Seed Grant Showcase
Our Seed Grant funding program is dedicated to advancing research that addresses key priority areas within our research streams, focusing on disability and rehabilitation. These grants are instrumental in fostering interdisciplinary research that innovates and enhances clinical practices, service delivery, and system improvements across the spectrum of disability and rehabilitation.
The Seed Grants serve as a critical starting point for pilot studies, the translation of research findings into practice, or the enhancement and expansion of ongoing research projects. By supporting these initial stages, the grants enable interdisciplinary teams to build strong collaborations, potentially leading to further research opportunities and funding, as well as tangible impacts on practice or service delivery.
The primary beneficiaries of these grants include individuals living with long-term consequences of conditions such as acquired brain injury, spinal cord injury, persistent pain, and amputation, as well as those facing challenges associated with developmental, age-related, and other lifelong disabilities. Through the Seed Grant-funded projects, The Hopkins Centre is committed to improving the lives of these diverse populations by translating cutting-edge research into meaningful and effective interventions.
Adapting Communication Partner Training for ABI Support Groups
Year Started: 2018
Background: Examines the feasibility and effectiveness of delivering communication partner training to leaders of a community peer support group for adults with acquired brain injury.
Aims: To adapt and evaluate the TBI Express program for use in community settings, enhancing inclusion and quality of life for individuals with ABI.
Outcomes: The project aims to improve community support and inclusion for people with ABI through effective communication training for peer group leaders.
Click here to download Project Flyer
Clinicians’ Views on Persistent Pain Management for Refugees
Year Started: 2018
Background: This project explores the persistent pain management challenges in refugees attending the Persistent Pain Clinic at Princess Alexandra Hospital. Clinicians face difficulties in communication and cultural understanding, affecting pain management effectiveness.
Aims: To understand clinicians' perceptions of the barriers and facilitators in managing persistent pain for refugees and assess the need for cultural competence training.
Outcomes: The project is crucial for developing guidelines to enhance pain management for refugees, influencing other services within Metro South Health and informing culturally focused practices and training.
Developing an Evidence-Based Framework for Vocational Rehabilitation in ABI
Year Started: 2018
Background: Aiming to support vocational rehabilitation for adults with acquired brain injury within the Acquired Brain Injury Transitional Rehabilitation Service (ABI TRS).
Aims: To develop and implement a novel framework for early vocational rehabilitation tailored for people with acquired brain injury in Queensland.
Outcomes: Produced four publications and informed the development of a comprehensive vocational rehabilitation framework now being implemented across Queensland.
Evaluating the Translation of an ABI Rehabilitation Program
Year Started: 2018
Background: Uses the RE-AIM Framework to evaluate the integration of the Adapted Physical Activity Program into the Acquired Brain Injury Transitional Rehabilitation Service.
Aims: To develop a sustainable model for clinical exercise physiology in brain injury rehabilitation and a framework for translating research into practice.
Outcomes: Provides a model for effective research translation that enhances clinical practice and optimizes resource use within rehabilitation services.
Getting research closer to practice: Using a research capacity building framework to develop and evaluate a clinician-researcher position in occupational therapy
Year Started: 2019
Background: Focused on documenting and evaluating the implementation of a clinician-researcher role to enhance research capacity in rehabilitation.
Aims: To develop a resource aiding the planning and support of clinician-researcher roles, aiming to increase research engagement across rehabilitation divisions.
Outcomes: Aims to establish a research capacity building approach to keep research closely aligned with clinical practice, enhancing therapy services' responsiveness and cost-effectiveness.
Reviewing SCI Management on Orthopaedics Wards
Year Started: 2019
Background: Reviews the current care processes for managing patients with spinal cord injuries on the orthopaedics wards at Princess Alexandra Hospital.
Aims: To identify and implement improvements in the early management of spinal cord injuries to enhance patient outcomes.
Outcomes: Expected to lead to improved care processes and the development of context-specific solutions for better patient and staff outcomes.
Design and Feasibility Testing of a Graded Motor Imagery Application for SCI
Year Started: 2020
Background: This project develops a novel approach, Graded Motor Imagery, to manage neuropathic pain in individuals with spinal cord injury.
Aims: To pilot test a three-stage Graded Motor Imagery intervention, aiming to reduce neuropathic pain in paraplegia patients.
Outcomes: The project will provide pilot data to apply for larger grants and offers a novel intervention for managing neuropathic pain in spinal cord injury.
Exploring the experience of fatigue for people with a traumatic brain injury and their carers to inform evidence-based clinical management
Year Started: 2020
Background: Investigates the experiences of fatigue among individuals with traumatic brain injury and their carers.
Aims: To understand and enhance clinical management of fatigue in the brain injury rehabilitation continuum.
Outcomes: Has significantly advanced understanding of TBI-related fatigue, influencing the development of new educational resources and winning a Research Translation Award.
Assessing cognitive-communication skills in the Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) return to work population
Year started: 2020
Background: Aims to develop and validate tools for assessing workplace communication needs to support return-to-work for individuals with acquired brain injury.
Aims: To create clinical tools that assess cognitive-communication skills, supporting effective return-to-work strategies.
Outcomes: The project will result in validated tools that enhance support for employment reintegration in the ABI population.
The influence of time-of-day on physiological and perceptual responses to exercise in people with spinal cord injury living in the community
Year Started: 2020
Background: Investigates the optimal time of day for exercise to minimize fatigue and enhance daily activities for individuals with spinal cord injury.
Aims: To determine the time-of-day effect on exercise responses in people with SCI and inform clinical exercise recommendations.
Outcomes: Expected to influence exercise timing recommendations, enhancing long-term health outcomes and reducing secondary complications in SCI individuals.
Supporting Ethical Inclusion of People with Acquired Disability in Research
Year Started: 2021
Background: This project seeks to create best-practice resources for ethically engaging people with acquired disabilities in research.
Aims: To develop and disseminate a community resource to aid individuals with disabilities in making informed decisions about research participation.
Outcomes: Produced a significant community resource enhancing ethical research engagement, supporting the inclusion of marginalized and vulnerable populations.
Click here to view the Project Flyer
Virtual Reality-Based Nature Exposure for ABI Rehabilitation
Year Started: 2023
Background: Studies the effects of virtual reality-based nature exposure on reducing anxiety and depression in individuals with acquired brain injury during hospital rehabilitation.
Aims: To assess the therapeutic potential of virtual nature exposure to improve mood disorders in ABI patients.
Outcomes: This research could lead to novel rehabilitation methods that integrate technology and nature to support recovery and enhance mental health in ABI patients.
Click here for project flyer.
Can we enhance the home modification process and outcomes using 3D visualisations of activities of daily living (ADLs)?
Year Started: 2023
Background: Aims to improve the effectiveness of home modifications for individuals with disabilities by developing a 3D visualization tool.
Aims: To create a prototype tool that provides interactive 3D visualizations of activities of daily living, aiding the design and implementation of home modifications.
Outcomes: This tool is expected to enhance the planning and execution of home modifications, improving daily living activities for people with disabilities.
EPIC-Tech - Engineering and Physiotherapy Interdisciplinary Collaboration with Technology
Year Started: 2023
Background: Explores the integration of engineering and physiotherapy through the use of a robotic device in rehabilitation services at Princess Alexandra Hospital.
Aims: To evaluate the feasibility of a transdisciplinary approach to rehabilitation service delivery, incorporating engineering insights into clinical practice.
Outcomes: This project aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of rehabilitation services, potentially guiding future interdisciplinary collaborations in health care.
Implementing principles of health literacy into rehabilitation practice using a change champion/co-design approach
Year Started: 2023
Background: This project focuses on enhancing the health literacy of rehabilitation service users to empower them in managing their health and rehabilitation needs.
Aims: To develop and evaluate a health literacy toolkit tailored to the needs of people with acquired disabilities.
Outcomes: The toolkit will potentially revolutionize rehabilitation services by improving health outcomes and advocacy for people with disabilities.
Sustained employment following acquired brain or spinal cord injury
Year Started: 2023
Background: Studies the sustained employment experiences of individuals with acquired brain or spinal cord injuries.
Aims: To explore personal, injury-related, and workplace factors that support sustained employment and provide practical strategies for employment retention.
Outcomes: Will offer insights and strategies to support sustained employment, enhancing economic security and quality of life for affected individuals.
Supporting Friendships and Social Connections for People with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and Acquired Brain Injury (ABI): Real Strategies for Sustainable Change.
Year Started: 2023
Background: Friendship and social connections, a basic human need which may be compromised following catastrophic injury, have not been addressed broadly in rehabilitation practice.
Aims: This project aims to maintain and build friendships and social connections throughout rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and acquired brain injury (ABI), across 3 phases.
Outcomes: Phase 1 completed early 2024, and Phase 2 in progress.
What effect does virtual reality-based nature exposure have on anxiety and depression in people with brain injury in a hospital rehabilitation ward?
Year Started: 2023
Background: Experiencing ABI increases the risk of mood disorders, including depression and anxiety; the management of which are difficult and under-researched. A promising approach lies where technology and nature intersect.
Aims: The project aims to investigate the impact of virtually delivered nature exposure on anxiety and depression of people with an acquired brain injury (ABI).
Outcomes: Expected outcomes from this research could lead to a novel way to reduce symptoms of mood disorders during inpatient ABI rehabilitation and support safe, effective use and uptake of technology to enable recovery and rehabilitation.
Sleep disturbances following spinal cord injury: Understanding help-seeking behaviour and co-designing a sleep management resource
Year Started: 2024
Background: Sleep is an essential part of life for everyone. However, people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) often report finding sleep difficult. After SCI, people may experience trouble with falling asleep, waking up during the night, muscle spasms, and problems breathing during sleep.
Aims: This project aims to understand people’s experiences of sleep disturbances after SCI. We also want to understand the support people with SCI have received for their sleep disturbances, or alternatively, the
reasons they have not looked for or received support.
Outcomes: The main outcome of this project is the development of a co-designed sleep management resource specific to the needs and preferences of people with SCI. However, this project will also generate knowledge on the help-seeking behaviour of people with SCI experiencing sleep disturbances and their preferred approaches for management after SCI.
Examining the impact of surgical and post-operative factors contributing to complications of surgical repair of pressure injury in people with spinal cord injury to enhance their inpatient rehabilitation trajectory
Year Started: 2024
Background: Pressure injuries are a common and serious complication for people with spinal cord injury/disease (SCI/D), in some cases requiring complex surgery and long hospital admissions to treat and heal. Complications following this intricate surgery occur in up to 40% of people. Management after surgery involves at least 4 weeks of strict bed-rest and slow return to usual daily activity, and has been described as extremely “confining” resulting in grief and poorer mental health.
Aims: This research aims to improve the processes for people needing pressure injury surgery through the Spinal Injuries Unit (SIU), resulting in better care, fewer secondary complications and less time in hospital. We will do this by looking at the already published literature from other experts, doing a chart review of people who have previously had this surgery and talking to expert spinal cord injury clinicians and people with lived experience of pressure injury surgery in the SIU.
Outcomes: A description of the rate and type of complications experienced by people with SCI/D who undergo flap surgery for management of pressure injury, a comprehensive description of factors which might contribute to the occurrence of complications post-flap surgery in people with SCI/D and a Clinical Pathway for the management of people with SCI/D undergoing flap surgery in the SIU.
If, How and Why Patients’ Modify and Personalise Their Rooms in Inpatient Neurorehabilitation Environments
Year Started: 2024
Background: In this project, we ask the question, if, how, and why do patients modify or personalise their rooms to enrich and support their recovery when in a neurorehabilitation environment? This question is under-researched. Exploring this will extend upon the knowledge and current understanding of how environmental enrichment can impact rehabilitation from neurotrauma and support implementation of best clinical practice.
Aims:The aims of this project are (i) to explore if, how and why inpatients in neurorehabilitation environments personalise and/or modify their environment and, (ii) to understand the effect personalisation and modification of the inpatient environment has on patient experiences.
Outcomes: We aim to contribute valuable insights into the relationship between the inpatient neurorehabilitation environment and patient experiences in fostering supportive healthcare spaces
Making interdisciplinary pain management programs more patient-centred: a qualitative study of patients' perceptions of the ENGAGE pain group
Year Started: 2024
Background: Interdisciplinary Pain Management Programs (IPMPs) are preferred practice for the management of persistent pain1. Whilst IPMP efficacy2, patient experiences3, satisfaction4 and what patients feel is important to learn about pain5 has been examined, a 2023 scoping review (unpublished) by the Metro South Pain Rehabilitation Centre (MSPRC) found a paucity of research into what people actually learn during IPMPs.
Aims: This project aims to explote the knowledge that people acquire during and retian following ENGAGE.
Outcomes:The aim of this study is to explore what participants learn from an IPMP, participants experiences of an IPMP and how their behaviours change during the program. Findings will be used to develop recommendations for improving IPMPs and further ‘person-centre’ ENGAGE, ensuring pain rehabilitation is more relevant and sensitive to patients. Findings will be disseminated to a wider audience through publications and presentations, thereby widely enabling more person-centred approaches to IPMPs.
Co-producing resources for clinicians and people with SCI in Queensland: enhancing patient decision-making and access to information
Year Started: 2024
Background: Ensuring access to information about health system and service delivery, in personally relevant and accessible formats is pivotal for people with newly acquired spinal cord injuries (SCI) and their support networks. Relying on clinical care teams to communicate critical information can heighten the vulnerability of patients in complicated inpatient hospital environments, especially during rehabilitation. Accessible and inclusive information about medical treatment, care, and daily schedules can foster patients’ feelings of safe ty, autonomy, and dignity. In our previous work, rehabilitation patients and clinical staff identified the need for improved access to information and enhanced educational resources, akin to a “rehabilitation guide with common ward practices”.
Aims: This project aims to address the information needs of patients with newly acquired injuries, specifically spinal cord injury (SCI). We will co-produce a tailored orientation resource via co-design methods with patients with SCI, support networks including family members of patients with SCI, and clinicians across the rehabilitation continuum, to address the need for contemporary orientation resources within the Queensland Spinal Cord Injury Services (QSCIS) and healthcare services more broadly.
Outcomes: Identify essential patient and family information needs, timing preferences, and preferred methods for access and communication to support successful orientation to inpatient hospital wards after a new injury; (2) Codesign the orientation resource collaboratively with patients, clinicians, and support networks (e.g. family members), emphasising the inclusivity of the process for diverse injury types and healthcare settings to ensure applicability across various settings; (3) Develop a comprehensive “how-to” toolkit for clinicians, ensuring that the co-production process can be replicated.
Navigating Public Transport after Acquired Brain Injury
Year Started: 2024
Background: After an acquired brain injury (ABI), many people experience a period of ‘driving disruption’, where they are not medically cleared to drive and need to access the community through other means, including public transport.
Aims: This project seeks to understand the experiences of people who have an ABI when using public transport - in this case, trains.
Outcomes: 1) To identify the experiences of people with moderate-severe ABI in navigating transport environments early in recovery, and how this: a) can inform clinical practice for community access training with clients and b) has potential to expand upon the existing knowledge base of Universal Design, especially for populations with impaired cognitive functioning.
Design Café – Innovation Through Lived Experience
Year Started: 2024
Background: This project explores the implementation of the Design Café within a community-based setting. People with a disability often encounter small tasks throughout everyday activities that prevent the, from finishing the activity. Throughout a day these small hassled have a cumulative impact for the individual who is left feeling frustrated and deflated. These small tasks are often overlooked, fall through the cracks or not addressable with existing assistive technology (AT).
Aims: Our project aims to understand what ‘co-design’ of AT means for people with disability and other key stakeholders. We aim to foster an inclusive design environment by applying co-deign principles throughout all stages of the design process.
Outcomes: Findings will expand the knowledge-base and conceptualisation of co-design of AT from the perspectives of people with disability, establish the feasibility, utility and outcomes of the Design Café, and support the development of an implementation plan within the partnering and other organisations
Development of the ROBIN (Returning hOme after Brain INjury) smart device application
Year Started: 2024
Background:Life after acquired brain injury (ABI) involves several care transitions, which can be difficult to navigate. Such transitions occur between acute care, sub-acute inpatient rehabilitation, post-acute rehabilitation, and home or community
rehabilitation [1]. In particular, the transition from inpatient rehabilitation to home can be one of the most difficult due to the change in physical location and the level of support available.
Aims: The aim of this project is to develop, and user test, a workable co-designed smart device application to assist with the transition to home following acquired brain injury inpatient (ABI) rehabilitation.
Outcomes: Through this approach, we expect the outcome of this phase of the project to be a smart device application that is more readily acceptable, feasible and with minimal need for technical supervision and support in its use. We will present our findings in clinical and scientific conferences (e.g. the Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment conference, Australian Assistive Technology conference).
