2021 Hal Kendig Research Development Program recipients

AAG congratulates the following members on their successful applications for the 2021 Hal Kendig Research Development Program grants:

Awardee: Dr Ye In (Jane) Hwang
Affiliation: University of New South Wales
Grant: $19,685

Understanding the care and service needs of older adults post-incarceration: Enabling society’s most disadvantaged to successfully reintegrate and age well

This project aims to advance knowledge, collaboration, services and policy regarding the quality of life, mental wellbeing and psychosocial needs of older Australians after being released from prison. Interviews, a deliberative roundtable and health surveys will provide novel insights and form targeted priorities to ensure the successful reintegration and care of this vulnerable group. Specific objectives include:

  • Understanding the lived experience of exiting prison in older age (quality of life, mental wellbeing, and psychosocial needs)
  • Identifying priorities for intervention to enable wellbeing after transition and ultimately successful community reintegration of this group
  • Engaging a wide range of stakeholders to collaboratively workshop barriers and enablers to successful care and reintegration of this group (aged care, research, justice, health and government stakeholders)
  • Producing a ranked list of recommendations for research, service and policy reform

 

Dr Jane Hwang is an early career researcher at the School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney, with interests in improving outcomes for marginalised populations, including autistic adults and justice-involved individuals. She has conducted mixed-method projects including re-conceptualising ‘ageing well’ for autistic adults, and developing digital health screening tools to assess accelerated ageing/frailty in Australia’s growing prisoner population. She is an associate investigator of the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute, and of the Australian Human Rights Institute in the ‘ageing rights’ stream. 

Awardee: Dr Kris Tulloch
Affiliation: University of the Sunshine Coast
Grant:  $19,980

Exploring therapeutic horticulture in a social enterprise context for people living with dementia and their care partners: A pilot study

This project investigates the impact of purpose-focused therapeutic horticulture on the wellbeing, quality of life, and sense of purpose of people living with dementia and their care partners. It aims to answer three questions:

  • Does community gardening for purpose improve quality of life and wellbeing, and increase sense of purpose for people living with dementia and their care partners, individually and as a dyad?

  • What, if any, are the experiences of and benefits from a community gardening program for people living with dementia and their care partners?

  • Can sense of purpose be increased by providing regular reinforcement of community benefit to people living with dementia and their care partners in a community gardening program?

 

Dr Kristen Tulloch holds a PhD in Psychology from Macquarie University and lectures in the School of Health and Behavioural Science at University of the Sunshine Coast. Her research is strongly influenced by positive psychology, or the investigation of positive functioning and strength-based approaches, working with individuals’ values to optimise wellbeing, life satisfaction and performance in pursuits meaningful to the individual. Her previous work includes positive experiences of dementia caregiving, and attitudes to driving cessation. She has contributed to teams applying family-centred care in audiology, and ways in which evaluations of thought can influence behaviour.