14/01/2026
Our research is having an impact! Scientists at The Kids, in collaboration with Perth Children’s Hospital, are joining the dots to keep children with cerebral palsy (CP) healthier and out of hospital.
Respiratory disease is the biggest cause of unplanned hospitalisations and premature death for children with CP. But for decades, no research had focused on prevention.
Our researchers decided they needed to do something. They identified nine risk factors for respiratory illness; then created RESP-ACT, a model of care to identify at-risk children and provide individualised care plans for families.
For one of those families – Stacy and Luc Tasker and their son Nathan, 5 – it’s been a game-changer.
“The RESP-ACT team gave us a flow chart specific to Nathan showing ‘this is when things are okay, this is when you should seek medical help’. It has given us confidence to know when Nathan is ill enough that we need support,” Luc said.
Read more in our latest Impact Report - link in our bio.
Perth Children's Hospital and Health Service. This work has been supported by WA Health Networks, Non-Government Centre Support, Ability Centre, WA Health Research Translation Projects funding, and the WA Child Research Fund.
Photo: Luc Tasker with Nathan and Dr Noula Gibson. Photo courtesy of The West Australian.
