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

Dear ISPRNers,

I am writing to inform you that the following grants are now open:

HEART FOUNDATION GRANTS – NOW OPEN

Future Leader Fellowships

Closing date: Wednesday 15 April 2015 Intending applicants should advise Sharon Clarke clarke@uow.edu.au and provide a draft for review at least 2 weeks before the scheme closing date. The purpose of Future Leader Fellowships is to provide support to researchers to develop as independent researchers and become leaders of cardiovascular research groups. Two levels of Future Leader Fellowships will be offered: Level 1: For researchers three to less than seven years post awarding of their PhD on the application closing date. Level 2: For researchers seven to less than ten years post awarding of their PhD on the application closing date.

read more

Postdoctoral Fellowships

Closing date: Friday 24 April 2015 Intending applicants should advise Sharon Clarke clarke@uow.edu.au and provide a draft for review at least 2 weeks before the scheme closing date.

Available to PhD graduates less than three years post awarding of their PhD on the application closing date. This award helps promising early career cardiovascular researchers further develop research skills and become more competitive for future funding.

read more

Vanguard Grants

Closing date: Friday 1 May 2015 Intending applicant should advise Sharon Clarke clarke@uow.edu.au and provide a draft for review by Monday 20 April.

Vanguard Grants will provide funding to test the feasibility of innovative concepts in public health and/or health services (including clinical service delivery) which may lead to larger rigorous studies in the future.

Funding is available to researchers with an adequate research track record and a concept study with the potential to improve cardiovascular health in the short term.

Eligibility criteria: Open to all cardiovascular researchers (Note: This award does not fund basic clinical or biomedical research)

Duration: 1 year Value: Up to $75,000

read more

Family Medical Care Education and Research Grant

The Family Medical Care Education and Research (FMCER) grants have been offered by the RACGP since 1980. The aim of the grant is to encourage and support general practitioners in the early stages of their research career to conduct research into an aspect of primary health care. The objective of the grant is to advance education in, and research into, medical knowledge and science.

Award Details

The Family Medical Care Education and Research (FMCER) grants are available for a 12 month period to provide new and emerging GP researchers with an opportunity to conduct research. Funding of up to $20,000 (excluding GST) is available for research that benefits primary health care. Two grants are available.

Eligibility

To be eligible for an FMCER grant, the Principal Investigator must be:

• a general practitioner or general practice registrar; and
• a member of the RACGP; and
• an early career researcher.

Additionally, the project must relate directly to general practice.

Selection criteria

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

• training potential for applicants 20%
• scientific quality of the proposed research project 30%
• significance and either originality or innovation 20%
• feasibility of carrying out and completing the research in a one-year timeframe 10%
• value for money 10%
• potential to build capacity in general practice research 10%

Applications close 11 May 2015, 5.00 pm, AEST

http://foundation.racgp.org.au/information/familymedicalcare/

RACGP Chris Silagy Research Scholarship

This scholarship is named in honour of Professor Christopher Allen Silagy, AO MBBS PhD FRACGP FAFPHM. At the age of 31 Chris was awarded a PhD by Monash University for his research into the prevention of cardiovascular disease in the elderly. The same year he received the Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Scholarship in Medicine; the first general practitioner to ever receive this prestigious award. Chris worked in the Department of Public Health & Primary Care at the University of Oxford for two years, during which time he became involved with the Cochrane Collaboration, dedicated to the development of evidence-based medicine.

At the age of 32, Chris was appointed as Foundation Professor of General Practice and Head of the Department of Evidence-Based Care and General Practice at Flinders University. He was also appointed inaugural Director of the Australasian Cochrane Centre and was chair of the International Steering Group of the Cochrane Collaboration from 1996 to 1998. He was subsequently appointed as Professor of Public Health and Foundation Director of the Monash Institute of Health Services Research, and as chair of the Board of the National Institute of Clinical Studies. In 1998 he received the Rose Hunt Medal from the RACGP for his exceptional contribution to Australian general practice.

In the 2000 Queen’s Birthday honours list, at the age of 39, Chris was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to medicine, particularly in the areas of research and education, and in developments in the field of evidence-based medicine. He had a distinguished career as a GP and medical researcher and was a key international figure in the discipline of evidence-based medicine.

Award Details

The Chris Silagy Research Scholarship is designed to support a 12 month research project into an aspect of evidence-based primary health care by a general practitioner researcher. The scholarship is to the value of $15,000 (excluding GST) which includes a return economy airfare for the recipient to either attend a meeting of the Cochrane Collaboration, or visit a Cochrane Research Centre during the year of the scholarship.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Chris Silagy Research Scholarship, the Principal Investigator must be:

• a general practitioner or general practice registrar; and
• a member of the RACGP; and
• currently undertaking a higher degree (Masters, PhD, MD) or have completed such a course in the past five years.

Selection criteria

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

• training potential for applicants 20%
• scientific quality of the proposed research project 30%
• significance to an aspect of evidence-based primary health and either originality or innovation 20%
• feasibility of carrying out and completing the research in a one-year timeframe 10%
• value for money 10%
• potential to build capacity in general practice research 10%

Applications close 11 May 2015, 5.00 pm, AEST

http://foundation.racgp.org.au/information/chrissilagy/

Kind Regards

Alyssa Munkman
Illawarra and Southern Practice Research Co-ordinator
Assistant to Roberta Williams Chair of General Practice, Professor Andrew Bonney
Graduate School of Medicine | Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health | Level 1, Building 28
University of Wollongong NSW 2522 AustraliaT +61 2 4221 5819 | F +61 2 4221 4341 |

Dear ISPRNers,

Please find a link below to a research article written by ISPRN members A/Prof Karen Charlton and A/Prof Karen Walton.

http://theconversation.com/starvation-in-the-land-of-plenty-why-australians-are-malnourished-27640

Kind Regards

Alyssa Munkman
ISPRN Co-ordinator

Dear ISPRNers,

We now have the results of the project “Weighing in general practice- does it have an impact on weight management”?

The researchers involved in this project were: Dr Duncan Mackinnon, Prof Andrew Bonney, Mr Darren Mayne, Dr Stephen Barnett and Ms Bridget Dijkmans-Hadley.

Please see the link below for the results.

9149_ISPRN-13Jan-poster_FA

Please feel free to contact me if you have any queries with regards to this project or any other ISPRN related matters.

Kind Regards

Alyssa Munkman
ISPRN Co-ordinator

Congratulations to the four following researchers who were awarded ISPRN project grants for 2015. These grants have been kindly funded by Grand Pacific Health.

Dr Dora von Conrady, Huon Valley Health Centre

Project Title: Do health literacy levels affect the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in rural Australian communities?

The aims of this project are to assess the rates of CAM usage in a rural Australian population and assess whether there is a correlation between CAM use and health literacy levels. A pilot study has already been completed in a single rural practice in Tasmania and preliminary results are indicating certain trends that warrant investigation on a larger scale. This area has not been studied in a rural Australian population.

Dr Dora von Conrady will be recruiting ten general practices to distribute 100 surveys to patients, to ascertain whether there is a correlation between CAM use and health literacy levels.

Interested in getting involved?

If you are interested in involving your practice please contact ISPRN co-ordinator Alyssa Munkman on (02) 42215819 or amunkman@uow.edu.au

Dr Munther Zureigat, Milton Medical Centre

Project title: Rural GP referral process for Isotretinoin treatment in moderate to severe acne.

Acne Vulgaris is one of the most common Dermatological presentations in General practice. Acne Scarring is a known major consequence of late referrals for Isotretinoin treatment which is a drug that can only be prescribed by Dermatologists in moderate to severe acne. This has been shown to be very effective in preventing scarring if started at the optimal time. Acne scarring has a long term psychological impact on patients, mainly adolescents and is strongly related to poor body image, depression, and possibly suicide. The project will be looking into the barriers and facilitators for optimal GP to Dermatologist referral for Isotretinoin treatment in regional and rural areas. This research could provide a good assessment of the competency level of dealing with a very common dermatological problem and hopefully identify the barriers Rural GPs face in the management of this common presentation.

Dr Zureigat will be interviewing 20-25 GPs to ascertain the barriers and facilitators for optimal GP to Dermatologist referral for Isotretinoin treatment in regional and rural areas.

Interested in getting involved?

If you are a GP and are interested in participating in a telephone interview please contact ISPRN co-ordinator Alyssa Munkman on (02) 42215819 or amunkman@uow.edu.au

Dr Stephen Barnett/Dr Adam Hodgkins, Bowral Street Medical Practice/Junction Street Medical Practice

Project Title: Demonstrating the value of raw clinical Electronic Medical Data for primary care research: a benchmarking study on chronic disease prevalence in primary care.

Electronic Medical Data is a potentially powerful source of primary care research data which is under-utilised. The reasons for this are concerns about data validity and process and technical issues regarding access to this data. This study builds on the recent EMD project benchmarking GP EMD data against BEACH data. The pilot benchmarking study demonstrated a valid approach to accessing electronic medical data from GP databases (Best Practices), showing a high concordance between 6 ISPRN practices and the BEACH dataset for patient encounters, demographics and total prescription data.

The 6 ISPRN practices that participated in the first phase will be benchmarked against the BEACH dataset for the prevalence of chronic disease in primary care.

Interested in getting involved?

If you are interested in getting your practice involved with this project please contact ISPRN co-ordinator Alyssa Munkman on (02) 42215819 or amunkman@uow.edu.au

Ms Elizabeth Lyons, Connections Private Psychology Practice

Project title: Stage 2: The Trialling for General Practice of the Major Depression PDA

Stage one of this project has involved the development of a patient decision aid for major depression.

The second stage of this project will involve trialling the patient decision aid in three patient focus groups and incorporating feedback back in to the decision aid. The project will explore whether, when used within a shared decision-making framework, the depression decision aid may increase patient expectations of treatment adherence and depression recovery, by increasing the congruence between patients’ values, beliefs and expectations, the strength of their treatment preferences and the treatment option/s provided.

Interested in getting involved?

If you are interested in involving your patients in a patient focus group please contact ISPRN co-ordinator Alyssa Munkman on (02) 42215819 or amunkman@uow.edu.au

Dear Isprners –

Exciting news! One of our ISPRN projects has just been published in BMC Family Practice. This project headed up by A/Prof Karen Charlton and undertaken in three of our ISPRN practices looked at the feasibility of malnutrition screening in elderly patients. Please follow the link to the article. Congratulations to all of the researchers and practices involved.

BMCFamilypracticeAliza2014

Prof Andrew Bonney