Students

Bernice Hua Ma
Monash University 

Estimating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of disability policies

Bernice is a second-year PhD student in health economics. Her PhD topics are around the estimation of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of disability policies (e.g. NDIS in Australia). She is also interested in contributing to the consistency in methodology while conducting economic evaluation in this field. She is based in the Centre for Health Economics at the Monash Business School, Monash University. 

Jacqui Parncutt

Who cares? The lives and trajectories of Australian carers with disability

People with disability and informal carers are both recognised as populations that are prone to poor health and socioeconomic outcomes.  The prevalence of disability among primary carers in Australia is twice that of the non-caring population, however carers and people with disability are usually considered separately in health and social policy. 

Jacqui is a PhD candidate in the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Health Equity’s Disability and Health team, undertaking quantitative research into primary carers with disability.  Her interest in social epidemiology and the social determinants of health drive her PhD research.

Stephanie Luz Mantilla

Examining how (in)visible disability is represented in recent Australian obesity prevention media campaigns. 

This thesis examines how invisible (and visible) disability are represented within public health campaigns, as well as how the normal ‘healthy’ body is constructed in the recent  Girls Make Your Move (2016) and the Make Healthy Normal (2015) NSW campaigns.

Stephanie is a PhD student and a scholarship recipient based at the University of Sydney.

Gianina Raymundo

Access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme for culturally diverse women with disability

Since the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in 2016, it is apparent that there are significant disparities of access between different groups of people with disabilities. This has been especially highlighted in the underutilisation of the NDIS by more vulnerable groups such as women, and people of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds with disability. These populations each have gender and culture-specific barriers, attitudes, beliefs and experiences, which all impact their ability to access the NDIS and disability services. This research aims to identify the barriers that prevent access to this scheme, and the facilitators that enable access to the NDIS for this population. This study also hopes to identify culturally-appropriate strategies and solutions to address barriers to the NDIS. Gianina is a PhD scholarship recipient at the University of Sydney.