Participate in research studies

Social Media, Well-being and Exercise

The study will investigate the relationship between social media, exercise, mood and body image.

Participation will involve completing questionnaires assessing your mood and exercise motivation, then examining some images from social media and completing some more questionnaires. You will also be asked to exercise on a treadmill for around 10 minutes at a speed chosen by you and then complete some follow-up questionnaires. The questions assess your mood and motivations for exercising as well as your attitudes towards your body. Participants height and weight will then be recorded by the researcher. Participation is entirely voluntary, and the study will take 30 minutes to complete.

Please contact Shana O'Toole if you are interested in participating.

Evaluating a model for development and usability of the Carers Toolkit

A new online health resource, the Australian Family Carer Toolkit, is being developed by Centre for Palliative Care (St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne) in collaboration with Flinders University, University of Technology Sydney and Carers Australia. This toolkit is being designed to support the needs of carers who are looking after loved ones with an advanced disease at home in the community.

This study aims to gain insights into how carers perceive the pre-release online prototype of the toolkit including content, information flow, visual representations and structure of the resource.
This evaluation session will be undertaken at the Flinders Medical Centre Rehabilitation and Palliative Care building during August 2019.

You will be asked to complete two questionnaires; one to provide information on how you use and interpret health information, and the second indicating your level of satisfaction with the Carers Toolkit after you have used the prototype.

You will be also invited to provide a verbal description of your views on the content, how the toolkit works, any problems or issues that you may find as you look for specific pieces of information within the toolkit.

You will also be asked to rate how easy these tasks are and provide your opinion on what parts of the toolkit you like or dislike.

Participation is entirely voluntary, and you need to be a carer of a loved one living at home with advance disease to be involved. The session will take about 60 minutes to complete.

You will receive a $25 gift voucher as an honorarium for your time.

You can find out more information here or contact the researcher,
Amanda Adams for further information regarding this study.

Relationship between melatonin and myopia (or short-sightedness) in young adults

The study is examining the differences in sleep pattern, light exposure and systemic melatonin levels in people with different vision disorders.

I am looking for myopes (short-sighted individuals) and emmetropes (individuals with normal vision).

We will do a comprehensive eye examination at Flinders Vision for free, which will take up to 60 minutes. You will complete a short sleep diary, and wear an activity monitoring watch (Similar to a Fitbit) in your own home for one week. At the end of the week, you will be asked to attend the Flinders University Sleep Laboratory at 5pm to provide urine and half-hourly saliva samples overnight. Sleep Laboratory has private bedrooms for comfort and privacy.

Interoceptive Awareness in Taoist Medical Qigong

Are you interested in learning an ancient, exciting and dynamic exercise form with potential physical, physiological, mental and emotional benefits?

Can you make yourself available for 2 x 60 minute training sessions per week for 4 weeks in the Sturt Gym at the Flinders University Bedford Park Campus?

This exercise psychology study will record your experiences of interoceptive awareness (how you 'listen inwards' to your body signals) through practising 5 Animal Taoist Medical Qigong, which is a type of holistic, meditative movement practice. The study will also examine whether specific teaching strategy facilitates its development.

Sessions will be offered to fit around normal working hours, either early in the morning or after 5pm. 

Participants will be required to complete pre- and post-trial questionnaires, as well as answer post-session questions (the sessions will run for 45 minutes, with up to 15 additional minutes for reflective writing). Additionally, five participants from each group will be asked to participate in post-trial interviews.

Please contact Sarah Divine to express your interest or for further information.

Health Behaviours of University Students

Study load has been associated with decreased physical activity and increased stress. This research project aims to assess how movement behaviours and health outcomes are influenced by changes in study load in university students across the duration of a semester. This study will act as a pilot study to provide important insight into where interventions to enhance student health and well-being are best positioned.

The research is completed in two phases:

• Phase one: visit 1 approx. 20 min & visit 2 approx. 40 min to be conducted early in Semester 2, 2019 +
• Phase two: visit 3 approx. 20 min & visit 4 approx. 40 min) to be conducted late in Semester 2, 2019.

• Wear 2 small activity monitors (one on your wrist and one on your upper thigh) for two sets of 8-day periods to measure movement behaviours.
• Take 2 minutes each night to record your sleep times and time spent in study and paid employment during the monitoring period.
• Complete five short questionnaires during two of the data collection visits (I.e. visits 1 & 3).
  

The promotion and Engagement of Contemporary Sports for Girls and Young Women: Implications for Netball

This project aims to find out the impact that wide ranging contemporary sports participation is having upon netball in South Australia. The information gained from the study will help us understand the current landscape of female sports participation and will enable the development of strategies to ensure netball can adapt to societal changes and other pressures.

The research is completed in two phases:

• Phase 1: We are seeking girls and young women participating in sport to complete the survey. This will take 10-20 minutes.
  
• Phase 2: We are seeking stakeholders (club officials, coaches, umpires, players and organisation organisers)  to take part in focus group interviews.

Health and Wellbeing Project online survey

You are invited to participate in an online survey about food and eating. This research is part of a year-long project to promote nutrition for health and wellbeing of students at Flinders. We want to know what you will like to see on campus and learn more about to make healthy eating easier for you.  The survey will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. It includes questions about your background (e.g. age, gender), access to food, food literacy, food knowledge and diet behaviours. 

Your participation is entirely voluntary and you are able to withdraw at any time. 

A new clinical tool to assess fitness-to-drive in obstructive sleep apnoea

If you have sleep apnea or snoring, or if you consider yourself free from any sleep problems we invite you to participate in a research study to help us characterise sleep disorders better.  This study is being conducted at the following location:

Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health, Adelaide SA.

The study will involve completing a 45 minute questionnaire asking about your sleep, health and lifestyle. Depending on your answers in the questionnaire, you may be invited to have an overnight sleep study at our sleep centre.

If you are interested in participating in this study, please email:
aish.sleeplab@flinders.edu.au.

Clarifying the role of arousal-hyperventilation in obstructive and central sleep apnoea: Testing fundamental pathophysiological mechanisms

Volunteers will undergo a one night sleep study with additional respiratory and intramuscular

Flourishing in rural schools: Graduate teachers' perceptions of their wellbeing in their new profession.

This project will investigate graduate teachers’ understandings and perceptions of their sense of wellbeing and the influences on their flourishing in their first rural teaching appointment. Wellbeing is more than happiness; it involves increasing the flourishing in one’s life by improving and growing one’s positive emotions, positive engagement, positive relationships, positive meaning, and positive accomplishments (Seligman, 2011).

This project will survey as many graduate teachers in rural, regional, and remote locations as possible, then offer the opportunity to participate in follow-up interviews and/or participant journaling to explore their wellbeing in more detail.

Sisu trait survey: How is the Finnish concept of 'sisu' experienced in Australia?

Participate in a short (< 10 min) online survey to help create a generalisable tool for measuring 'sisu' across different cultures.

The term 'sisu' refers to "extraordinary determination, courage and resoluteness in the face of extreme adversity. An action mindset which enables individuals to reach beyond their present limitation, take action against all odds and transform barriers into frontiers. An integral element of Finnish culture and also a universal capacity, which we all share." (https://sisulab.com/sisu-about/)

The survey is part of the 'Sisu at Work' project, conducted by the University of Helsinki and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. in collaboration with Flinders University.

More information about the survey, project and sisu, as well as the researchers’ contact information can be found on the survey website.

The use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to determine sleep stage

This project aims to investigate whether changes in blood flow during sleep, measured by a infrared light can be used to determine the difference between wake and sleep and the different sleep stages.

Participants will be asked to attend an overnight sleep study, where your sleep will be measured by polysomnography (PSG), and brain blood flow will be measured with a NIRS machine.

Continuously monitoring alcohol use and health behaviours using a smartphone app and breathalyser: Pilot study

This study is part of the project titled “Continuously monitoring alcohol use & health behaviours using a smartphone app and breathalyser: Pilot study”.

This project will investigate the feasibility of using smartphone base applications in a general population, and to determine whether the information gathered can be used to detect time and contexts associated with alcohol use behaviour. Based on the data gathered, an individual intervention package can then be tailored for the user to improve the outcomes of an alcohol use disorder.

To be eligible for the study, individuals must be:

• at least (1) 18-years old and willing to produce identification which confirms their age; and
  
• drink regularly (weekly at minimum) as part of their normal life / social activities.