Dr Kim Kiely is a Research Fellow at NeuRA supported by an Australian NHMRC Early Career Fellowship. He completed his PhD in 2013 at the Australian National University, and was previously supported by an Alzheimer’s Australia Dementia Research Foundation Fellowship.
Dr Kiely’s research adopts a contextualised perspective to human development across the life-course and spans the fields of life-course epidemiology, social psychiatry, and gero-psychology. His primary research interests cover aspects of healthy and productive ageing, focusing on three main themes:
Dr Kim Kiely (Lead Investigator) and Professor Kaarin Anstey (Co-investigator)
Australians are living longer and expected to work for longer than ever before. It is critical that additional years of life are at least matched by the increase in the years lived in good health, and that gains in healthy ageing are experienced across all sectors of society. There is also a great need to balance older adults’ capacity and opportunity to work with societal pressures to delay retirement.
The objective of this three-year project is to better understand individual and societal determinants that underlie variation in healthy ageing. We will identify characteristics that are tied to the years that older adults are able to engage in productive activities and live independently in good health. To achieve this, advanced health expectancy estimation methods are being used to analyse newly available mortality records that have been linked to national longitudinal survey data. These analyses will produce new, refined, estimates for Australia of ‘healthy life expectancy’ with ‘working life expectancy’. We will examine how these differ across sociodemographic strata, change over time, and compare internationally.
The project is funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project (DP190100459).
Please be aware that as a result of COVID-19 the AUDACIOUS Study has suspended participant visits to NeuRA for the time being as the safety of all our participants comes first. However, you may still be able to participate from the safety of your own home as we make elements of the study available to you online and by phone. If you are interested and would like more information please contact us by filling in your name, phone and email in the space provided below. Thank you for your interest and we hope you keep safe during these challenging times.
Can you hear our call?! Researchers at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and The University of New South Wales are studying how adults experience declines in their hearing, how this interferes with communication and their day-to-day lives.
To investigate the relationship between age-related hearing decline and cognitive abilities in older adults.
If you are interested in this study you will be invited to our study site at NeuRA in Randwick to complete a two-hour interview.
The interview will include test of your hearing and cognitive functioning including app-based activities testing memory, learning and attention. You will also be asked to complete a questionnaire about your general health, hearing and daily lifestyle.
You may be eligible to participate on our research if
Your participation in the study is totally voluntary. You will be reimbursed $30.00 for participating in the study.
If you would like to take part in this research study please contact
Ms Dominique Sepulveda
Phone: (02) 9399 1135
Email: audacious@neura.edu.au
Chief Investigator: Dr Kim Kiely
Phone: (02) 9399 1154
Email: k.kiely@neura.edu.au
The project is funded by the Dementia Australia Research Foundation (DARF)
This study has been approved by the UNSW Human Research Ethics Committee.
HREC number: HC190216
The Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life Project is co-hosted by the Australian National University and the University of New South Wales and has been led by Professor Anstey since 2006. It is a large on-going population-based longitudinal cohort study comprising approximately 7500 participants. The study includes three cohorts including a younger (aged 20–24 at baseline), midlife (aged 40–44 at baseline) and older (aged 60–64 at baseline) adults randomly sampled from the electoral roll of the ACT and the nearby city of Queanbeyan. Additional waves of data collection have occurred in 4-year increments, with the 5th wave of data collection underway. The study involves many national and international collaborations.
The broad aims of the PATH study relate to clinical outcomes that constitute the major burden of disease within the Australian community.
Primary PATH Objectives:
Several design features of the PATH project contribute to its unique standing among population-based longitudinal cohort studies.
This project has been funded primarily by the National Health and Medical Research Council. Wave 5 40s and 60s follow-ups (led by Professor Kaarin Anstey) are funded by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research.
For more information, please visit the study website at www.pathstudy.org.au. PATH participants can also contact the research team by phone on 1300 917 295.
Current road safety policy for at-risk older drivers involves ‘fitness to drive’ assessment and either license restriction or revocation. However, research indicates that there is no clear evidence that mandatory testing lowers crash rates amongst older drivers, and that driving cessation in older adults is associated with increased rates of depression, social isolation, and general health decline.
The Better Drive program includes a series of studies evaluating interventions to improve driver skill. Two trials have been completed to date.
Trial 1 used a two-arm randomised controlled trial (RCT) approach to investigate the efficacy of individually tailored driving refresher lessons against a group-based refresher course on on-road driving performance, safety and crash risk in older adults. Findings indicate that although classroom based road rules workshops for seniors can lead to improvements in on-road driving skill, the inclusion of tailored driving instruction can significantly enhance safety and reduce crash-causing on-road errors relative to classroom based workshops alone.
Trial 2 used a two group (training, no-contact control) non-randomised design to examine the transfer of computerised speed of processing (SOP) training gains to cognitive measures that are known predictors of driving safety in older adults. Findings indicate that SOP training effects can be achieved with self-administered, online training at home, with some transfer to other known cognitive predictors of driving safety. However, differential effects of training may be observed for tasks requiring goal-directed search strategies rather than diffuse attention.
A third trial is currently underway. This trial uses a three-arm randomised controlled trial approach to assess the effectiveness of computerised cognitive training and tailored on-road skills training on driver safety in older adults. Data collection for this trial will be completed in 2019.
The Better Drive program has been funded by the NRMA Road Safety Trust.
In addition to being highly prevalent, hearing and vision impairment affect older adults for substantial periods of their remaining life. Given their broad ranging impacts on health and well-being, sensory impairments are ideal targets for strategies to compress morbidity in late life.
Vision and HL are highly prevalent among older adults and their co-occurrence may compound their respective impacts on health, functioning, and activity engagement, thereby exerting strong effects on the mental health and wellbeing of those affected. There is therefore a need for rehabilitation programs to be sensitive to the combined effects of sensory loss on individuals.