Research Impact: Disaster, Climate and Adversity Unit

The Disaster, Climate and Adversity Unit works with policy makers, service providers, practitioners, communities and people with lived experience to build new evidence and convert that into practical resources and tools that increase capacity to implement health promoting systems, services and strategies. Our vision is to help create pathways towards optimum health and wellbeing for those at risk from or impacted by disaster, climate and adversity.

Key Research Projects

WHO EviMaPS - Evidence Mapping of Psychosocial Supports in relation to disasters

Mental health and psychosocial support policies and programs are becoming increasingly important for preventing and reducing the escalation of disaster-related mental health problems. The EviMaPS project aimed to identify the state of international knowledge, guidance and practice through a collaboration between a multi-national investigator team and the World Health Organization (WHO). It identified how mental health and psychosocial support approaches are being transformed across different sociocultural contexts and addressing different levels of need. The evaluation evidence typically related to reducing symptoms of mental health conditions, learning about coping, social support, and managing stress and difficult experiences after disasters. Evidence gaps demonstrated the important role of WHO and Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines which provide both evidence informed and expert consensus-based direction to policy and practice.

Impact:The project is currently in the dissemination phase through WHO and other international networks. A range of knowledge translation outputs have been prepared for different stakeholder audiences.

Climate CATCH Lab: Interdisciplinary seed and sapling research funding scheme

The Climate Collaborative Action for Transformative Change in Health and Healthcare (CATCH) Lab supports interdisciplinary and multi-sectoral research collaborations to enhance knowledge, practice, awareness and advocacy at the nexus of climate change and health. In 2024, we provided seed and sapling funds to eleven innovative and interdisciplinary research projects to catalyse action and immediate impact towards climate-resilient, sustainable and equitable communities and health systems.

Impact: All projects have a strong emphasis on knowledge translation and have disseminated results through various public channels including webinars, impact case studies, classroom resources, a hospital sustainability toolkit, and policy briefs. Projects have since gone on to receive significant recognition, including the Reusable Gowns project being shortlisted for a 2024 Victorian Public Healthcare Award (McGain and Clarke). Several research leads have received additional funding and stakeholder requests to expand implementation of pilot activities in other settings.

Children and young people bereaved by domestic homicide: Understanding home, relationships, and identity

This qualitative project aimed to improve understanding of the living arrangements, peer and family relationships, and identity development of young people who have lost a parent through domestic homicide (i.e., having a parent murdered by a current or former intimate partner). We conducted in-depth interviews with three groups of participants to explore these topics: (a) people with lived experience of bereavement through domestic homicide during childhood, (b) current or former caregivers of children with lived experience, and (c) professionals who have experience working with children with lived experience (e.g., mental health practitioners, education workers, policy makers).

Impact:The key findings from the project were released as a report and published in several peer reviewed articles, attracting national TV and radio interest, and contributing to public debate. Media interest and public debate was further ignited through the creation of a powerful documentary by Fringe Dweller Films, called Killjoy: Revealed, which describes Kathryn Joy’s lived experience of this issue. The documentary was launched at ACMI in August 2024 and released on STAN the following month. Kathryn is a staff member in the Disaster, Climate and Adversity Unit.