Staff profile

Ms Barbara Parker

Research Fellow

Faculty of Health Sciences

School of Health Sciences Research Australian Institute for Primary Care and Ageing

HS2-542, Melbourne (Bundoora)

 

Qualifications

B.App.Sc (Psych), P.Grad Dip Psych, M.Sc.Medicine (Pain Mgt), Adv. Cert. Clinical Hypnosis, Assoc. MAPS

Membership of professional Associations

Australian Psychological Society; Australian Pain Society; Australian Association of Gerontology; The Gerontological Society of America

Area of study

Ageing and aged care

Brief Profile

Barbara joined the Lincoln Centre for Research on Ageing in the Australian Institute for Primary Care and Ageing (AIPCA) at the end of 2008 after completing postgraduate qualifications in psychology and pain management. Her thesis investigated the impact of chronic pain on visual information processing in young and older chronic pain patients. Barbara was previously a Senior Communication Projects Manager and Communication Practice Leader with two leading international human resources consulting firms in Australia and Canada, providing strategic advice and tailored communication programs for both private and public sector organisations..

She is currently the project manager for an ARC-Linkages grant led by Professor Yvonne Wells investigating the care, housing and psychosocial requirements of older people who will require support over the next two decades and how the service system should be designed to meet future needs.  Barbara is also involved in consultancies, the most recent of which were the evaluations of the Creative Ways to Care program for carers of people living with Dementia, and the Access Points Demonstration Projects in Victoria.

Barbara’s research interests include chronic pain, ageing, homelessness, elder abuse and palliative care.

Research interests

Chronic disease

- Please contact me to discuss a topic.

Dementia

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Healthy Ageing

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Recent Publications

Reports

Wells, Y., Parker, B., Varanelli, L., & Herd, A. (2011). Evaluation of Creative Ways to Care: Final Report. A report prepared by the Lincoln Centre for Research on Ageing, AIPCA, La Trobe University, Melbourne, for Alfred Health, Victoria.

Wells, Y., Parker, B., Reid, K., Gardner, I., Scuffham, P., Hall, C., & Gray, L. (2010). Evaluation of the Victorian Access Points Demonstration Model: Direct2Care. Project report prepared by the Australian Institute for Primary Care & Ageing, La Trobe University, for the Department of Health, Victoria.

Conference Presentations:

Parker B., Wright, A. & Wells, Y. (2011). Evaluation of the Creative Ways to Care: Strategies for Carers of People Living with Dementia program.  Paper presented at the Alzheimers Association International Conference on Alzheimers Disease.  Paris.

Parker B., Wells, Y., (2011). Single Points of Access to Community Care: An international literature review . Paper presented at the 9th Asia/Oceana Regional Congress of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Melbourne.

Parker B., Wright, A. & Statkus, J. (2010).  Interim findings of the Evaluation of the Creative Ways to Care: strategies for carers of people with dementia program.  Paper presented at the 2nd Annual International Arts and Health Conference.  Melbourne.

Parker B., Gibson, S.J. & Crewther, S. (2009) Visual information processing in young and older chronic pain patients. Poster presentation at the Australian Association of Gerontology National Conference. Canberra.

Parker, B., Gibson, S. J. & Crewther, S. (2009). Visual information processing in young and older chronic pain patients. Paper presented at the Australian Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting, Sydney.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research projects

ARC-Linkages Grant: Transforming the experiences of ageing: Building socially inclusive communities.

Principle Investigators: Y. Wells, E. Ozanne, C. Laragy

This project aims to (a) explore future requirements for housing, supports and care of older people and (b) determine whether utilising community development principles in designing service systems leads to innovative service delivery and the promotion of social inclusion. The industry partner, Uniting Aged Care Victoria & Tasmania (UACVT), is committed to engaging local communities in service development. Expected outcomes of the project include new knowledge on developing housing and services for older people and the preferred nature and characteristics of such systems. This knowledge will influence the development of policy on aged care service systems policy, both in UACVT and more widely.