Prevention Works

During COVID many of us struggled to understand those in charge of giving the latest health advice. Many of us worried about the best course of action to protect our health. How can those communicating health messages make them easier to understand? Can social media or other platforms help engage and reach our diverse communities? In this episode, we talk to Associate Professor Carissa Bonner and...

In this episode, Dr Meron Lewis discusses her Prevention Centre-sponsored PhD research project that measured the cost and affordability of diets in low socioeconomic households. A Research Fellow at the University of Queensland's School of Public Health, Dr Meron Lewis research focuses on food price and affordability monitoring tools, protocols and methods, to help people make healthier food c...

The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre discuss our first decade in chronic disease prevention research. Join host ⁠⁠Gretchen Miller⁠⁠ as she chats with co-directors Professor Lucie Rychetnik and Professor Andrew Wilson and policy advisor Adjunct Associate Professor Jo Mitchell about the evolution of the ideas driving the Prevention Centre, including systems thinking, co-design, integrating k...

This episode discusses why now is the right time for taking a more strategic approach to chronic disease research investment, based on Australia's most significant problems in health. Join host ⁠Gretchen Miller⁠ as she chats with guests: Professor Helena Teede AO , Director of the Monash Centre for Health Research Implementation. Helena discusses the need to address structural and systems prob...

This podcast discusses a community-led program to reduce childhood injury; a successful collaboration between the First Nations community at Walgett and researchers from the University of New South Wales. Join host Gretchen Miller as she chats with guests: Christine Corby AM, Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service (WAMS) Amy Townsend, Goonimoo Mobile Children's Services Nellie Pollard-Wharton, UNS...

Dr Lucy Gunn discusses how the built environment can contribute to better health outcomes, and the importance of basing policies upon research evidence. A Senior Research Fellow at the Centre of Urban Research at RMIT University, Dr Lucy Gunn’s key interest is in understanding which urban environments are supportive of health and wellbeing outcomes . She is a lead co-investigator on a tool that al...

Professor Emily Banks AM is a trailblazer in tobacco and e-cigarette research. Her world-leading review of the global evidence on the health effects of e-cigarettes has sparked national and international discussion. The use of e-cigarettes, or vaping, in Australia poses serious public health risks, especially among young people. In this episode, Professor Emily Banks discusses the Australian Gover...

In this episode, Dr Katherine Trebeck takes listeners into a deep conversation asking why our economy is not serving enough people and takes a hard look at the way our economic system operates through a public health lens. Katherine is a political economist, founder of the Wellbeing Economic Alliance , and describes herself as a freelance advocate for a more humane economy. Katherine casts a net o...

How do you define and measure health equity and equality? Renowned epidemiologist Sir Michael Marmot, Professor of Epidemiology at University College London, discusses the inequities created by the COVID-19 response in the UK. Professor Sir Michael Marmot CH discusses his recent publication, Build Back Fairer: The COVID-19 Marmot Review, explains the co-benefits of healthcare, and lists ways that...

Join Dr Jenny Kaldor, lawyer, researcher, and policy analyst, and Maddie Heenan , Research Officer and PhD candidate, as they delve into how law, policy, and regulation affect public health, and what methods can help us better understand these relationships. Jenny took a brief advisory role in the development of the Prevention Centre's knowledge synthesis on public health law, regulation, and poli...

In this episode, we discuss with guest Jane Martin, Executive Manager of the Obesity Policy Coalition (OPC) and Alcohol and Obesity Policy at Cancer Council Victoria, the tipping points on tobacco and obesity in Australia and how we can leverage advocacy for action. Jane has worked in tobacco control for 20 years, commencing with Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Australia, as well as the role of...

An unhealthy diet is Australia’s key modifiable risk factor, resulting in more than 500,000 years of life lost to death and disability each year so it’s important that healthcare service providers provide a good role model. ​ Together, Professor Anna Peeters and Dr Miranda Blake , and colleagues, have produced large quantities of evidence that show it is possible to change the way food is sold to...

It’s no surprise that half our population searches online to inform themselves, but how does that work for you when English is not your first language?  Culturally and linguistically diverse people in Australia are neglected in most academic research, and health is not exempt. In this episode, we discuss with guest, Dr Mridula Bandyopadhyay, how Australian health messaging reaches this cohort...

There are numerous ways in which population health could benefit if housing was improved in Australia. Join host Gretchen Miller and guest Professor Rebecca Bentley as they discuss the many aspects of this social determinant of health including how poor housing quality can exacerbate chronic disease and mental health, housing security, and how to address the intersection of housing, urban design,...

In this episode, host Gretchen Miller interviews guests Professor Helen Skouteris and Dr Alexandra Chung on the early days of our life's journey and how influential they are in preventing future health issues.  Our guests, both from Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, conducted a knowledge synthesis that examined the first 2000 days of our lives drawing on the c...

Join podcast host Gretchen Miller and Professor Cathie Sherrington, Chief Investigator of the Centre of Research Excellence in the Prevention of Fall-related Injuries, as they discuss the rise in fall-related injuries, the various risk factors involved, and what can be done to improve those figures. Is it about physical activity, strength or balance exercises, or are there other strategies that ca...

Alcohol use contributes significantly to Australia's health burden (burden of disease) as well as contributing billions of dollars each year in Australia in terms of healthcare and non-healthcare economic costs. The Prevention Centre together with New South Wales Health and Cancer Institute NSW recently produced an Evidence Review on the value of prevention to reduce alcohol use. In this episode,...

International expert in tobacco control policy Associate Professor Coral Gartner explores an exciting concept and hopefully eminent reality, the beginning of the end for tobacco in Australia. Associate Professor Gartner is Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame and Head of the Nicotine and Tobacco Regulatory Science Research Group, School of Public Hea...

Did you know, Australia is looking at doubling our current figures to a projected 1 million people with dementia by 2056? While our lifestyles have been shown to impact the chances of getting dementia, there is no national prevention plan because we don't yet know enough about the disease to fully advise. Our guests for this episode, Professor Henry Brodaty and Dr Martin McNamara are conducting se...

Professor Penny Hawe, Professor of Public Health, University of Sydney and a member of the Prevention Centre's Leadership Executive, is a champion for prevention and finding creative ways to get the preventive health message to cut through with the public. "I just want to make prevention science interesting. I want the public to think that population health science, and the thinking that's behind...

In this episode, Professor Steve Allender, Professor of Public Health and Founding Director, The Global Obesity Centre (GLOBE), Deakin University, discusses how systems thinking can help solve complex problems at the community level. This approach values community-led research that builds capacity, and where power is equally shared between researchers and communities to make change and help improv...

Join Prevention Centre Senior Research Fellow, Dr Melanie Pescud and Senior Systems Engineer, Matthew Vella as they go back to basics to discuss the fundamentals of systems thinking across their respective disciplines of public health and engineering. They reveal similarities and differences in perspectives and share lessons learnt and next steps for systems thinking in chronic disease prevention...

The Prevention Centre's Co-Director Professor Andrew Wilson chats about his years of experience in public health, the current health crisis, and what the future holds for the prevention of chronic disease in Australia.

Our guest for this episode is Dr Nick Watts, a population health and public policy expert in health and climate change. This conversation is one of the many we need, to raise public consciousness. We are in a climate and a health emergency and the Prevention Centre needs to be at the forefront of evidence-based solutions around chronic disease and sustainable development.

What is hate? Is there an antidote? Join us for a critically reflective conversation about hate and how to redress it with Professor Sandro Galea - considered one of the most important and innovative voices in American health and medicine.