Our projects

  1. Macquarie University
  2. Research
  3. Research centres, groups and facilities
  4. Lifespan Health and Wellbeing
  5. Our projects

World-leading multidisciplinary research

Our projects address emotional, cognitive and social health and wellbeing from a range of perspectives. We take a whole of lifespan approach.

The Lifespan Health and Wellbeing Research Centre brings together world-leading expertise in:

  • biomedicine
  • business
  • clinical psychology
  • early childhood
  • education
  • health economics
  • law
  • linguistics and multilingualism
  • neuropsychology
  • organisational psychology.

Emotional health and wellbeing

Our projects seek to better understand and address a broad range of issues across the full lifespan and in diverse cultural contexts.

Treatment trials for youth emotional health
  • Overcoming fears of public speaking in children.
  • Reducing cyberbullying.
  • Reaching vulnerable children with anxiety through a new school-based online program; Cool Kids Online at School.
  • Helping anxious children and adolescents who do not respond fully to standard cognitive behaviour therapy.
  • Study Without Stress online student platform.

Learn more about all our projects for children.

Understanding emotional health in adults
  • Creating an empirically based classification system for mental illness.
  • Hoarding and compulsive buying in adults.
  • What works to shift diet quality and physical activity in psychological interventions for cardiovascular risk? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
  • The Early Childhood Educators’ Wellbeing Project (ECEWP).
  • Facilitating decision-making for hearing health.
  • Exploring the emotional dynamics of online communication through Twitter data analysis: A cross-cultural investigation of Australians and Thais.
  • Preventing suicide from going Under the Radar: Understanding men's preferences for prevention services to increase uptake & effectiveness.
Treatment trials for adult emotional health
  • A randomised controlled trial of an online single-session online treatment for depression and anxiety.
  • A bandit-based response adaptive trial to evaluate the effectiveness of brief self-guided digital interventions for reducing psychological distress in university students: the Vibe Up study.
  • Investigating the impact of an online course for adults on buying and saving behaviour: A pilot randomised controlled trial.
  • Improving mental health outcomes and reducing suicide across the emergency services sector.
  • MicroDep: A double-blind randomised controlled trial of microdosing with psilocybin to treat moderate depression.
Emotional health and chronic illness
  • The Wellbeing Neuro Course: A randomised controlled trial of an online treatment program for adults with multiple sclerosis.
  • Examining the effect of the Wellbeing Neuro Course on symptoms of depression, anxiety and disability in patients with multiple sclerosis at Multiple Sclerosis Clinic – Royal North Shore Hospital (MSC-RNSH).
  • A comparative effectiveness trial of digital mental health care models for adults with epilepsy.
  • Understanding adjustment to chronic disease: who wants, needs and benefits from treatment, and when?
  • Let's Talk about Sex: The development of communication tools for people living with endometriosis.

Learn more about our projects for adults.

Understanding anxiety and OCD in older adults
  • Fear learning in late-life anxiety disorders: can we reduce fear and prevent it from returning?
  • Understanding and treating OCD in older adults.
Treatment trials for late-life anxiety and depression
  • A randomised controlled trial of tailored acceptance and commitment therapy for older people with treatment-resistant generalised anxiety disorder (CONTACT-GAD).
  • Stepped care effectiveness trial for ageing adults.
  • Improving mental health and social participation outcomes in older adults with depression and anxiety.
  • Reducing fear of falling in older adults.
  • Long-term remission and relapse after CBT for late-life anxiety and depression.
  • Developing evidence-based interventions for older adults with depression and anxiety in inpatient services: A pilot trial.
  • Ageing Wisely Online.
  • Examining the automatic thoughts underlying loneliness in older adults.
  • Social and emotional wellbeing in older adults.
  • Understanding the features of social relationships that influence cognition: A longitudinal study (60 years and older).
  • Changes in mechanisms underlying distress in later life: A longitudinal study (40-70 years old).

Learn more about our projects for older adults.

Cognitive health and dementia

We are conducting a range of research projects aimed at preventing cognitive decline, and supporting good cognitive health and development across the lifespan.

Learn more about our cognitive health projects.

  • The AUstralian multidomain Approach to Reduce dementia Risk by prOtecting brain health With lifestyle intervention (AU-ARROW) study.
  • The Australian Dementia Network (ADNeT): Screening for trials and longitudinal research on trials ready cohort (TRC).
  • ToTAL (Testosterone-Omega Three (DHA) - Amyloid Lowering) Study.
  • Sydney Memory and Ageing Study 2.
  • Screening and Risk Reduction for Dementia in Primary Care.
  • Primary care screening tool to detect, prevent and treat mental health issues for older Australians.
  • Barriers and enablers to social participation in people with mild cognitive impairment/early dementia and their supporters.
  • Tailored Intervention for Reducing Falls after Stroke Trial (FAST).
  • Effectiveness of very high dosage mobility boosters (Hi-Walk) in long-term community stroke rehabilitation
  • From isolation to inclusion: Increasing access to social participation for older Australians with mild cognitive impairment or early dementia and their supporters.
  • Cognitive decline and financial literacy.
  • Do older Australians and their carers make optimal payment decisions when entering residential aged care? A survey and assessment.

Social health and wellbeing

The Macquarie University Lifespan Health and Wellbeing Research Centre is conducting a range of projects supporting social and cultural connections across the lifespan.

Learn more about our social health projects.

  • Facilitating decision making for hearing health.
  • Language inclusion: supporting people with intellectual disability and their carers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
  • Targeting mechanisms underlying loneliness in chronic conditions.
  • Perspectives on social wellbeing programs: adults with dual sensory impairment and their communication partners.
  • Exploring the emotional dynamics of online communication through Twitter data analysis: A cross-cultural Investigation of Australians and Thais.
  • Reducing cyberbullying.
  • The power of teacher-student relationships to optimise student outcomes.
  • STEM-ing the gap: understanding STEM motivation and engagement among secondary school girls.

Systems, frameworks and institutional wellbeing

We are conducting a range of projects examining the systems, policies, organisational structures and frameworks that affect or improve emotional/social/cognitive health and wellbeing.

Learn more about our system wellbeing projects.

  • An evidence-based systems approach to suicide prevention: guidance on planning, commissioning and monitoring – LifeSpan.
  • Resilience and Mental Health in Mining.
  • Improving Work Health and Safety (WHS) of in-home disability and aged care workers.
  • Gender equity in MedTech.
  • Menopause, Women and Work.
  • Designing a Holistic Model of Advice to Improve Retirement Planning.
  • PROMOTE: A Cluster-Randomised Implementation Trial to Promote Evidence Use.
Level 3 South, Australian Hearing Hub
16 University Ave, Macquarie University
Mental health treatments for all ages Find out how you can get involved with our Centre Find out more about participating in our research projects