Addictions Research Network
The Addictions Research Network comprises Western researchers with a range of disciplinary backgrounds including psychology, social work, criminology and public health:
- Dr Elizabeth Conroy (opens in a new window)
- Dr Rashid Flewellen (opens in a new window)
- Assoc Prof Ilse Blignault (opens in a new window)
- Prof Stephen Tomsen (opens in a new window)
- Dr Emily Deans
The network aims to foster high quality research on critical substance use issues and psychosocial health comorbidities facing communities in the greater Western Sydney region. Our research is community driven and underpinned by significant partnerships with SWSLHD Drug Health Services, and a range of non-government organisations in South Western and Western Sydney. Please see a list of current projects below.
Our network also provides mentoring to emerging drug and alcohol researchers. If you are a researcher interested in joining our network please contact Dr Elizabeth Conroy.
Postgraduate students with a specific interest in substance use and gambling comorbidity are invited to contact Dr Conroy to discuss their suitability to apply for an Office of Responsible Gambling PhD Scholarship. The funding is up to $55,000 per year for three years per candidate and applications close 20/01/2021. Further information can be found on the ORG website (opens in a new window).
Drug Health Services Research Capacity Building ProjectThe research capacity building project is a two-year collaboration between WSU-THRI and SWSLHD Drug Health Services focused on building research capacity within Drug Health Services. The project has a number of components including a webinar series, mentoring program, and presentation skills workshop. It is aimed at SWSLHD Drug Health Services clinicians who are interested in becoming more involved in research, from those who want to contribute to an existing project through to those who want to lead their own project. Further details regarding how to access the program and the schedule of events will be released in early 2021. If you are a SWSLHD clinician and would like further information about this program please contact Prakash Poudel, Research Coordinator, SWSLHD Drug Health Services (Prakash.Poudel@health.nsw.gov.au). All other enquiries please contact Dr Elizabeth Conroy (e.conroy@westernsydney.edu.au). |
Assessing the needs of local youth to help guide drug and alcohol prevention strategies
This collaborative project aims to improve the currency & relevance of the drug prevention programmes delivered by Youth Solutions. There are three groups of young people that the project will target: young people involved in the juvenile justice system; young people involved in the homelessness support system; and young people in school. The project will involve qualitative interviews and focus groups with young people across these different settings and enquire about the substances that are currently causing concern among young people and the sociocultural factors that shape young people’s involvement in alcohol and other drugs. Contact: Emily@youthsolutions.com.au |
Measurement of changes in alcohol and drug counsellors’ language and competency after implementation of Motivational Interviewing training
Many medical conditions and social determinants of health are known to have direct relationships with modifiable health behaviours. The management and prevention of heart disease, cancer, obesity and sexually transmitted infections necessitate conversations about behaviour change. Those conversations include behaviours such as smoking, diet, exercise, medication adherence, and substance use. Treatment interventions are most effective when driven by clinical practices that emphasise communication skills informed by mechanisms of behaviour change. From a training perspective, these mechanisms require extensive unpacking in order to adequately address the complex problems associated with AOD issues. Motivational interviewing (MI) is a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication with a particular attention to the language of change. MI is one of few behaviour change interventions that specifically accounts for “clinician effects” in the clinical encounter. The aim of this project is to measure the impact of an MI training program on AOD counsellors’ clinical language and competencies. This measurement will identify mechanisms of behaviour change in order to improve clinician responses to complex problems in drug and alcohol treatment. Contact: r.flewellen@westernsydney.edu.au |
Comorbidity of Gambling Study (COGS)
South Western Sydney (and Fairfield in particular) has one of the highest rates of gambling behaviour in NSW however screening and referral pathways to gambling support services are poorly articulated across SWSLHD facilities. Problem gambling has significant psychosocial impacts on both the person who gambles and their social network. It is highly comorbid with substance use and other mental disorder and has been linked to specific health problems (e.g. cardiac problems) and the use of some medications (e.g. anti-Parkinsonian drugs). Gambling comorbidity was identified as a research priority by the SWSLHD Drug Health Services at a collaborative research meeting between Drug Health Services and WSU THRI in 2018. Currently there are two focus areas for this program of research: a hospital prevalence study funded by the NSW Office of Responsible Gambling and an outpatients prevalence study currently in the pilot stage.
Contact: e.conroy@westernsydney.edu.au |
Completed Research
The gambling bug project: Problem gambling in Indigenous communities during COVID-19
- Researchers: Paul Saunders, Professor Aunty Kerrie Doyle
The Indigenous Health team at Western Sydney University have secured an Australian Partnership for Preparedness Research on Infectious diseaSe Emergencies (APPRISE) First Nations-led research on COVID-19 grant to develop and evaluate a community-driven public health intervention based on the narratives of those with problem gambling behaviours within Indigenous communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project is planned to operate in one regional and one urban setting within New South Wales providing an insight into the impacts of COVID-19 on problem gambling for Indigenous communities in a range of geographical environments. The research will employ an indigenist approach, considering the complex socio-cultural factors contributing to the over-representation of Indigenous people in problem gambling statistics. The project, led by Dr Paul Saunders and Professor Aunty Kerrie Doyle from the university’s School of Medicine and Translational Health Research Institute, will look to develop a public health strategy to increase awareness around problem gambling and its dissociation with Indigenous culture. Dr Saunders was delighted with the grant outcome stating that “a focus on a strengths-based approach that is community-driven and locally-relevant to the two project communities will ensure community-control and sustainability of the developed strategies which, if successful, may also be translated to address other socially-mediated, and locally-relevant public health issues which have often been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic”. The project is due to commence in early 2021.