Centre for Healthy Sustainable Development (CHSD)

Our white paper, “Ageing in Place,” explores effective strategies for older Australians to live independently in their homes and thrive within their communities. The research, a collaboration between CHSD, Annecto and NIODA, highlights the gaps in current support services and calls for improvements to the aged care workforce.

The paper establishes the importance of a supportive home environment, tackling loneliness and strengthening community ties. With a focus on compassionate care, it presents various recommendations regarding policy reforms that ensure accessible housing, integrated care models and tailored support for vulnerable seniors.

“Rethinking housing” aims to understand persistent housing sector supply problems through analysis of digital collaborative practices. The housing sector has long been criticised for shortcomings in affordability, efficiency, quality, social and environmental responsiveness and appropriateness of offerings. This project expects to generate new knowledge for an emerging housing digital economy using interdisciplinary actor-network theory and data visualisation techniques.

This project is a South Australian case study that explores the development of a purpose-built intergenerational housing environment. It is located at a retirement residence and an early learning centre on the same site. The project is led by Associate Professor Clare Littleton and a team of researchers from CHSD, in collaboration with partners. The aim is to conduct two linked research projects to understand the collaboration that took place during this development and how the built environment facilitates meaningful interaction between older adults and children.

Analysis of National antimicrobial resistance (AMR) policies and interviews with policy makers in Australia and Germany using a gender, health equity and social determinants of health lens. Members: Associate Professor Clare Littleton is working on this project with Ms Victoria Saint and Professor Kayvan Bozorgmehr from School of Public Health at Bielefeld University, Germany.

A research consulting project with strategic partner, Inclusion Foundation, which drives Impact21, a disability training program for young persons with Down Syndrome. Partnering with Inclusion Foundation over the past 18 months has provided the opportunity to plan, develop and validate a monitoring and evaluation framework.

The project investigates intergenerational playgroups with Playgroups SA, which unite older adults, young children, and their families in a shared, play-focused environment designed to boost cognitive stimulation, foster social inclusion, and strengthen community ties. The study explores the factors that promote or hinder community engagement in intergenerational playgroups, with the aim of increasing participation for older adults from diverse backgrounds, thus improving the overall well-being of older adults.