Research Co-Design
We integrate the voices of young people and their families into current research efforts, ensuring that research in South West Sydney is locally relevant. We believe this will lead to better health outcomes for young people and their families. We achieve this by:
- Establishing a network with children and families in SWS, so that children and their families can actively participate in shaping our current and future research plans
- Supporting and informing ongoing initiatives in research design and data management
- Building research capacity by supporting staff in developing new projects and scaling existing projects
Multidisciplinary Team
BestSTART-SWS is committed to an integrated approach to health and health research. We bring together experts from across the health fields to create a wholistic vision for child health in South West Sydney.
Research Platform
The BestSTART-SWS research platform is a longitudinal interventional cohort study which addresses the challenge of NCDs head on, by seeking to change the services landscape to intervene early and improve the lives of children. Pregnant mothers and their partners who access pregnancy services at Liverpool Hospital will be invited to join the study. Participants will be followed through pregnancy, and infants will be enrolled and followed up at key time points between birth and 5 years of age. Families will be invited to participate in several interventions over the length of the study that will study physical, mental, and developmental health in conjunction with demographic data.
Creative Solutions
Addressing the ‘wicked’ health problems that affect our communities, such as obesity, smoking, youth suicide and inequity, requires creative solutions and bold actions. At BestSTART-SWS, we strive to improve the health of our community by designing novel, cutting-edge research that is directly translated into practice. We have a population and health system perspective to issues, and we work to find scalable solutions to big problems.
Evaluation
Appropriate evaluation of health initiatives and research projects is fundamental to demonstrate the success or progress or a program. BestSTART-SWS has expert skills in process, implementation and outcome evaluations. Our evaluation work enables us to demonstrate the impact of health program to stakeholders and ensures an evidence-based approach to health programs in our community.
