Associate Professor Louise Freebairn
Contacts
Biography
Dr Freebairn’s program of research is expanding the existing, locally valid applications of dynamic simulation modelling in ACT and NSW and piloting new methods for collecting health information for hard to reach groups, such as adolescents. It is anticipated that during the Honorary appointment, Dr Freebairn will use the opportunity to build research capacity to harness new technologies, such as dynamic simulation modelling and app-based data collection, to better use evidence and mobilise knowledge to guide health policy decision making.
The proposed honorary appointment aims to facilitate and strengthen links between the Population Health Exchange, Research School of Public Health (RSPH) and Population and Preventive Health, ACT Health, with the aim of fostering collaborative projects and identifying and reducing systemic barriers to the use of research evidence in policy decision making. The appointment will also strengthen existing linkages between RSPH and The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre, ACT Health and the Brain and Mind Centre leading to capacity building opportunities through joint projects, guest lectures and student supervision/placements.
Research
Research interests
- Implementation and evaluation of advanced, participatory multi-method system modelling, including agent-based modelling, system dynamic modelling and discrete event simulation, for health service research and policy decision making
- Exploring the use of new technologies, including mobile phone app-based data collection, to collect health behaviour information for hard-to-reach groups
- Participatory action research and embedded evaluation design
- Reducing barriers to the use of research evidence in public health decision making
Publications
Atkinson J, Song Y J C, Merikangas K, Skinner A, Prodan A, Iorfino F, Freebairn L, Rose D, Ho N, Crouse J, Zipunnikov V and Hickie I. The science of complex systems is needed to ameliorate the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health. Frontiers in Psychiatry (2020) https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.606035/full
Munashinghe S, Sperandei S, Freebairn L, Conroy E, Jani H, Marjanovic S and Page A. The impact of physical distancing policies during the COVID-19 pandemic on health and wellbeing among Australian adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health (2020). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1054139X20304912
Freebairn L, Atkinson J, Qin Y, Nolan C.J, Kent A.L, Kelly P.M, Penza L, Prodan A, Safarishahrbijari A, Qian W, Maple-Brown L, Dyck R, McLean A, McDonnell G, and Osgood N.D on behalf of the Diabetes in Pregnancy Modelling Consortium. ‘Turning the tide’ on hyperglycemia in pregnancy: insights from multiscale dynamic simulation modelling. BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care (2020);8: e000975. doi: 10.1136/bmjdrc-2019-000975. https://drc.bmj.com/content/8/1/e000975
Haynes A, Rychetnik L, Finegood D, Irving M, Freebairn L and Hawe P. Applying systems thinking to knowledge mobilisation in public health. Health Research Policy and Systems 18, no. 1 (2020): 1-19. https://health-policy-systems.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12961-020-00600-1
Freebairn L, Atkinson J, Osgood N, Kelly P M, McDonnell G, and Rychetnik L. Turning conceptual systems maps into dynamic simulation models: revealing the analytical deliberations and decisions of participatory dynamic simulation modelling - an Australian health sector case study. PLOS ONE, 2019, https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/metrics?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0218875
Qin Y, Freebairn L, Atkinson J, Qian W, Safarishahrbijari A. and Osgood N. Multi-scale simulation modeling for prevention and public health management of diabetes in pregnancy and sequelae. Conference paper for submission to SBP-BRiMS 2019: International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling & Prediction and Behavior Representation in Modeling and Simulation. 9-12 July 2019, Washington DC, USA.
Yang, Z., Phung, H., Freebairn, L., Sexton, R., Raulli, A., & Kelly, P. (2019). Contribution of maternal overweight and obesity to the occurrence of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 59(3), 367-374.
Freebairn L, Atkinson J, Kelly P M, McDonnell G, and Rychetnik L. Decision maker’s experience of participatory dynamic simulation modelling methods for public health policy. BMC Health Informatics and Decision Making 2018; 18(1):131. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-018-0707-6
