General Practice Research

The General Practice team at Western Sydney University has developed a research strategy guiding our involvement in an extensive range of research activities. We work with collaborators in the Western Sydney area and beyond, across the domains listed below.

Research Values and Strategic Directions

A. Community Engaged
1. Our research is driven by the needs and hopes of the communities where it is based, as defined by those communities.

B. Collaborative
1. Our research participants are partners, not subjects, in our projects. We seek to build a research capacity within primary health care sector and also amongst communities.
2. We collaborate with other researchers to further develop our mutual strengths and promote synergies and economy of efforts.

C. Health Inequities (Social Justice)
1. Our research focuses on areas of need. We work particularly with underserved communities.

D. Outcome focussed
1. Our research informs best practice and thereby improves health and educational outcomes.
2. We continue to build the capacity of the Department of General Practice to engage effectively in research.

General Practice Research Activity

Projects marked with an asterisk (*) involve opportunities for research by MD or PhD students.

Clinical Research

Department of General Practice Leading
  • Promoting continuity of care through understanding what influences patients with chronic disease to visit multiple General Practitioners (Contact: Penny Abbott)
Department of General Practice Partnering
  • Patient-centred eHealth approach to improving outcomes for gout sufferers (Contact: Jenny Reath)
  • Operation Braveheart: a study on cardiac surgery and perioperative care in children (Contact: Lawrence Tan)
  • Gout Treat to Target (opens in a new window) (Contact: Jenny Reath)
  • Developing perinatal oral health guidelines for dentists and prenatal care providers in Australia (Contact: Jenny Reath)

Community/ Public Health Research

Department of General Practice Leading
  • Understanding the barriers and facilitators of research into sexual and reproductive health issues in heterosexual migrant and refugee men in Australia – a qualitative study (Contact: Penny Abbott)
  • Asthma assessment and management: what are the challenges, facilitators and the strategies to assist general practitioners and practice nurses working in Western Sydney? (Contact Penny Abbott)
  • Knowledge And Attitudes Towards Cervical Cancer Screening In Female Assyrian Refugees In Western Sydney (Contact: Jenny Reath)
  • Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network Cancer Screening Evaluation (opens in a new window) (Contact: Steve Trankle)
  • Identifying culturally appropriate approaches to prevention and management of diabetes for people from Samoan backgrounds in primary care (opens in a new window) (Contact: Penny Abbott)
  • Airds access to mental health services project (opens in a new window) (Contact: Penny Abbott)
  • Establishing a Primary Care Co-design Lab in Western Sydney. Bringing together patients, practitioners, policymakers, and community as co-researchers. (Contact: Penelope Abbott)
  • Prevalence, characteristics, and associations of vaping in young people entering youth custody in NSW, Australia. (Contact Penelope Abbott)
    - Add: Justice in Healthcare – multidisciplinary primary care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people in prison
  • The Diabetes Oral Health-Dental Service (DIOH-DS): A randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness and implementation of a novel model of care to improve oral health and diabetes outcomes (Contact Yasin Shahab)
  • What teaching on faith, religion, spirituality and health do Australian medical students receive? – funded by grant from the Australian Research Theology Foundation (Contact Winston Lo)
Department of General Practice Partnering
  • The Pasifika Preventing Diabetes Programme (Contact: Jenny Reath)
  • Strengthening access to best evidence based care for people with palliative care needs in Australian prisons: a national co-design and capacity building project. (Australian Government, Department of Health: Public Health and Chronic Disease Grant Program National Palliative Care Projects. Project led by UTS (Contact: Penny Abbott)
  • Stakeholder Views on Primary Care Interventions to Assist Aboriginal People After Incarceration. Project led by UoW (Contact Penny Abbott)
  • Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder prevention and coordination of support for urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Led by UQ (Contact Penny Abbott)
  • Antecedents of Renal Disease in Aboriginal Children and young adults study – ARDAC. (opens in a new window) Led by Flinders University. (Contact Penny Abbott)

Health Services Research

Department of General Practice Leading
Department of General Practice Partnering

Education Research

Department of General Practice Leading