Meet our Researchers
Our ‘Meet our Researchers’ series aims to showcase the breadth of expertise across MARC. This month we feature Dr Brian Vandenberg to find out more about his work.
Dr. Brian Vandenberg is a researcher in public health, with a focus on addictive behaviours. His research interests have been shaped from working in the government and non-government sector as a policy advisor and policy advocate on alcohol and drug prevention and tobacco control. Brian completed his PhD in health economics a few years ago, and since graduating has been working in the Behavioural Sciences Research Lab in the School of Social Sciences.
1. What is your area of research?
It's been just a few years since I completed my PhD in health economics at Monash. Since graduating, I have been working in the Behavioural Sciences Research Lab in the School of Social Sciences with Professor Kerry O’Brien. My broad area of research is public health, but with a focus on addictive behaviours. My research interests have been shaped from working in the government and non-government sector as a policy advisor and policy advocate on alcohol and drug prevention and tobacco control.
2. What are you currently working at the moment?
My current research includes looking at how gambling can impact socio-economic disadvantage, and vice versa. The link between gambling and homelessness is a particular interest of mine. I also investigate how economic factors impact alcohol use, particularly how prices and taxes affect drinking, and also how changing economic conditions over time and between locations affect drinking.
I have recently started co-supervision of some PhD candidates at Monash. This has been a really enjoyable experience as I have recently completed my own PhD, so I feel that I can relate well to the candidates and offer them some practical advice from my first-hand experience of doing a PhD very recently.
3. How is your area of research improving the lives of those people living with addiction/mental health?
The aim of my research on alcohol pricing and taxation policies is to show policy makers that these can potentially be very effective population wide interventions that reduce drinking and the risk of harm. We have seen the Northern Territory government introduce policies in this area over recent years, and I hope to continue doing research that will persuade other jurisdictions in Australia to take similar steps.
My research on the link between gambling and homelessness has shown that older people are particularly vulnerable, but that harm is often preventable. A great deal of the harm can be avoided through measures that address poverty and housing insecurity, and also by supporting individuals with gambling issues. I hope to continue to promote the findings of my research in this area so that policy makers and services providers take action.
4. What are the most interesting developments in your field today?
I think two interesting developments in the alcohol policy field are the recent strengthening of scientific evidence on how alcohol pricing policies can reduce harm and improve public health, and also the growing evidence showing how the alcohol industry is continuing to attack scientifically-based efforts at reducing harm. I’ve seen the industry tactics first hand in my own past work as a policy advisor and policy advocate, and so it's really encouraging to see some research laying bare the evidence on how the alcohol industry operates. I’m optimistic that policy-making bodies will start to do more to protect public health policy processes from industry influence.
Our ‘Meet our Researchers’ series aims to showcase the breadth of expertise across MARC. In July 2021 we featured MARC Prof Murat Yucel, to find out more about his work.
1. What is your area of research?
Broadly mental health and wellness, and more specifically compulsive behaviours; from unhealthy habits through to addictions and obsessive compulsive disorder
2. What are you currently working on at the moment?
My group's expertise combines neuroscience with lifestyle and technology-based interventions (e.g., exercise, mindfulness, digital phenotyping, and virtual reality) to develop the next generation of engaging and empowering self-care tools for mental health.
Through our world-first and state-of-the-art facility, the BrainPark team is committed to using neuroscience to create healthy habits, brains and communities. We do this by:
- Making it easy for people to measure and track their mental and brain health, and
- Discovering how healthy lifestyle behaviours and technologies can be harnessed to enhance mental, cognitive, and brain health.
3. How is your area of research improving the lives of those people living with addiction/mental health?
We are using our carefully crafted serious games and digital phenotyping tools to catch the early (cognitive and motivational) warning signs of addiction/mental health problems and then use timely and targeted lifestyle interventions to help build resilience to and/or overcome mental illness.
The big challenge is often getting people to sustain healthy lifestyle behaviours because unlike unhealthy behaviours, the rewards of healthy behaviours are often not immediate, and therefore, they require self-sustained effort and motivation in the face of mental health, systemic, and personal barriers. We use many different techniques (e.g., motivational interviewing, behaviour change, and gamification principles, rich feedback, co-design) to support people and help them sustain healthy behaviours.
4. What are the most interesting developments in your field today?
The increasing recognition that people are ‘hungry’ for lifestyle interventions, and the growing evidence showing that lifestyle interventions can be just as efficacious as pharmacological treatments and psychotherapy for people with common mental disorders like depression, anxiety and substance use. People are also ‘hungry’ for innovative technology approaches to treatments. We can now put a consumer level Head Mounted Display (i.e, virtual reality) on a person and transport them to a kitchen or a bathroom or a casino, and trigger their fears, capture a lot of data about the triggers in real time, yet have them safely sitting in the clinician’s office (or researchers lab) provides enormous opportunities. Finally, I am really encouraged by the involvement and investment of philanthropic donors in mental health. Much of our work and the development of BrainPark would not have been possible without a generous donation from The David W. Turner Endowment Fund, the Wilson Foundation, and Monash University.
Our ‘Meet our Researchers’ series aims to showcase the breadth of expertise across MARC. In May 2021 we featured MARC A/Prof Philip Mendes, to find out more about his work.
Associate Professor Philip Mendes is the Director of the Social Inclusion and Social Policy Research Unit (SISPRU). He has published widely on a range of social policy and community development debates, including young people transitioning from out-of-home care, globalisation and the welfare state, compulsory income management, illicit drug policies, Indigenous social policy, and social workers and policy practice.
What is your area of research?
My research has a particular focus on the fields of income support, young people transitioning from state out-of-home care, social workers and policy practice, community development and illicit drugs. In the area of income support, I have examined the principal arguments for and against compulsory income management. My recent paper Is conditional welfare an effective means for reducing alcohol and drug abuse? An exploration of compulsory income management across four Australian trial sites examined income management participants and found that while income management seeks to reduce the impact of anti-social behaviour associated with AOD, by restricting access to someone’s finances, it risks having the opposite effect. The Australian illicit drugs policy debate is another area of study I have examined. The philosophical debate between prohibition and harm-reduction groups is an area of disagreement that seems to be linked to the Victorian Liberal-National Coalition's long-standing rejection of a supervised injecting facility.
What are you currently working on at the moment?
My research is examining the recent announcement by the Victorian government to extend out-of-home care (OOHC) until 21 years of age. The research will be assessing the impact of universal extended care and identify whether discrete groups of care leavers – those with a disability, those leaving residential care, those who are young parents, and Indigenous care leavers – may need additional or specialised assistance. My research into the philosophical debate between prohibition and harm reduction groups is continuing through an exploration into how and why social conservatives oppose harm reduction by comparing the Victorian parliamentary debates on Supervised Injecting Facilities (SIF) from 2000 and 2018. Compulsory Income management is another area of research I am involved in.
On 17 December 2020, the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Continuation of Cashless Welfare) Act 2020 received Royal assent. The Act supports the continuation of the Cashless Debit Card for a further two years in the East Kimberley, Ceduna, Goldfields and Bundaberg and Hervey Bay regions until 31 December 2022. My previous research has found that while Compulsory Income Management purports to combat addiction by reducing access to cash, alcohol and gambling services, Compulsory Income Management has fallen short of these intentions.
How is your area of research improving the lives of those people living with addiction/mental health?
My research on conditional welfare as an effective means for reducing alcohol and drug abuse concluded that there is little evidence to support the view that IM per se contributes to a significant reduction in alcohol and drug abuse.
People who inject drugs are at high risk for infectious diseases, skin and soft tissue infections, and overdose. However, these harms are all avoidable when sterile injection equipment, hygienic places to inject, and medical care are accessible. My research into the SIF debate in Victoria has direct implications for the wellbeing of injecting drug users as it concluded that the risk of infectious diseases are avoidable when sterile injection equipment, hygienic places to inject, and medical care are accessible. Furthermore, my research has identified poorly planned transitions as a cause of alcohol and drug abuse.
What are the most interesting developments in your field today?
The very recent extension of OOHC up to 21 years in Victoria and WA and for most groups in the ACT, SA and Tasmania has addressed a major deficit within Australian jurisdictions. There is now an opportunity to examine the impact of extended care, its benefits, and additional support may be required to improve outcomes for a particularly vulnerable group. This includes those leaving residential care, leaving youth justice custody, those that are pregnant or have mental health concerns, and Indigenous youth who are disconnected from their culture or community.
Our ‘Meet our Researchers’ series aims to showcase the breadth of expertise across MARC, including our PhD students. In April 2021 we featured MARC PhD candidate Dr Pallavi Prathivadi, to find out more about her work.
What is the title/focus of your PhD?
Improving opioid prescribing in Australian general practice: knowledge, attitudes and opioid prescribing practices of GPs
What is your research about?
Understanding the factors influencing the opioid prescribing decisions of Australian GPs (particularly where the opioids are not evidence based) and exploring current GP opioid prescribing attitudes and practices. This will help guide future GP-targeted opioid prescribing interventions. As a practicing GP, I have firsthand knowledge and appreciation of the complexity of general practice, and aim to help GPs deliver evidence-based and patient-centred chronic pain management while respecting the autonomy of GPs.
What has been a positive outcome from your work so far?
Some of my research was noticed by the Australian Government Department of Finance (DoF), and my supervisor and I were invited to present my work and outcomes to representatives from the DoF Health Division. I’ve also received (unexpected!) interest in my publications and some wonderful emails and networking opportunities as a result of other GPs and researchers reading my work and wanting to know more. Excitedly, one of the MJA perspective pieces I co-wrote with A/Prof Suzi Neilsen was press-released by the MJA and featured in several other journals and magazines!
What are some interesting developments in your area of research?
The current climate of opioid prescribing policy and practice is changing very rapidly, so there are many big developments. Since I started my PhD in 2018, Victoria has introduced a mandatory real-time prescription monitoring service (2018), the Therapeutic Goods Administration introduced several opioid prescribing restrictions and requirements (2019-2020), the Australian government held a nation-wide ‘nudge’ campaign to notify opioid high prescribers (2018), and the Therapeutic Guidelines published a new Pain and Analgesia guideline (2020). All of these are very relevant to my research and clinical practice!
In March 2021 we launch our ‘Meet our Researchers’ series showcasing the breadth of expertise across MARC. We caught up with Dr Debbie Scott, Strategic Lead, National Addiction and Mental Health Surveillance Unit at Turning Point to find out more about her work.
Debbie is a public health researcher with a background in nursing. She has worked on projects with the WHO, UNICEF and ISPCAN on data issues. Her research interests focus on the use of surveillance systems to improve the understanding of harms associated with alcohol and other drugs - particularly those associated with intentional injury, including suicide and self-harm, family violence and child maltreatment.
What is your area of research?
I’m a public health researcher and oversee the National Addiction and Mental Health Surveillance Unit (NAMHSU) at Turning Point. NAMHSU has a team of coders and research assistants who code ambulance records and extract information on alcohol and other drugs, suicide, self-harm and violence. We use the data as a surveillance system to inform policy, practice and interventions.
What are you currently working on at the moment related to addiction?
Our data provides detailed information on alcohol and other drug-related ambulance attendances, and the association with other harms like suicide and self-harm. We provide national data to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) who use these data to inform alcohol and drug-related policies and to develop interventions and policies to prevent suicide and self-harm.
How is your area of research improving the lives of those people living with addiction/mental health?
Our data is population data that helps understand what the risk indicators are for people who are most vulnerable to those issues. Our data provides an understanding of geography, demographics, comorbidities, such as mental health problems, and social issues like homelessness and children in state-based care. The data provides an understanding of where the issues are so we can target services. We can also see trends and patterns in drug use to identify changes. For example, everyone is talking about the increased use of cocaine and we can see that from our data. We then use that data to dig a bit deeper and collaborate with other researchers to see what might be driving that change.
What are the most interesting developments in your field today?
The use of Artificial Intelligence methodologies offers really exciting opportunities for us. We received a Google.org grant to use natural language processing to help code our data to increase efficiencies that will allow us to code more data more quickly and so improve the surveillance system.
What are your hobbies/interests outside of research?
I’ve got a couple of hobbies. I like walking. I walked the Camino which was 900 kms across Spain and I’m planning to do this again once the borders open up. I also like barbershop singing and sing in a couple of barbershop groups.