Public health and prevention research within the Medical Research Future Fund
Objective: To explore the amount and type of research funded under relevant Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Initiatives that addressed public health and prevention from 2018 to July 2023. Methods: Projects funded by six MRFF Initiatives, with objectives relevant to public health and public healt...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Book |
| Published: |
Elsevier,
2024-08-01T00:00:00Z.
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to this object online. |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Objective: To explore the amount and type of research funded under relevant Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Initiatives that addressed public health and prevention from 2018 to July 2023. Methods: Projects funded by six MRFF Initiatives, with objectives relevant to public health and public health nominated as "field of research" by >25% of applicants, were evaluated against a set of public health research criteria and were categorised based on levels of prevention. Results: Fifty-seven per cent of 249 funded projects were categorised as public health research. Projects with curative features, focusing on tertiary (32%) and quaternary (4%) prevention, were as common as projects with earlier preventive features, focussed on primordial (7%) and primary (28%) prevention. The Preventive and Public Health Research Initiative had the lowest proportion of public health research (48%) of the six evaluated Initiatives and a dominance of curative (39%) and non-preventive (26%) research over preventive research (30%). Conclusion: This study highlighted variable levels of public health research across public-health-relevant MRFF Initiatives and generally low proportions of primary and primordial prevention. A greater emphasis on primordial and primary prevention research in public-health-relevant Initiatives could advance prevention in Australia. Implications for public health: There appears to be scope for improvement in the prioritisation of upstream prevention research in public-health-relevant MRFF Initiatives and projects. Addressing this may enhance the benefit of MRFF to Australian public health. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | 1326-0200 10.1016/j.anzjph.2024.100171 |