AI platform for safer medication use in aged care
Macquarie University is leading this groundbreaking project to reduce inappropriate medication use in residential aged care by harnessing AI to improve safety, wellbeing and decision-making for older Australians.
Full project name: A novel AI-augmented digital system for medication deprescribing in residential aged care: The AiCT-Med national cluster randomised controlled trial.
Project sponsors: The Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Early to Mid-Career Researcher Grant.
About the project
Bringing together leading researchers and industry partners, the project will use an AI-powered platform to deprescribe unnecessary medication.
- This five-year project will work with aged care providers to create a system that supports clinicians in identifying and managing medications that may no longer be needed or could be harmful.
- This initiative promises to enhance medication safety and deliver more person-centred care for residents in aged care facilities.
Project goals
By leveraging electronic health data, the platform will offer personalised, data-driven insights, helping overcome common deprescribing challenges such as clinician hesitancy and communication gaps.
The key objectives are to:
- develop and validate an AI platform for safe deprescribing of medication in residential aged care
- implement and evaluate the impact of the AI platform on medicine use, patient outcomes, and its cost-effectiveness through a national cluster randomised clinical trial
- develop freely accessible resources to promote research translation and stakeholder engagement in deprescribing initiatives.
- Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite
- Dr Kate Churruca
- Dr Guogui Huang
- Professor Farah Magrabi
- Dr Virginia Mumford
- Dr Amy Nguyen
- Associate Professor Magda Raban
- Dr Sandun Malpriya Silva
- Dr Nasir Wabe
- Professor Johanna Westbrook
Other members and collaborators
- Dr Nagham Ailabouni – University of Queensland
- Professor Melissa Baysari – University of Sydney
- Dr Antonio Ahumada Canale – University of Technology
- Professor Ric Day – University of New South Wales
- Professor Adam Dunn – University of Sydney
- Margaret Fagan – Consumer Representative
- Professor Len Gray – University of Queensland
- University Dr Daniel Hoyle – University of Tasmania
- Associate Professor Hanan Khalil – La Trobe
- Dr Zhibin Liao – University of Adelaide
- Professor Elizabeth Manias – Monash University
- Dr Lisa Kouladjian O'Donnell – University of Sydney
- Dr Amy Page – University of Western Australia Associate
- Professor Lisa Pont – University of Technology Sydney
- Associate Professor Rosemary Saunders – Edith Cowan University
- Sydney Professor Ian Scott – University of Queensland
- Robyn Wright – Consumer Representative
- Professor Solomon Yu – Central Adelaide Local Health Network.
Partners who will be providing in-kind support:
- Anglicare
- Australian Association of Gerontology
- Australian Deprescribing Network
- BESTMED
- Carinity
- Choice Aged Care
- Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
- Regis Aged Care
- Resthaven
- Southern Cross Care NSW and ACT
- Southern Cross Care Tasmania
- Warrigal.