New funding for aged care reform
New technology to unlock critical care information
29 August 2019
Australian Institute of Health Innovation gets go ahead on technology to place critical information at the fingertips of aged care providers and clients
Professor Johanna Westbrook, Director of the Centre for Health Systems and Safety Research at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation (AIHI), Macquarie University, welcomes the announcement by the Minister for Health, the Hon Greg Hunt MP, on the awarding of $1.3 million National Health and Medical Research Council funding for AIHI-led research.
An additional $500,000 will be provided by project partner Anglicare.
Professor Westbrook will lead the project to mobilise technology to develop an innovative digital dashboard of integrated data, which will provide residents, families and care providers with actionable information to monitor and improve wellbeing and outcomes.
The project will directly address several issues highlighted by the current Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety such as improved monitoring of pressure injuries and safer medication management.
Professor Westbrook states, “The community is understandably demanding better quality aged care and greater transparency; a system that responds to older peoples’ needs, identifies risks, and answers in effective and compassionate ways.”
Further, the sector is data rich but information poor. Rarely are data silos integrated, used or shared with clients to enhance care. This project will change that.
Anglicare is a joint partner in this research, demonstrating a solid commitment to improving the quality of aged care services underpinned by strong research evidence. This project is further enhanced with partners:
- Sydney North Primary Health Network
- Northern Sydney Local Health District
- Deeble Institute for Health Policy Research
- Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission
Professor Westbrook said, “Working closely with Anglicare and our other partners, this groundbreaking project will deliver an innovative approach to enhance the safety and quality of aged care services, and provide measurable benefits to clients and staff across the aged care sector in Australia.”
Professor Westbrook is internationally recognised for her research evaluating the effects of information and communication technology in healthcare.
The Australian Institute of Health Innovation is a research-intensive institute conducting world-class research into the people, policies and practice of healthcare in order to catalyse performance improvement in healthcare services and systems in Australia and internationally.
END
NHMRC Partnership Project: A dashboard of predictive analytics and decision support to drive care quality and person-centred outcomes in aged care. Awarded to Professor Johanna Westbrook, Professor Andrew Georgiou, Professor Stephen Lord, Professor Len Gray, Professor Richard Day, Professor Julie Ratcliffe, Associate Professor Melissa Baysari, Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite.
CENTRES RELATED TO THIS NEWS
Centre for Health Systems and Safety Research
Centre for Healthcare Resilience and Implementation Science
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Chrissy Clay, Research Outreach Coordinator