Real world impact of social care researcher acknowledged through Sax Institute award
The Sax Institute has recognised the real-world impact of research by Dr Claire Blewitt, Research Fellow with the School’s Health and Social Care Unit (HSCU), by awarding her at their 2021 Research Action Award ceremony.
The awards, now in their seventh year, recognise early- and mid-career researchers whose work has significantly impacted health policy, programs or service delivery.
As part of her PhD studies, Dr Blewitt and her supervisor, HSCU leader Professor Helen Skouteris, co-developed a ground-breaking intervention to address social and emotional difficulties in early childhood, that are associated with poor educational and social outcomes, and raise the risk of chronic health conditions in later life.
The Social-Emotional Engagement and Development (SEED) program targets at-risk children, who are also more likely to encounter escalating academic challenges, antisocial behaviour, and long-term maladaptive outcomes including depression, obesity, diabetes and heart disease, lower rates of tertiary education, and reduced vocational opportunities.
Dr Blewitt led a cross-disciplinary team in co-designing the SEED program, which is used in kindergartens and by early childhood educators. It’s a digital platform which provides tailored content to support educators in addressing the social and emotional needs of young children, and includes modules on making play therapeutic; helping children with additional needs; supporting children with anxiety; working with caregivers; supporting children with autism, and more.
The program is making a real difference to the mental health of young children: it is being rolled out in kindergartens and other early learning settings across Victoria, allowing over 170 kindergarten teachers and educators to help over 1,300 children since 2019.
“We get constant feedback through the SEED portal, and what teachers and educators are telling us is that SEED is really changing their practice,” said Dr Blewitt.
“It’s changing the way they are interacting with children, and how they’re setting up their environment to support children’s social and emotional learning. There’s more work to do, but we’re so pleased with the response to SEED and the help we’ve been able to provide early childhood educators, who are the real heroes.”
A second award went to Dr Benjamin Bavinton, HIV researcher at the Kirby Institute in New South Wales. Sax Institute CEO Professor Sally Redman said both award winners were outstanding examples of how public health researchers can make a material difference to the quality of people’s lives.
“Our two winners work in very different spheres of public health, but what brings them together is the way real-world impact was built into their research projects right from the beginning,” Professor Redman said.
“In both cases, the winners collaborated closely with government and health organisations to ensure that their research was translated into concrete outcomes for people’s health and wellbeing. It’s so wonderful to see early- and mid-career researchers who have the vision and determination to make the world a better place through their work.”
The two winners were announced by the Sax Institute’s Board Chair Professor Ian Olver AM at a special event attended by around 150 senior policy makers, research leaders, academics and others.