ahm established the Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF) in 1986. Throughout the years, thousands of ahm members have contributed to the HMRF raising over $7 million which has been used on research projects throughout Australia such as:
- Research into the treatment and management of knee osteoarthritis. An invitation to participate »
- The history and consequences of mental and behavioural disorders in young people
- The costs and burden of mental health problems in childhood
- Understanding DNA-binding proteins in the cause of childhood leukaemia
- How stress affects health
- Strategies for improving participation in Bowel Cancer screening
- Cellular changes in brains affected by Parkinson's Disease
- Development of a Malaria vaccine.
This research benefits the entire population.
Making a donation
You can contribute to the HMRF by making tax deductible donations from 50 cents a week. If you’d like to help, call 134 246.
New funding initiative – Osteoarthritis
Coping with knee arthritis
In 2010, the HMRF granted the University of Melbourne $753,884 to carry out the first ever research into physiotherapists treating knee osteoarthritis with training in a combination of exercise and pain coping skills.
Knee osteoarthritis is a common chronic joint condition that can be painful and debilitating. Current treatment methods, which focus on medications and surgery, have side effects and don’t address living with chronic pain.
Exercise is an effective method for reducing pain and improving function in people with knee osteoarthritis. However, whilst pain coping skills training is often used for the management of other chronic pain conditions; few people with knee osteoarthritis receive it.
The research aims to investigate whether physiotherapists can effectively deliver a combination of exercise and pain coping skills training. Traditionally pain coping skills such as relaxation, mental imagery, distraction and positive thoughts have been taught by psychologists.
Currently 39 participants have been recruited to the study and another 189 are required.
Your chance to get involved
189 participants are still needed to take part in the 12-month study which takes place at two sites in Melbourne and Brisbane.
Interested? You may be eligible if:
- You're over 50
- Have knee joint osteoarthritis (as diagnosed by x-ray)
- Experience knee pain on most days for the past month (and for at least 3 months).
People are not eligible if they:
- Have had knee or hip joint replacement surgery on the painful side
- Are on a waiting list for surgery or
- Have inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis or fibromyalgia.
Participants will attend a specially trained physiotherapist 10 times over a 12 week period for one of three treatment options (exercise alone, pain coping skills training alone or a combined treatment). They will also attend three assessment sessions at the University over the 12 months of the study.
If you, or someone you know, are interested in volunteering for this research, further details can be found at http://www.physioth.unimelb.edu.au/chesm/cbtrct.html. Alternatively you can contact:
• Melbourne - Yasmin Ahamed y.ahamed@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au (03) 8344 0486
• Brisbane - Paul Connellan p.connellan@uq.edu.au (07) 3365 4691
About the research projects
Mental and behavioural disorders in young people
Health issues including depression, anxiety, excessive drinking and illicit substance use are some of the most important health problems for people aged under 30.
In 2007 the HMRF granted more than $500,000 over three years to the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) to study the history and consequences of these health issues with a view to planning better prevention and treatments.
The research covered many topics relevant to young people including:
- Looking at how doctors and psychologists may be able to predict which young women may develop depression
- How puberty affects mental health and behaviour
- Self harm and young people
- The long-term effects of smoking in pregnancy and how this habit may contribute to mental health outcomes in adolescence.
The results will be used to influence the development of prevention and treatment strategies.
The costs and burden of mental health problems in childhood
In 2007 the HMRF granted more than $200,000 over two years to the University of Western Sydney for research into the costs and burden of mental health problems in childhood.
The research drew evidence from scientific literature, mental health studies and the use of mental health services by children and their families to identify the prevalence of mental illness in children and adolescents. The research also aimed to identify any links with the current adult population of the most common disorders.
In addition, the project's chief investigator, Professor Beverley Raphael discussed the project and its significance with the Australian Government's Child Mental Health Forum and the Children's Mental Health Roundtable in 2010. These, along with other forums, presentations and publications, help to reinforce the information to a range of key influencers in the care of children such as health professionals, policy makers and researchers.