Dr Bridget Abell

Faculty of Health,
School of Public Health & Social Work
Biography
Bridget initially qualified with an undergraduate degree in Exercise Science from the University of Queensland and spent 7 years working clinically as a Cardiac Physiologist in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease across the private and public health care sectors in Australia and the United Kingdom. Since then she has also developed a strong skill set in health and medical research having completed a Master’s Degree in Clinical Epidemiology at University College London, and having worked for several years as a research assistant across a variety of health disciplines. Most recently she has been able to combine her professional experience with her passion for research, having completed her PhD examining exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation with the Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice at Bond University. She now has expanded her scope of interest to join AusHSI as a Research Fellow in Health Services Research and Implementation Science.Research Interests and HDR Supervision
My research interests fall into three broad categories:
1. Evidence-based practice
Given my clinical background and experience I really enjoy conducting projects which aim to better translate research evidence into clinical practice. This part of my research is often methodological in approach and broadly applicable across many disciplines - for example, improving the reporting of exercise interventions so that they are able to be used in practice, or exploring the nature and quality of clinical guidelines. I have also more recently taken an interest in health services research which aims to highlight evidence to inform policy and practice, as well as improve the cost and accessibility of healthcare.
Examples of research:
- Abell, Bridget, Glasziou, Paul, & Hoffmann, Tammy (2017) Exploration of the methodological quality and clinical usefulness of a cross-sectional sample of published guidance about exercise training and physical activity for the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease. BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, 17(1).
- Abell, Bridget, Glasziou, Paul, & Hoffmann, Tammy (2015) Reporting and replicating trials of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation: Do we know what the researchers actually did?Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, 8(2), pp. 187-194.
2. Exercise training for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease
My research in this area has been more directly focused on the clinical application of exercise training and its outcomes for patients with coronary heart disease. It has involved evaluating the effectiveness of exercise components via meta-regression, and conducting a survey of current clinical practices.
Examples of research:
- Abell, Bridget, Glasziou, Paul, Briffa, Tom, & Hoffmann, Tammy (2016) Exercise training characteristics in cardiac rehabilitation programmes: A cross-sectional survey of Australian practice. Open Heart, 3(1), Article number-e000374.
- Abell, Bridget, Glasziou, Paul, & Hoffmann, Tammy (2017) The contribution of individual exercise training components to clinical outcomes in randomised controlled trials of cardiac rehabilitation: A systematic review and meta-regression. Sports Medicine - Open, 3(1).
2. Implementation Science in health
Implementation science refers to “the scientific study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of research findings and other EBPs into routine practice, and, hence, to improve the quality and effectiveness of health services.” This type of research uses qualitative and quantitative methods to plan, implement and evaluate health service change.
While I have the greatest skills, knowledge and interest in these three areas, I am more than happy to supervise HDR research projects that relate to any of these areas of research practice e.g exercise training for other chronic diseases, evidence-based practice in other fields.
Personal details
Positions
- Research Fellow
Faculty of Health,
School of Public Health & Social Work- Kelvin Grove Q Block Membership
Institute of Health Biomedical Innovation (IHBI),
IHBI Health Projects - Kelvin Grove Q Block Membership
Keywords
health services research, implementation science, cardiac rehabilitation, evidence-based practice, exercise as medicine, clinical epidemiology
Discipline
Other Medical and Health Sciences, Public Health and Health Services
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (Bond University)
Professional memberships and associations
- President - Australian Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation Association (Queensland)
Teaching
- introductory statistics for medicine
- designing a research question
- different study types
- experimental vs observational research
- hypothesis testing
- confounding and bias
- logistic regression
- introduction to qualitative research
- critical appraisal
I have additionally been a facilitator of small group learning at regular workshops run for staff, students and researchers covering a variety of topics related to Evidence-Based Practice and Systematic Reviews.
Training Courses Attended:
- Practical Foundations at Bond (Bond University, May 2016): one-day workshop of practical teaching and learning basics including classroom 101, planning and delivering assessment, student feedback, teaching challenges, creating teaching portfolios and teaching philosophy
- Training the next generation of ‘Evidence Creators’ and ‘Evidence Consumers’ (Evidence Live Conference, Oxford, June 2016): Tips and tricks for curriculum development and teaching practice in Evidence-Based Medicine
Selected publications
- Walsh T, Merlo G, Rutter C, Abell B, Platt S, Arnold J, (2022) Cost-effectiveness of interventions for musculoskeletal foot and ankle conditions: A systematic review, Arthritis Care & Research, 74 (4), pp. 626-637.
- Abell B, Zecchin R, Gallagher R, (2019) Making sense of the unfavourable systematic review of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation in the modern era: How should we proceed? (Editorial), Heart, Lung and Circulation, 28 (2), pp. 204-206.
- Bennett S, Abell B, Bennett J, Bogossian F, Ee C, Jennings P, Nissen L, Nund R, Williams C, (2017) Understanding evidence from qualitative research: examples of assessment quality (critical appraisal) from different health professions, Evidence-based practice across the health professions, 3rd Edition, pp. 248-291.
- Abell B, Glasziou P, Hoffmann T, (2017) Exploration of the methodological quality and clinical usefulness of a cross-sectional sample of published guidance about exercise training and physical activity for the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease, BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, 17, pp. 1-10.
- Thomas R, Abell B, Webb H, Avdagic E, Zimmer-Gembeck M, (2017) Parent-child interaction therapy: A meta-analysis, Pediatrics, 140 (3), pp. 1-15.
- Abell B, Glasziou P, Hoffmann T, (2017) The contribution of individual exercise training components to clinical outcomes in randomised controlled trials of cardiac rehabilitation: A systematic review and meta-regression, Sports Medicine - Open, 3, pp. 1-31.
- Abell B, Glasziou P, Briffa T, Hoffmann T, (2016) Exercise training characteristics in cardiac rehabilitation programmes: a cross-sectional survey of Australian practice, Open Heart, 3 (1), pp. 1-9.
- Abell B, Glasziou P, Hoffmann T, (2015) Reporting and replicating trials of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation: Do we know what the researchers actually did?, Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, 8 (2), pp. 187-194.
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Bridget, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Other
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- President of the Australian Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation Association- Queensland (October 2016- present)
- Type
- Committee Role/Editor or Chair of an Academic Conference
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Scientific Committee Chair for the 2018 Australian Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation Association Conference
- Type
- Reviewer for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- Conduct regular peer review of publications submitted to:-Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes-British Journal of Sports Medicine
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2015
- Details
- Awarded the "Best Poster" during the moderated poster sessions at the Australian Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation Association Conference, Melbourne, 2015 for the poster: "International guidance for prescribing exercise in cardiac rehabilitation: complementary or contradictory?"
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2014
- Details
- Winner of Bond University 3-Minute Thesis Competition 2014
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2014
- Details
- Awarded both the "People's Choice Award" and the "Best Exercise and Physical Activity Paper" at the Australian Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation Association Conference, Sydney, 2014 for the Oral Presentation: "Reducing mortality with exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation: Is it what patients do or how well they stick with it?"
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2012
- Details
- Awarded the "Best Exercise and Physical Activity Paper" at the Australian Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation Association Conference, Brisbane, 2012 for the oral Presentation: "Actiwave Cardio: the feasibility and validation of an innovative new ambulatory monitoring device:
Research projects
- Title
- CHD LIFE+ Family-Centred Care Models Supporting Long-Term Neurodevelopment
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 00004917.0
- Start year
- 2020
- Keywords
- Title
- Value for money in cardiac rehabilitation: economic evaluation of different models of care
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 1182301
- Start year
- 2021
- Keywords
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Informing Clinical Pathway Change in Queensland for Children with Congenital Heart Disease: primary-care physician and patient experience
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Steven McPhail - Engaging with clinicians to identify and reduce unwarranted clinical variation
MPhil, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Steven McPhail - The value of Implementation Science in Implementing Computerised Clinical Decision Support Systems in hospital settings
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Steven McPhail, Dr Zephanie Tyack - Methods for costing the implementation of digital health innovations
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Hannah Carter, Professor Steven McPhail