A collaboration between the University of Wollongong, Monash University and the University of Tasmania has been successful in securing funding from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners to run a trial investigating the Effectiveness of Quality Incentive Payments in General Practice. The project is known as the EQuIP-GP. More information can be found on the trial’s website:
Kind Regards
Alyssa Horgan
Research Officer
Dear all
Some of you may be aware that ISPRN are involved in a randomised control trial in collaboration with UTAS and Monash.
The team are undertaking a project titled “EQUIP-GP” which aims to ascertain whether longer patient consultations improves patient outcomes.
The team have just had an abstract accepted at GP18. They will also be participating in a plenary session at PHCRIS themed around “RACGP Quality Enhanced General Practice Services Trials”. Professor Bonney will be discussing the Equip GP project on behalf of the team.
You can find out further information about the Equip GP trial here:
https://equipgp.uow.edu.au/index.html
If you have any queries please feel free to contact me.
Alyssa Horgan
Research Officer
amunkman@uow.edu.au
Dear ISPRN members,
Please find article below that featured in the Illawarra Mercury yesterday, discussing the launch of a new ISPRN research project which is investigating a non-surgical approach to hip and knee osteoarthritis.
A University of Wollongong trial may help osteoarthritis patients delay hip or knee replacements, or even skip them altogether.
The six-month study will test whether a non-surgical approach – combining general practice care with a tailored diet and exercise program – can be just as effective.
There’s much research to suggest it can, but UOW team leader Professor Andrew Bonney is keen to translate the theory into practice.
Two general practices have signed up to conduct the trial, and researchers are currently looking for patients to take part.
“There’s very good evidence that many patients living with hip and knee osteoarthritis benefit from conservative management like weight loss and muscle strengthening,” Prof Bonney said.
“It suggests that some patients might even be able to delay or avoid surgery because of these types of interventions. So we want to translate that evidence into practice.”
The team will use a “case-conferencing model” whereby a multi-disciplinary team including a GP, nurse, exercise physiologist and dietitian work together to help the patient follow a tailored plan.
Prof Bonney said if the trial, supported by Peoplecare, proved successful it could be expanded to other general practices.
“The immediate benefit is that patients might not need to endure the risk, pain, rehabilitation – and cost – associated with having surgery,” he said. “And there’s the ongoing benefits of improving overall health. It’s win-win.”
Prof Bonney said it could also reduce the financial strain on the health system. For instance, in 2016 nearly 100,000 Australians received joint replacements to treat osteoarthritis of the hip or knee at an estimated cost of more than $2 billion.
“There’s a lot of health funding going into joint replacements, but very little funding around prevention,” he said. “So if this proves effective it provides some incentive to policy makers around the way health services are funded.”
The UOW research team also includes exercise scientist Dr Deirdre McGhee, and dietician Associate Professor Karen Charlton.
If you have any queries please dont hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards
Alyssa Horgan
amunkman@uow.edu.au
Hello,
We are looking for some assistance to pay someone to write a short step by step guide on how to run a search in Best Practice and Medical Director.
Obviously most people are only likely to be proficient in one software which is fine. We are happy to hire one or two people. We are anticipating the task would only take a day to write.
We are looking to have this done as soon as possible.
If you are able to assist, or have a practice manager or practice nurse who may be able to help please touch base with me.
Kind Regards
Alyssa Horgan
amunkman@uow.edu.au
4221 5819
Professor Liz Halcomb to be honoured for primary care nursing and mixed methods research
University of Wollongong (UOW) and Illawarra Health and Medical Institute (IHMRI) researcher Professor Liz Halcomb will be inducted into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Melbourne in July.
Professor Halcomb, Inaugural Professor of Primary Health Care Nursing at UOW’s School of Nursing, is the only Australian and one of 20 honourees selected from around the globe to receive the honour.
Created in 2010 by the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (Sigma), the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Famerecognises nurse researchers who have achieved significant and sustained national or international recognition and whose research has improved the profession and the people it serves.
“Each of these Hall of Fame honourees represents a lifetime of contribution to the nursing profession,” Sigma President Beth Baldwin Tigges said.
Professor Halcomb was chosen for her world-class research on primary care nursing, the positive influence it has had on policy and on the health outcomes of consumers, and for her work in mixed methods research and mentoring of students and early career researchers.
“It’s exciting to get international recognition because while you know the work you do is meaningful at a local level, this shows that what you’re doing is meaningful on a larger scale,” Professor Halcomb said.
“It means the work has been recognised as high quality and for making a difference to nursing and health care.”
Professor Halcomb comes from a family of nurses and has two sisters who are nurses. But while they were hospital trained, she was the first in her family to study at university, completing her Bachelor of Nursing in 1995. After working as a clinical nurse for 10 years, she returned to university to study for a PhD and found she had an affinity for research.
“When I did my PhD there weren’t many nurses in primary care, so I was fortunate enough to start a PhD in that area at the boom time,” she said.
“Between starting my PhD in 2003 and now the number of nurses working in general practice has grown from around 2,000 to more than 12,000, so it’s really taken off.”
One of the major themes of Professor Halcomb’s research is the primary care nursing workforce and the roles that nurses in primary care undertake.
“Because nurses haven’t worked in Australian primary care for very long we need to establish what they can do – and that they can do more than just take a blood pressure or complete set tasks for the doctor,” she says.
“It’s really important to make sure nurses are working to the full extent of the nursing scope of practice. If they’re not doing as much as they can, they’re less likely to be happy in their jobs and the patients aren’t going to get the best outcomes.”
Professor Halcomb has led a number of major national studies around the nursing workforce in Australian general practice.
“Mapping which nurses are in primary care, what their role is, what their needs are, how satisfied they are in their work and with their conditions has been a key contribution I have made,” Professor Halcomb said.
The other major focus of Professor Halcomb’s primary care research is on chronic disease management and lifestyle risk reduction.
“That involves looking at how we can keep people healthier longer; how we can keep them at home, keep them well, reduce their lifestyle risk factors and reduce the onset of chronic disease, as well as how we can manage chronic disease better in the community.”
Professor Halcomb was also recognised for her expertise in mixed methods research. This methodological approach involves the integration of statistical and text data to develop deeper insight into a research problem.
“While a growing number of nurses are using mixed methods to address complex research problems, I have been involved in exploring a range of issues around the methodology and how this approach can be effectively implemented in nursing research,” Professor Halcomb said.
Perhaps the contribution to nursing research that Professor Halcomb is most proud of is the role she has played in mentoring other researchers.
“I really love working with PhD students and early career researchers; they are our future and we need to invest in them and make sure they are well supported,” she said.
“It’s great to be able to develop a cohort of students all working in the private care area. We encourage them to network and to work together and learn from each other. Learning to work as part of a team is an important part of the PhD, as well as doing their own projects and developing their own academic skills.
“One of the differences about the primary care research we do here in the School of Nursing is that it is nurse led. There’s a lot of research about primary care nurses that is undertaken by doctors, so having nurses developing nursing research is an important step in building research capacity within our profession.”
Sigma will induct 20 nurse researchers into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame at its 29th International Nursing Research Congress in Melbourne, Australia, July 10 to 23.
2018 RACGP Foundation Grants are now open
The 2018 RACGP Foundation general practice research grants and awards are now open. Up to half a million dollars in grant funding is available to GPs and general practice registrars. The RACGP Foundation is committed to continuous improvement in all areas of general practice through high quality, original research. We support research that can be implemented on the Frontline, from researcher to GP to patient.
Online applications will close Monday 7 May 2017.
Grant and award details are available on the RACGP Foundation website: http://foundation.racgp.org.au/grants
For further information contact the RACGP Foundation team at research@racgp.org.au or phone 03 8699 0497.
The following research grants are available:
Please forward any enquiries to the RACGP Foundation team via email or telephone.
Thank you,
Kind Regards,
Helena Koutroupis
RACGP Foundation & Research Administrator
RACGP Products
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
100 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne, VIC 3002
T 03 8699 0497
Our team have begun piloting an electronic reminder system in primary care to improve cardiometabolic screening for patients with serious mental illness.
Previous research has indicated that patients with serious mental illness die on average 10-15 years earlier than those without. This is primarily as a result of cardiovascular disease. This vulnerable group experience an increased risk of cardiovascular disease for multiple reasons including the use of antipscyhotics as well as lifestyle factors such as smoking and obesity. At present there are no recommendations or guidelines for general practice with regards to the screening of this population for metabolic syndrome.
This research will assess the feasibility of an electronic reminder system to screen patients with serious mental illness for cardiometabolic syndrome in general practice. Three practices in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven region are participating in the trial. This research is being run through the Illawarra and Southern Practice Research Network, UOW. The lead investigator on this project is Dr Fiona Williams of Graduate Medicine, UOW and Thirroul Medical Practice. For any queries please contact Alyssa Horgan amunkman@uow.edu.au .
Dear ISPRN Members,
Please find link to GP Liaison Officer Position.
The 2018 RACGP Foundation grants and awards are opening in March.
2018 RACGP Foundation Grants opening soon
The 2018 RACGP Foundation General Practice research grants and awards will open Monday 5 March 2018, with up to half a million dollars in general practice research grant funding available to general practitioners and general practice registrars.
The RACGP Foundation is committed to continuous improvement in all areas of general practice through high quality, original research. We support research that can be implemented on the Frontline, from researcher to GP to patient.
Grant and award details are available on the RACGP Foundation website: foundation.racgp.org.au/grants
Online applications will close Monday 7 May 2017.
For further information contact the RACGP Foundation team at research@racgp.org.au or phone 03 8699 0497.
The following 2018 research grants and awards are available:
Please forward any enquiries to the RACGP Foundation team via email or telephone.
Thank you,
Kind Regards,
Helena Koutroupis
RACGP Foundation & Research Administrator
RACGP Products
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
100 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne, VIC 3002
T 03 8699 0497
LOCAL RESEARCH, LOCAL IMPACT
The University of Wollongong, HETI and Southern NSW Local Health District are pleased to invite local health practitioners and educators to the 2018 Bega Health Research Forum.
Thursday, 8th March from 4pm including supper and refreshments at the
University of Wollongong Campus, Auckland St Bega.
Featuring 8 rural health research initiatives along with poster presentations.
Registration is free for health practitioners and educators.
Please feel free to forward this invite to all your local health and education colleagues.
View the PROGRAM and REGISTER here before 2 March 2018.
For further information contact UOW Bega 6494 7035 or email bega@uow.edu.au