Our Aim / The Western Australian Drowning Evaluation and Research Network (WADER-N) serves as a community of practice, bringing together interested and relevant researchers, practitioners and policymakers who will work towards improving collaboration and knowledge translation within and outside the drowning prevention and water safety sectors and ensure drowning prevention programs, policies and practices are grounded in evidence.
Role of the Network / The work of the Network is guided by the Western Australian Health Promotion Strategic Framework's overarching goal of lowering the incidence of avoidable injury in Western Australia (WA), and also the Australian Water Safety Strategy 2016-2020 to achieve a 50% reduction in drowning deaths by the year 2020.
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The broad role will be to:
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Create a network for collaboration and knowledge translation and guide research direction and priorities in drowning prevention.
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Build an online hub to promote members, share evaluation and research direction and priorities and provide a range of knowledge dissemination, capacity building and professional development opportunities.
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Support the development of stronger relationships specifically the relationship between RLSSWA, Curtin University and key stakeholders.
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Facilitate opportunities for professional development (for members and for other people working in the sector).
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In partnership, the Collaboration for Evidence, Research and Impact in Public Health at Curtin University and the Royal Life Saving Society of Western Australia are committed to undertaking evidence-informed research and evaluation related to drowning prevention.
We are the team, nice to meet you!
DR JUSTINE LEAVY
Associate Professor, Curtin University
Dr Leavy is currently working as a senior lecturer at Curtin University. She completed her PhD and Masters in Public Health at the University of Western Australia and a Bachelor of Science (Health Promotion) at Curtin University. Dr Leavy’s health promotion interests are physical activity promotion, drowning prevention and oral health promotion.
DR GEMMA CRAWFORD
Senior Lecturer, Curtin University
Gemma is a Teaching and Research Academic with the Collaboration for Evidence Research and Impact in Public Health. She is a pracademic-an IUHPE Registered Health Promotion Practitioner with almost 20 years of experience in the practice, advocacy, teaching and research of health promotion and public health. Her research interests include drowning prevention, evaluation, workforce and capacity building and public health and population mobility. She is the national President of the Australian Health Promotion Association.
WHO WE ARE
MALENA DELLA BONA
Research Officer/PhD Candidate, Curtin University
Malena is currently enrolled as a PhD student looking at the implementation of evidence informed intervention in drowning prevention. She is also the research officer responsible for the external evaluation of projects, including Keep Watch (toddler drowning prevention), Youth Water Safety and Adult Water Safety, run by RLSSWA. She has worked at CERIPH as part of the DEEP team at Curtin University since 2017. She holds a Master's degree in Public Health and Bachelor of Science (Psychology). She is also a member of the Australian Health Promotion Association, and the Public Health Association of Australia.
NICOLA D'ORAZIO
Research Assistant and 3rd Year student,
Curtin University
Nicola has been working as a research assistant with the DEEP team for over a year. He is currently enrolled in a double degree, Bachelor of Science (Health Promotion and Nutrition) at Curtin University and is in the third year of his studies. His work involves systematic reviews of adult and child drowning, drowning prevention campaigns and evaluation surveys for RLSSWA drowning prevention programs. Nicola also worked as a volunteer with the DEEP team for 12 months as the team’s Digital Media Dissemination Officer whilst also coding survey data. He has a keen interest in creating healthy and safe environments for all.
LAUREN NIMMO
Senior Manager, Health Promotion & Research, Royal Life Saving Society WA
Ms Nimmo is currently the Senior Manager, Health Promotion and Research at the Royal Life Saving Society WA. Lauren is responsible for the development and delivery of a range of health promotion interventions targeting issues such as alcohol and other drugs, toddler drowning prevention, creating safe spaces for recreation and Aboriginal health and well-being. Lauren works closely with tertiary and research institutions to undertake research and evaluation programs to improve program delivery and contribute towards a better understanding of the emerging field of drowning prevention.
RENEE CAREY
Senior Research Fellow, School of Population Health, Curtin University
Renee is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Population Health at Curtin University. After completing a PhD in Psychology in 2011, she has worked across a number of projects examining various aspects of occupational and cancer epidemiology and public health, including occupational exposures, the future burden of cancer, and psychosocial factors at work. Renee has presented her work at a number of conferences and meetings, and her work has been cited as supporting evidence in key strategy and policy documents both in Australia and internationally.
