Project Coordinator
BHlthSc (Hons)
Nicole is the Project Coordinator of Embrace @ Telethon Kids Institute. Embrace’s work is based on infant, child and youth mental health research priorities identified by the community. The Embrace team work across the Institute, with external organisations and with WA community members to improve child and youth mental health outcomes in WA according to their community-led research priorities.
As well as working across the Institute with Embrace, Nicole is also the Project Coordinator of the Childhood Trauma Group.
Nicole works closely with Embrace Program Manager Grace Brown and the Childhood Trauma Group leads, Professor Helen Milroy and Dr Alix Woolard.
In her Project Coordinator roles, Nicole provides project management, research, and administrative support to ensure high quality research outcomes. Nicole has experience working on health promotion projects including obesity prevention and mental health projects in childhood trauma. She is currently working on an intervention to improve the psychological recovery of children who experience traumatic burn injuries and other trauma focused projects that aim to improve the lives of children and young people.
Nicole holds a Bachelor of Health Science with First Class Honours and is passionate about prevention and early intervention in child mental and physical health.
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Projects
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Publications
January 2024
Treatment for Childhood and Adolescent Dissociation: A Systematic Review
Dissociative symptoms are linked to experiences of trauma, often originating in childhood and adolescence. Dissociative disorders are associated with a high burden of illness and a poor quality of life. Despite evidence suggesting that early intervention can improve outcomes, little research exists on the treatment of dissociative disorders in childhood and adolescence.
Published research Early Childhood Development Children's Lung Health Youth Mental Health Child and adolescent healthFebruary 2024A wellbeing program to promote mental health in paediatric burn patients: Study protocol
One of the most traumatic injuries a child can experience is a severe burn. Despite improvements in medical treatments which have led to better physical outcomes and reduced mortality rates for paediatric burns patients, the psychological impact associated with experiencing such a traumatic injury has mostly been overlooked. This is concerning given the high incidence of psychopathology amongst paediatric burn survivors.
Published research Children's Lung Health Youth Mental Health Mental healthJun 2023“It's a big trauma for the family”: A qualitative insight into the psychological trauma of paediatric burns from the perspective of mothers
Despite the medical and surgical improvements of paediatric burn injuries, burn injuries can be a painful and traumatic experience for the child and their family. It is therefore important to explore the experiences of caregivers who support their child throughout the burn journey. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the traumatic nature of paediatric burns on the family from a caregiver's perspective.
Published research Youth Mental HealthOctober 2023Expert survey: safer research with parent survivors of child maltreatment
Intergenerational trauma research typically focuses on parent survivors. No specific guidelines are available for conducting research with parent survivors despite potentially unique risks. To investigate research safety with parent survivors, we conducted an online survey of 38 researchers regarding experiences of parent survivors in their research, precautions taken, ethical review experiences, and researchers’ mental health during the project(s).
Published research Youth Mental HealthMarch 2023The Investigation of Health-Related Topics on TikTok: A Descriptive Study Protocol
The social media application TikTok allows users to view and upload short-form videos. Recent evidence suggests it has significant potential for both industry and health promoters to influence public health behaviours. This protocol describes a standardised, replicable process for investigations that can be tailored to various areas of research interest, allowing comparison of content and features across public health topics.
Published research Child Disability Ear Health Youth Mental Health Healthy Skin and ARF Prevention Food and Nutrition Early Years SystemsApril 2023Powerful promotions: An investigation of the teen-directed marketing power of outdoor food advertisements located near schools in Australia
Adolescents are heavily exposed to unhealthy outdoor food advertisements near schools, however, the marketing power of these advertisements among adolescents has not yet been explored. This study aimed to investigate the teen-directed marketing features present and quantify the overall marketing power of outdoor food advertisements located near schools to explore any differences by content (ie, alcohol, discretionary, core and miscellaneous foods) school type (ie, primary, secondary, K-12) and area-level socio-economic status (SES; ie, low vs high).
Published research Child Health, Development & Education Early Childhood Development Nutrition Youth Mental Health Food and Nutrition Early Neurodevelopment and Mental HealthOctober 2021Early childhood caries, primary caregiver oral health knowledge and behaviours and associated sociological factors in Australia: a systematic scoping review
Early childhood caries disproportionately affects vulnerable groups and remains a leading cause of preventable hospital admissions for Western Australian children. The Western Australia State Oral Health Plan seeks to improve child oral health through universal and targeted health promotion initiatives with primary caregivers.
Published research Early Childhood Development Youth Mental HealthJuly 2022Children's exposure to outdoor food advertising near primary and secondary schools in Australia
Previous research has highlighted children's frequent exposure to advertisements of unhealthy food and beverages on television. However, the food industry is increasingly utilising non-broadcast channels such as outdoor advertising (eg billboards, bus shelters, shop fronts) for product marketing.
Published research Early Childhood Development Nutrition Food and NutritionJuly 2021Exposure to unhealthy food and beverage advertising during the school commute in Australia
Food marketing exposure has the potential to influence children's dietary behaviours and health status, however, few studies have identified how 'obesogenic' the outdoor food marketing environment is along public transport (bus and/or train) or walking routes that children take to school.
Published research Academic Biostatistics Nutrition Food and Nutrition -
Education and Qualifications