Summer and Winter Research Programs

The UQ Poche Centre facilitates a range of research opportunities for undergraduate, honours and masters by coursework students through the Summer and Winter Research Programs each year.

These programs provide you with an opportunity to gain research experience working alongside some of the university’s leading academics and researchers. All Research scholars are eligible to apply for a scholarship for the duration of their research.

Broad requirements for the UQ Poche Centre Research Scholarships are:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are especially encouraged to apply
Students must be currently enrolled at UQ at the time of application. Students can be in their first year of study
Students should have a high level of academic achievement (GPA above 4.0)

Scholars are expected to work a minimum of 20 hours per week for at least four weeks. Please note that some positions require scholars to work on a full-time basis (up to 36 hours per week), and the expected workload is set by each supervisor. The scholar and the supervisor are able to negotiate the duration of the project and the workload requirements.

Further information for applicants is available on the Careers and Employability website. For a chat about project opportunities at the UQ Poche Centre please email poche.research@uq.edu.au.

Summer Research Programs

Winter Research Programs

Birthing in Our Community (BiOC) – Healthy Mums & Bubs

Supervisors: A/Prof Judith Dean & Dr Penny Haora

Duration: 4 weeks

Birthing in Our Community (BiOC) is an Indigenous-led maternity care program designed and implemented in Brisbane from 2013. An initial evaluation of BiOC’s outcomes, published in the Lancet Global Health (2021), showed a significant reduction in preterm births in the region of between 43% and 50%, improvement in healthy weight babies, increased antenatal visits and an increase in exclusive breastfeeding at hospital discharge.

The Poche Centre has partnered with The Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH), and together we will be implementing the next phase of evaluating BiOC. The evaluation will assess clinical and wellbeing outcomes; as well as program acceptability, scalability, sustainability, feasibility and cost effectiveness. Our goal is to build the evidence base to support adaptation and implementation of BiOC programs in other urban Indigenous communities while also contributing to policy, systems, and practice changes in support of the Best Start to Life for First Nations mums and families.

This winter project will be aligned with supporting development of the qualitative methods and understanding other aspects of the program such as mum’s experiences.. The successful applicant will work closely with the Poche research team and there may be opportunity to visit with our partners at IUIH.

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Health services in urban areas for Indigenous people

Supervisor: Dr Stuart Leske

Duration: 4 weeks

This project involves literature reviews and writing that will contribute to articles being produced that are about the accessibility of health services in urban areas for Indigenous people.

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Effect of climate change on the health of Indigenous people. An exploratory scoping review

Supervisor: Dr Edmund Kanmiki

This project will involve review of literature and synthesis on the current evidence around climate change and its effects on the health outcomes of First Nations people.

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Relationships and sexual health education for young Australians

Supervisor: Dr Kiara Minto

Relationships and reproductive healthcare education programs represent a key tool for primary prevention of a range of experiences that negatively impact the health and wellbeing of young Australians. These include partner violence, sexual violence (including harassment), sexually transmitted infections, and other reproductive healthcare issues. These education program need to be tailored to meet the gender, sexuality and cultural needs of all young people.

This project aims to 1) identify current education programs for young Australians that incorporate content reflecting relationships and reproductive healthcare; 2) compare program content and implementation to known best practice recommendations; 3) determine the prevalence of education programs that reflect cultural sensitivity and co-design with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous partners.

The findings of this research will advance knowledge regarding the content of current relationships and sexual health education programs for young people.

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Weighting approaches in a multi-membership analysis of a First Nations primary healthcare data: literature review

Supervisor: Dr Victor Oguoma

The Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH) in partnership with the UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health is undertaking an evaluation of Indigenous-led patient-centred medical home model of team-based primary care that is patient-centred, coordinated, accessible, and focused on quality and safety.

The Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH) Ltd is a not-for-profit, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Organization which leads the planning, development and delivery of comprehensive primary health care to Indigenous communities of the South East Queensland Region.

The UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led Health Research Institute at the University of Queensland working together with a multidisciplinary team of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous researchers to enhance understandings of diverse health issues affecting Indigenous peoples. Our focus is to improve life expectancy and transform equity and justice in Indigenous health.

The study is a mixed-methods prospective cohort study, using a hybrid implementation and clinical effectiveness design where the effect of the intervention (IUIH System of Care 2) on outcomes is tested while gathering information on implementation. The main study outcomes include changes in access, quality of care, clinical outcomes, and hospitalisations/emergency department presentations.

Given that patients tend to attend multiple services and or see multiple care teams for their care, the analysis will require a novel approach using ‘multiple membership models”. The use of a multi-membership model requires selection of weights that reflect the contribution of each care team/service and their relationship to the patient outcomes. The choice of weights can either be based on theory, when a strong theoretical basis exists, or an empirical assessment using statistical information criterion such as the Deviance Information Criterion.

This literature review will provide insight from a First Nations primary health care perspective on theories (systems, cultural, social, etc) and/or statistical bases for weighting in multi-membership modelling of a First Nations data.

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Aboriginal Health Worker or Health and Wellbeing Worker – why names and roles matter

Supervisor: Dr Jenny Setchell

This project aims to explore and describe the evolution, purpose and function of the Health and Wellbeing Worker – a designated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff role at the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH). Involvement in the project will include working closely with Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff at IUIH to explore the Aboriginal Health Worker role in the context of the IUIH system of care, what it means and how it can evolve.

The Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH) Ltd is a not-for-profit, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Organization which leads the planning, development and delivery of comprehensive primary health care to Indigenous communities of the South East Queensland Region.

Instead of the typical GP-led model of care, in response to community identified needs and a growing population, IUIH has implemented a new team-based model of primary healthcare, the patient-centred medical home, designed and delivered by and for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in SEQ. Based on emerging findings from an evaluation of this model of care, a new role has been developed which we are keen to explore - Health and Wellbeing Worker. The aim of this role is to walk alongside clients and their families in their health journeys.

Involvement in the project can be adapted to the students interests (to an extent) and may include:

a review of the relevant literature
assisting with analysis of documents relating to the history and development of the health and wellbeing worker
assisting with qualitative data coding and analysis of existing staff interviews and client yarn data

This work will be conducted in collaboration with key team members and counterparts. The specific focus area of the project is to be determined pending project priorities and the students’ interests.

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What our scholars say

Hear from previous Research Program Scholars

Hannah Suzon

“This project has been valuable for me because I can engage in real world data that relates to my interests as well as my degree. I am really grateful for the experience with ATLAS; I have been able to familiarise myself with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and gain a better lens in which to understand their health needs.”

Elizabeth Ambrose

"Everyone that works at the Poche Centre has such different backgrounds and unique perspectives. There is an overwhelming feeling of belonging that goes with working at the Poche Centre, even when you are working remotely. It feels like being a part of a family and I am grateful I got to be included in it for 10 weeks."