Research Assistant, PhD student
BExSc, MPH
Emma has been at the Telethon Kids Institute since 2017 and is currently a Research Assistant in the Child Physical Activity, Health and Development team. This team works to uncover the best environments, policies, and programs to facilitate physically active lifestyles for lifelong health and wellbeing.
Emma works on the PLAYCE Policy Project (Play Active), which is a pragmatic randomised controlled trial to implement and evaluate a Physical Activity policy specific for early childhood education and care settings.
Emma has also worked with the Life Course Centre and Alcohol and Pregnancy teams at the Telethon Kids Institute. Prior to this, Emma worked as a Research and Evaluation Officer at Diabetes WA and a Research Assistant at Curtin University.
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Publications
January 2024
Longitudinal effects of dog ownership, dog acquisition, and dog loss on children’s movement behaviours: findings from the PLAYCE cohort study
Regular physical activity is important for children's physical and mental health, yet many children do not achieve recommended amounts of physical activity. Dog ownership has been associated with increased physical activity in children, however, there have been no longitudinal studies examining this relationship.
Published research Child Physical Activity, Health and Development Physical activityApril 2023Play Active physical activity policy intervention and implementation support in early childhood education and care: results from a pragmatic cluster randomised trial
Policy interventions to increase physical activity in early childhood education and care (ECEC) services are effective in increasing physical activity among young children. However, a large proportion of ECEC services do not have nor implement a physical activity policy.
Published research Early Childhood Development Child Physical Activity, Health and Development Food and Nutrition Kids Rehab Research WAMarch 2022Transfers of disadvantage across three generations using latent class associations within families
There is a large volume of research on the persistence of advantage and disadvantage across generations. Intergenerational studies typically address family resources as independent factors, which ignores how risks cluster together and accumulate over time.
Published research Human Development and Community WellbeingFebruary 2022Evaluating the effectiveness of the Play Active policy intervention and implementation support in early childhood education and care: a pragmatic cluster randomised trial protocol
Daily physical activity is critical during the early years of life for facilitating children's health and development. A large proportion of preschool children do not achieve the recommended 3 h of daily physical activity. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services are a key setting to intervene to increase physical activity. There is a significant need for ECEC specific physical activity policy, including clearer guidelines on the amount of physical activity children should do during care, and strategies for implementation of these guidelines.
Published research Early Childhood Development Human Development and Community Wellbeing Playgroups Bacterial Respiratory Infectious Disease Group Child Physical Activity, Health and Development Food and NutritionMarch 2020RE-AIM evaluation of a teacher-delivered programme to improve the self-regulation of children attending Australian Aboriginal community primary schools
Benefits in teaching the Alert Program® to students in a region with high reported rates of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and self-regulation impairment
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Published research Human Development and Community Wellbeing Alcohol and Pregnancy and FASD Research Group A Streptococcal & Rheumatic Heart DiseaseOctober 2019Overcoming the challenges of caring for a child with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder: a Pilbara community perspective
The caregivers in this study have gained valuable knowledge and wisdom through caring for a child with FASD
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Published research Alcohol and Pregnancy and FASD ResearchMarch 2019Improving self-regulation and executive functioning skills in primary school children in a remote Australian Aboriginal community: A pilot study of the Alert Program®
This community partnered pilot research, evaluated a school-based program to reduce the behavioral impact of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Published research Human Development and Community Wellbeing Alcohol and Pregnancy and FASD Research -
Education and Qualifications