Hello,
My name is Dr Karen Walton.
Today I write to introduce a new research study that involves collaboration between the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (IHMRI), the Illawarra Shoalhaven Medicare Local and the University of Wollongong. The study is titled, ‘Engaging General Practitioners to improve health service delivery to older patients: an action-based research project’.

This study is funded by IHMRI and has three phases. The first phase involves a qualitative, exploratory study to better understand the context that general practice staff work within and to identify barriers and opportunities to nutrition screening in older patients. Recruitment of General Practice staff members is currently underway at the three General Practice settings involved in this first phase of the study.

The research team includes: Dr Andrew Dalley, Associate Professor Karen Charlton, Professor Jan Potter, Dr Karen Walton, Mariana Milosavljevic, Dr George Albert, Dr Adam Hodgkins, Dr Andrew Bonney and Aliza Hamirudin.

Regular updates will be provided once the exploratory interviews have started.

Three members of the research team –Dr Karen Walton, Aliza Hamirudin (Dietitian & PhD student) and A/Prof. Karen Charlton

ISPRN would like to ask if there are any interested practices who would like to participate in the following project which is being conducted by Prof Andrew Bonney, Prof Sandra Jones and Lyn Phillipson in the Centre for Health Initiatives.

Project Details

The project aims to develop resources to improve older patient interactions with general practice registrars (GPRs).

The research will involve construction and target group testing of the following practice and patient resources:

a) Three, A4-size, dot-point recommendation sheets for practice change to improve older patient acceptance of GPRs. The sheets will be individualised for practice staff (x1), GPs (x1) and GPRs (x1).

b)  Waiting room posters promoting general practice, GP training and the role of GPRs, along with templates for posters introducing new GPRs to patients.

Benefits of the project

The findings of this research will help to improve older patient interactions with GPRs. This is significant because previous research has demonstrated a significant reluctance by older patients to consult GPRs for chronic problems. This is likely to have a detrimental impact on current training in chronic disease management. However, as the population ages and the incidence of chronic illness increases, this reluctance will pose a major impediment to appropriate clinical exposure for GPRs.

If you are interested in this project and would like further information to be emailed/mailed to you, please let Bridget know.

You can also click here to access the participant information sheet.

Email: bdh@uow.edu.au
Phone: (02) 42215958