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Community Paediatrics Research

Community Paediatrics undertakes research in relation to infants, children, young people (up to age 25 years) and their families, homes, schools and communities. 

Our Research Focus

  • Integration of health and other services to deliver preventative care in the community
  • Hospital avoidance
  • Environmental, social and intergenerational factors that contribute to child youth and family health and wellbeing
  • Vulnerable child youth and family populations
  • Social media and parenting communication strategies
  • Prevention, early intervention and community management of child and youth development, behaviour and mental health problems
  • Integration of government and non-government services
  • Protection from trauma, injury and violence.

Selected Grants

Amount awarded Grant and project details
$2,500,000 NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence (CRE), 2020-2024
Integrated Community care for People with complex Multi-Morbidities
Investigators: Eastwood J (CIA) et al.
$2,495,365 NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence (CRE), 2019-2023
CRE in Childhood Adversity and Mental Health
Investigators: Hiscock H, Jorm A, Goldfeld S, Fisher J, Eastwood J, Reupert A, Sanci L, Yap M, Dalziel K, Eapen V.

Our Publications

2023

Barbaro J, Winata T, Gilbert M, Nair R, Khan F, Lucien A, Islam R, Masi A, Diaz AM, Dissanayake C, Karlov L, Descallar J, Eastwood J, Hasan I, Jalaludin B, Kohlhoff J, Liaw ST, Lingam R, Ong N, Tam CWM, Woolfenden S, Eapen V. General practitioners' perspectives regarding early developmental surveillance for autism within the australian primary healthcare setting: a qualitative study. BMC Prim Care. 2023 Aug 10;24(1):159. doi: 10.1186/s12875-023-02121-6.
Chau T, Tiego J, Brown L, Coghill D, Jobson L, Montgomery A, Murrup-Stewart C, Sciberras E, Silk TJ, Spencer-Smith M, Stefanac N, Sullivan DP, Bellgrove MA. Against the use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 2-15 years. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2023 Oct;57(10):1343-1358. doi: 10.1177/00048674231161504. Epub 2023 Mar 28.
Coscini N, Heyes P, Bedford H, Cohen E, D'Aprano A, Goldfeld S, Hargreaves D, Loveday S, Nejat S, Roberts G, Sarkadi A, Saunders NR, Woolfenden S, Milner K. Multicountry review: developmental surveillance, assessment and care by outpatient paediatricians. Arch Dis Child. 2023 Mar;108(3):153-159. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2021-322799. Epub 2022 Jun 28.
DeLacy J, Burgess L, Cutmore M, Sherriff S, Woolfenden S, Falster K, Banks E, Purcell A, Kong K, Coates H, Curotta J, Douglas M, Slater K, Thompson A, Stephens J, Sherwood J, McIntyre P, Tsembis J, Dickson M, Craig J, Gunasekera H. Ear health and hearing in urban Aboriginal children. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2023 Aug;47(4):100075. doi: 10.1016/j.anzjph.2023.100075. Epub 2023 Jul 28.
Dong V, Montgomery A, Adily P, Eastwood J. Antenatal depression risk under the NSW SAFE START Strategic Policy: Who is missing out on universal screening? J Paediatr Child Health. 2023 Jul;59(7):906-911. doi: 10.1111/jpc.16415. Epub 2023 Apr 25.
Goldfeld S, Moreno-Betancur M, Gray S, Guo S, Downes M, O'Connor E, Azpitarte F, Badland H, Redmond G, Williams K, Woolfenden S, Mensah F, O'Connor M. Addressing Child Mental Health Inequities Through Parental Mental Health and Preschool Attendance. Pediatrics. 2023 May 1;151(5):e2022057101. doi: 10.1542/peds.2022-057101.
Hall T, Constable L, Loveday S, Honisett S, Schreurs N, Goldfeld S, Loftus H, Jones R, Reupert A, Yap MBH, Woolfenden S, Montgomery A, Dalziel K, Bailey C, Pringle G, Fisher J, Forell S, Eapen V, Haslam R, Sanci L, Eastwood J, Hiscock H. Identifying and responding to family adversity in Australian community and primary health settings: a multi-site cross sectional study. Front Public Health. 2023 Sep 13;11:1147721. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1147721.
Hamill L, Kearns A, Doig L, Hesse M, Frederick D, Purcell A, Woolfenden S. Screening for unmet social needs in paediatric speech-language pathology to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Int J Speech Lang Pathol. 2023 Feb;25(1):77-81. doi: 10.1080/17549507.2022.2134456. Epub 2022 Nov 8.
Hodgins M, Samir N, Woolfenden S, Hu N, Schneuer F, Nassar N, Lingam R. Alpha NSW: What would it take to create a state-wide paediatric population-level learning health system? Health Inf Manag. 2023 Jul 7:18333583231176597. doi: 10.1177/18333583231176597. Epub ahead of print.
Honisett S, Loftus H, Liu H, Montgomery A, De Souza D, Hall T, Eastwood J, Hiscock H, Goldfeld S. Do Australian policies enable a primary health care system to identify family adversity and subsequently support these families-A scoping study. Health Promot J Austr. 2023 Feb;34(1):211-221. doi: 10.1002/hpja.684. Epub 2022 Dec 12.
Jackson A, Melvin GA, Mulraney M, Becker SP, Bellgrove MA, Quach J, Hutchinson D, Westrupp EM, Montgomery A, Sciberras E. Associations Between Anxiety and Home Learning Difficulties in Children and Adolescents with ADHD During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2023 Oct;54(5):1347-1359. doi: 10.1007/s10578-022-01338-3. Epub 2022 Mar 15.
Keating CT, Hickman L, Leung J, Monk R, Montgomery A, Heath H, Sowden S. Autism-related language preferences of English-speaking individuals across the globe: A mixed methods investigation. Autism Res. 2023 Feb;16(2):406-428. doi: 10.1002/aur.2864. Epub 2022 Dec 6.
Martin T, McIntyre S, Waight E, Baynam G, Watson L, Langdon K, Woolfenden S, Smithers-Sheedy H, Sherwood J; ACPR Birds-Eye View Group. Prevalence and trends for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living with cerebral palsy: A birds-eye view. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2023 Nov;65(11):1475-1485. doi: 10.1111/dmcn.15617. Epub 2023 May 5.
Mendoza Diaz A, Brooker R, Cibralic S, Murphy E, Woolfenden S, Eapen V. Adapting the 'First 2000 Days maternal and child healthcare framework' in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic: ensuring equity in the new world. Aust Health Rev. 2023 Feb;47(1):72-76. doi: 10.1071/AH22228.
Montgomery A, Masi A, Whitehouse A, Veenstra-VanderWeele J, Shuffrey L, Shen MD, Karlov L, Uljarevic M, Alvares G, Woolfenden S, Silove N, Eapen V. Identification of subgroups of children in the Australian Autism Biobank using latent class analysis. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2023 Feb 20;17(1):27. doi: 10.1186/s13034-023-00565-3.
Ostojic K, Karem I, Paget SP, Berg A, Dee-Price BJ, Lingam R, Dale RC, Eapen V, Woolfenden S; EPIC-CP Group. Social determinants of health for children with cerebral palsy and their families. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2024 Jan;66(1):32-40. doi: 10.1111/dmcn.15640. Epub 2023 May 14.
Ostojic K, Paget S, Martin T, Dee-Price BJ, McIntyre S, Smithers Sheedy H, Mimmo L, Burnett H, Scott T, Berg A, Masi A, Scarcella M, Calderan J, Azmatullah S, Mohamed M, Woodbury M, Wilkinson A, Zwi K, Dale R, Eapen V, Lingam R, Strnadová I, Woolfenden S; EPIC-CP Group. Codesigning a social prescribing pathway to address the social determinant of health concerns of children with cerebral palsy and their families in Australia: a protocol for a mixed-methods formative research study. BMJ Open. 2023 Apr 6;13(4):e066346. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-066346.
Price AMH, Contreras-Suárez D, Zhu A, Schreurs N, Measey MA, Woolfenden S, Burley J, Bryson H, Efron D, Rhodes A, Goldfeld S. Associations between ongoing COVID-19 lockdown and the financial and mental health experiences of Australian families. Aust J Soc Issues. 2022 Dec 26:10.1002/ajs4.252. doi: 10.1002/ajs4.252. Epub ahead of print.
Price AMH, White N, Burley J, Zhu A, Contreras-Suarez D, Wang S, Stone M, Trotter K, Mrad M, Caldwell J, Bishop R, Chota S, Bui L, Sanger D, Roles R, Watts A, Samir N, Grace R, Raman S, Kemp L, Lingam R, Eapen V, Woolfenden S, Goldfeld S. Feasibility of linking universal child and family healthcare and financial counselling: findings from the Australian Healthier Wealthier Families (HWF) mixed-methods study. BMJ Open. 2023 Nov 22;13(11):e075651. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-075651.
Priest N, Guo S, Gondek D, O'Connor M, Moreno-Betancur M, Gray S, Lacey R, Burgner DP, Woolfenden S, Badland H, Redmond G, Juonala M, Lange K, Goldfeld S. The potential of intervening on childhood adversity to reduce socioeconomic inequities in body mass index and inflammation among Australian and UK children: A causal mediation analysis. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2023 Oct;77(10):632-640. doi: 10.1136/jech-2022-219617. Epub 2023 Aug 3.
Rungan S, Gardner S, Liu HM, Woolfenden S, Smith-Merry J, Eastwood J. Ngaramadhi Space: An Integrated, Multisector Model of Care for Students Experiencing Problematic Externalising Behaviour. Int J Integr Care. 2023 Dec 14;23(4):19. doi: 10.5334/ijic.7612.
Rungan S, Montgomery A, Smith-Merry J, Liu HM, Eastwood J. Retrospective audit of a school-based integrated health-care model in a specialised school for children with externalising behaviour. J Paediatr Child Health. 2023 Dec;59(12):1311-1318. doi: 10.1111/jpc.16515. Epub 2023 Nov 14.
Siecinski SK, Giamberardino SN, Spanos M, Hauser AC, Gibson JR, Chandrasekhar T, Trelles MDP, Rockhill CM, Palumbo ML, Cundiff AW, Montgomery A, Siper P, Minjarez M, Nowinski LA, Marler S, Kwee LC, Shuffrey LC, Alderman C, Weissman J, Zappone B, Mullett JE, Crosson H, Hong N, Luo S, She L, Bhapkar M, Dean R, Scheer A, Johnson JL, King BH, McDougle CJ, Sanders KB, Kim SJ, Kolevzon A, Veenstra-VanderWeele J, Hauser ER, Sikich L, Gregory SG. Genetic and epigenetic signatures associated with plasma oxytocin levels in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Res. 2023 Mar;16(3):502-523. doi: 10.1002/aur.2884. Epub 2023 Jan 7. 
Uribe G, Mukumbang F, Moore C, Jones T, Woolfenden S, Ostojic K, Haber P, Eastwood J, Gillespie J, Huckel Schneider C. How can we define social care and what are the levels of true integration in integrated care? A narrative review. Journal of Integrated Care. 2023;31(5):43-84.
Waight E, McIntyre S, Woolfenden S, Watson L, Reid S, Scott H, Martin T, Webb A, Badawi N, Smithers-Sheedy H; Australian Cerebral Palsy Register Group. Temporal trends, clinical characteristics, and sociodemographic profile of post-neonatally acquired cerebral palsy in Australia, 1973-2012: A population-based observational study. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2023 Jan;65(1):107-116. doi: 10.1111/dmcn.15293. Epub 2022 Jun 5.
Wong-See H, Calik A, Ostojic K, Raman S, Woolfenden S. Clinical Pathways for the Identification and Referral for Social Needs: A Systematic Review. Pediatrics. 2023 Mar 1;151(3):e2022056837. doi: 10.1542/peds.2022-056837.