Living in a cold house can be bad for your health and bad for your quality of life.

In this breakthrough study, researchers from UTS teamed up with Sustainability Victoria to look at the benefits of making houses warmer for vulnerable people.

What they found was that spending relatively small amounts of money to improve thermal comfort had powerful – and sometimes surprising – results for health, well-being and energy savings.

 

In this episode:

 

Professor Rosalie Viney, Director the Centre for Health Research and Economics (CHERE) at University of Technology, Sydney

 

Kerryn Wilmot, Institute for Sustainable Futures at University of Technology, Sydney

 

Dr Toby Cumming, Sustainability Victoria

For years, it was assumed that autism affected boys at four times the rate of girls.

New research is challenging that thinking and looking at why autism in girls, women and gender diverse people has been overlooked for so long.

Inspired by the disability rights slogan, ‘Nothing about us, without us’, a team of autistic women and non-binary people have been working with researcher Rachel to set the landscape for this research frontier.

How can research improve the lives of autistic girls, women and gender diverse? Where should we be focusing our resources?

In this episode:

Dr Rachel Grove, researcher in to autistic girls, women and gender diverse people

Tess Moodie, queer, non-binary, proud Pallawa woman and advocate in the areas of gender-based violence, disability, autism and in the LGBTQA+ community.

Heat stress comes with the job when you’re a firefighter.

But if you’re fighting a bush fire in the middle of a national park, or on a busy city motorway, what is the most effective way to cool down? How effectively you can do this has life-threatening implications. 

This ground-breaking partnership with NSW Fire and Rescue puts a scientific lens on the issue and seeks to find the best solution to heat stress.

In this episode:

Andrew Richardson, health and fitness adviser with Fire and Rescue NSW

Dr Hugh Fullagar, senior lecturer with the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation at UTS

Mark Gabriel, rescue firefighter at Fire and Rescue NSW

Associate Professor Richard De Abreu Lourenco is a self-described ‘data nerd’ who uses his finance skills to work with doctors. 

One of his projects is to assess new treatments for treating prostate cancer and see whether the outcomes present value for money. 

How do we balance the need to provide the best possible care with the reality that we can’t afford to pay whatever it takes. 

‘If we’re not doing trials that include health economics, then we’re idiots.’ 

Women are more likely to experience domestic violence when they are pregnant. 

This is a time when they develop a close working relationship with midwives. 

So how do we train midwives to look for the signs of domestic violence and to offer appropriate support? How do they make use of the intimate relationship they develop with pregnant women. 

‘Fear is the biggest barrier. You live with these men and you see their rage and veiled threats. You know you’re not safe’. 

Death and dying is sometimes seen as the Cinderella in the medical world. 

When it comes to palliative care, there is no cure. But there is the challenge of helping people die well. It’s about living well more than dying. 

Most research for existing drugs and interventions overlook their uses for people experiencing the end of their lives. 

In this moving episode, we explore what we mean by ‘a good death’ and what researchers are doing to transform the experience for those in palliative care. 

Odyssey NSW has provided care to people struggling with addiction for over 40 years. Now, for the first time, the impact of its well-known residential rehabilitation program has been confirmed by independent research. 

The findings of the study by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) are helping the not-for-profit organisation make its case for funding to donors and governments, while also supporting the case for new treatment options. 

 ‘They hold you accountable and you find your values. I love waking up every day feeling fresh and happy. My son is so proud of me.’