduction of plain packaging was finally addressed with the passage of a comprehensive package of reforms. …

As First Nations public health professionals, we critically examine the National Preventive Health Strategy 2021-2030 (NPHS) and its shortcomings in addressing the structural determinants of health inequities affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (hereafter respectfully, First Nations peoples). Although the NPHS aspires to a systems-based and equitable approach, we argue that it…

Objectives and importance of study To summarise current evidence on the facilitators and barriers to offering vaping cessation support from the perspective of health professionals (HPs) with client-facing roles. Study type A scoping review following the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. Methods Six databases were searched for relevant peer-reviewed articles published in English between 2003 an…

Objective After-action reviews (AARs) are used to systematically examine the functions, capabilities and barriers impacting effective pandemic responses. This paper describes the methods used for and the lessons learnt from undertaking the first formal state-wide AAR of the public health response to COVID-19 in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Type of program A state-wide AAR was applied to exam…

Objective To quantitatively describe the healthcare needs of a cohort of kindergarten children in a low-socioeconomic rural community to inform school entry health check programs and school-based healthcare services. Study type Medical record review. Methods Data were extracted from the community health electronic medical records of children who started primary school in 2019 at one of the five s…