A big congratulations to Dr Russell Pearson who has been asked to present a 15 minute paper presentation at the 2015 PHCRIS conference on his research project:

No nursing homes: General Practitioner attitudes to residential aged care facility visiting.

Project Investigators: Dr Russell Pearson, Professor Andrew Bonney, Dr Judy Mullan, Dr Eniko Ujvary, Miss Bridget Dijkmans-Hadley

ISPRN has also been successful in having two posters accepted for presentation at the conference:

Area level socioeconomic disadvantage and diabetes control in the SIMLR study cohort: implications for health service planning.

Project Investigators: Professor Andrew Bonney, Mr Abhijeet Ghosh, Professor Peter  Caputi, Dr Kath Weston, Mr Darren Mayne, Dr Chris Magee

Panning for Gold: unearthing reliable variables for electronic medical data research

Project Investigators: Dr Adam Hodgkins, Dr Stephen Barnett, Miss Bridget Dijkmans-Hadley, Mr Abhijeet Ghosh, Dr Chris Harrison, Dr Joan Henderson, Mrs Alyssa Munkman.

Congratulations to our ISPRN researchers on this success.

Alyssa Munkman
ISPRN Co-ordinator

Dear ISPRN Members,

Please find information below from CareTrack Australia:

We are seeking general practitioners with an interest and experience in a range of paediatric conditions to participate in an online national survey (wiki). This approach will be used to edit (add, modify, or delete) proposed condition-specific clinical indicators. The clinical experts will conduct their reviews over two rounds, with support from the wiki site administrator and a nominated clinical champion.

If you are able to assist we have a range of marketing materials which have been included which we can modify according to your requirements

• Wiki Expert Clinician Information sheet (i.e. could be used to email out to members)
• Short expression of interest (100/200/250 words for newsletters, websites, emails)

CareTrack Kids is an NHMRC Partnership Grant, awarded to researchers at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation (AIHI) at Macquarie University who are partnered with the University of South Australia, Bupa Health Foundation, Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (SCHN), NSW Kids and Families, Children’s Health Queensland, the South Australian Department of Health, and the NSW Clinical Excellence Commission. The research is also supported by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. The Chief Investigators leading the research are Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite (AIHI), Professor Adam Jaffe (UNSW, SCHN), Professor Les White (NSW Kids and Families, SCHN, UNSW), Professor Christopher Cowell (SCHN), and Professor Mark Harris (Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, UNSW). Human Research Ethics Committee approval has been obtained from Macquarie University (Ref: 5201401120).

The project which will establish a nationally agreed set of clinical indicators and identify the gaps in “appropriate” care delivered to children at a population level for the first time in Australia. This will allow medical colleges and governments to set priorities for and undertake targeted health system improvements. The proposed clinical indicators have been developed from national and international clinical practice guidelines, and reviewed by consensus panels. The conditions include acute abdominal pain, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, acute bronchiolitis, acute gastroenteritis, anxiety/depression, asthma, autism, croup, diabetes, eczema, fever, gastro – oesophageal reflux disease, head injury, obesity, otitis media, preventive care, seizures (status epilepticus), tonsillitis, upper respiratory tract infection and urinary tract infection.

For further information about the study please do not hesitate to contact me, Dr Louise Wiles (CTK Technical Manager T: (08) 8302 1210, E: louise.wiles@mq.edu.au), Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite (Chief Investigator T: (02) 9850 2401, E: Jeffrey.braithwaite@mq.edu.au) or the website http://aihi.mq.edu.au/project/caretrack-kids

Kind regards

Tamara Hooper
CareTrack Australia Project Manager
08 8302 1004
Tamara.hooper@unisa.edu.au

Marketing 250 words GP Wiki Expert Clinician Information Sheet GPs

IMPACT CRE is seeking applicants for the ‘Leon Piterman, AM PhD Scholarship in Primary Health Care’, a 3 year PhD, supported by Monash University Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences.

Getting access to primary health care is important for everyone, but not everyone can find care that matches their needs. Gaps in equitable primary care particularly affect vulnerable groups such as people on low incomes, refugees and indigenous communities. As a consequence, poor access to health care translates into unmet needs, delayed or inappropriate treatments and avoidable emergency department admissions. The “Innovative Models Promoting Access-to-Care Transformation” (IMPACT) Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) is a collaboration between researchers, policy makers and clinicians in Australia and Canada that aims to generate organisational innovations to promote access to primary health care for vulnerable populations.

The successful candidate will pursue a topic of their own interest whilst receiving strong support from an international research team. We encourage you to visit http://www.impactresearchprogram.com/ for more information about the research program. Example study areas:

1. International comparison of primary health care systems and appropriate access care (survey analysis).
2. National comparison of how three health systems identify and prioritise access-related need in their region (mixed methods case study) The Principal Supervisor is Professor Grant Russell and a second Monash University academic with relevant expertise will be identified. External co-supervision is also possible.

The project will be undertaken within the Southern Academic Primary Care Research Unit at Monash University (Dandenong).

A stipend will be paid at the APA equivalent rate of $25,849 per annum (2015 rate). An additional annual amount of $10,000 is available each year; $5000 will be allocated as a salary top-up and $5000 will be allocated to research costs and capacity building. The total stipend is tax-free.

Please contact IMPACT’s National Project Manager Jennifer.Hester@monash.edu<mailto:Jennifer.Hester@monash.edu> for more details.

Jennifer Hester

National Research Project Manager (Australia), IMPACT Southern Academic Primary Care Research Unit, Monash University

p:+61 3 990 56824 (Mon, Weds-Fri)<tel:+61+3+990+56824+(Mon,+Weds-Fri)> | e:Jennifer.Hester@monash.edu<mailto:Jennifer.Hester@monash.edu> | w:www.impactresearchprogram.com/<http://www.impactresearchprogram.com/> a: 314A Thomas St, Dandenong, Victoria, 3175. Australia

Dear ISPRNers,

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Judy Mullan as the Deputy Director of ISPRN.

Judy has been an enthusiastic member of ISPRN since its inception in 2011 and has been involved in numerous projects. Judy will be actively involved in providing academic support and guidance for ISPRN projects as a key focus of her role. Her main strengths will be assisting with qualitative research and support with drafting research publications. Over the coming months, Judy will be gradually involving herself in each of our ISPRN projects.

Dr Judy Mullan (PhD, FSHPA, BA, BPharm) is the Academic Leader: Research and Critical Appraisal and Senior Lecturer in Population Health within the University of Wollongong, Graduate School of Medicine. She has completed a PhD in Public Health, a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree, a Fellowship in Hospital Pharmacy and a Bachelor of Arts degree. Her academic experiences include teaching, supervising and mentoring both undergraduate and postgraduate medical and health students.

She has collaborated on research projects with multiple national and international universities and has been successful in procuring over $2.75 million of research funding. To date, she has published three book chapters (one currently in press), contributed to the publication of over 40 peer reviewed journal articles and delivered over 70 national/international conference presentations. Judy also has extensive experience as a pharmacist having worked as a hospital, community and an accredited consultant pharmacist for over 30 years.

Her research areas of interest include: • health literacy; • medication compliance; • quality use of medicines; • aged care research; • warfarin education and management; • health professional/patient education and communication. We are very fortunate to have an academic the calibre of Judy taking up this important role.

Please join me in congratulating her on her appointment.

Professor Andrew Bonney
ISPRN Director