Understanding The Dynamics Of The Medical Workforce To Improve Population Health And Equity Of Access: The Australian Lo
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,278,544.00
Summary
The health workforce is now a key area of government policy. The ageing of the medical workforce, combined with more women entering medicine and changes in doctors preferences over their work-life balance, are all likely to have important effects on the ability of health care system to provide good quality and accessible health care. However, there is little knowledge or understanding of how and why doctors make decisions on how many hours they work, their location of work, including working in ....The health workforce is now a key area of government policy. The ageing of the medical workforce, combined with more women entering medicine and changes in doctors preferences over their work-life balance, are all likely to have important effects on the ability of health care system to provide good quality and accessible health care. However, there is little knowledge or understanding of how and why doctors make decisions on how many hours they work, their location of work, including working in rural and remote areas, and decisions to leave the medical workforce and retire. These decisions have important effects on the population�s access to health care and therefore on their health status and quality of care received. The aim of this research is to examine those factors influencing doctors� labour supply decisions through the establishment of the Australian Longitudinal Survey of Doctors (ALSD). The survey will track 5,500 doctors over an initial four year period. The research will provide a rigorous analysis of medical workforce decisions that underpin workforce distribution and the working patterns of doctors. The survey will be used to evaluate and simulate policy changes and provide important evidence to support future policy developments.Read moreRead less
Are Routine Healthcare Worker Hand Hygiene Protocols (soap/water, Alcohol-based Handrub) Effective Against Influenza?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$99,950.00
Summary
Although influenza is mainly spread from person-to-person by aerosol transmission (coughing, sneezing etc), there is growing evidence that spread also occurs on the hands of infected patients and their carers (non-aerosol transmission). Because of this, health authorities now recommend the use of careful hand hygiene (HH: hand washing with soap-water or use of alcohol-based hand rub solutions [ABHRS]) by healthcare workers (HCWs) and patients. However, despite these recommendations, there are no ....Although influenza is mainly spread from person-to-person by aerosol transmission (coughing, sneezing etc), there is growing evidence that spread also occurs on the hands of infected patients and their carers (non-aerosol transmission). Because of this, health authorities now recommend the use of careful hand hygiene (HH: hand washing with soap-water or use of alcohol-based hand rub solutions [ABHRS]) by healthcare workers (HCWs) and patients. However, despite these recommendations, there are no data that demonstrate the effectiveness of such HH protocols. This project aims to assess the clinical effectiveness of four HH protocols (handwashing with soap-water, alcohol-only ABHRS, two alcohol-chlorhexidine ABHRS) in common use in Australian hospitals to see which protocol is best for killing influenza virus. We also plan to assess how long influenza virus remains infectious on HCWs hands if they fail to use appropriate HH. Since it could be dangerous to use live avian influenza virus in this study, we plan to use the H1N1 influenza A strain that was a component of the influenza vaccine administered to most HCWs in 2005. Thus, only HCWs with protective immunity to H1N1 will participate in a series of tests in which they will have their hands artificially contaminated with a known concentration of live H1N1 before using either no HH, or one of the four HH protocols, followed by an assessment (virus culture and molecular tests) or the amount of H1N1 surviving on their hands after each protocol. Some selected HCWs will also have the amount of surviving virus assessed 30 and 60 minutes after contamination to identify how long H1N1 survives on HCWs hands should they not use appropriate HH. Following all protocols, all HCWs will perform a detailed surgical scrub (similar to surgeons before an operation) to make certain that all H1N1 is killed to avoid any infection of themselves or their contacts. The study will be undertaken in special, secure, negative-pressure rooms at Austin Hospital away from patient care areas to provide maximum safety conditions. All virus culture and molecular tests will be performed in the virus Identification Laboratory at the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory (VIDRL), Melbourne. Results of the study should help identify which HH protocol provides the most protection against influenza.Read moreRead less
PEACH Study- Patient Engagement And Coaching For Health: An Intensive Treatment Intervention For Patients With Type 2 Di
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$499,263.00
Summary
This study uses practice nurses integrated in existing general practice structures to implement telephone coaching for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in a disadvantaged community. This is an evidence based patient empowerment strategy designed to increase patient self-management and engagement with the health care system to improve health outcomes.
Modelling The Economics Of The Australian Health Care System For Policy Analysis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,500,000.00
Summary
The program will build a suite of economic models capable of providing timely relevant analysis of almost any major health policy option or issue, providing expertise in government and academia to use the kind of sophisticated quantitative tools of analysis common in sectors of the economy of an equivalent size to health. Through a PhD and postdoctoral program, it will increase capacity in quantitative health economics in Australia to answer key questions in health services, health promotion and ....The program will build a suite of economic models capable of providing timely relevant analysis of almost any major health policy option or issue, providing expertise in government and academia to use the kind of sophisticated quantitative tools of analysis common in sectors of the economy of an equivalent size to health. Through a PhD and postdoctoral program, it will increase capacity in quantitative health economics in Australia to answer key questions in health services, health promotion and illness prevention, developed with partners in government, clinicians and industry.Read moreRead less
The aim of this project is to design and implement a broad-ranging research program that produces in-depth knowledge of motorcycle rider behaviour, performance, and safety that can be used to inform and develop a broad, and integrated package of countermeasures and-or public policies to improve the safety of motorcycle riders. A key focus of the research program will be on the identification and characterisation of errors that give rise to incidents and crashes involving motorcycle riders. Austr ....The aim of this project is to design and implement a broad-ranging research program that produces in-depth knowledge of motorcycle rider behaviour, performance, and safety that can be used to inform and develop a broad, and integrated package of countermeasures and-or public policies to improve the safety of motorcycle riders. A key focus of the research program will be on the identification and characterisation of errors that give rise to incidents and crashes involving motorcycle riders. Australian motorcycle riders are three times more likely to be involved in a casualty crash than car drivers, and comprised 14% of the national road toll in 2005. The proposed research program aims to improve motorcycle safety by developing appropriate countermeasures that will be derived from the findings of simulator experiments, on-road studies, focus groups, and surveys. The results of these studies will be used to develop guidelines and recommendations for improving motorcycle safety.Read moreRead less
Statistical Methods And Algorithms For Analysis Of High-throughput Genetics And Genomics Platforms
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,557,500.00
Summary
Through rapid advances in high-throughput -omics technologies, the number of phenotypes and the number of genotypes in gene mapping studies are or will be orders of magnitudes larger than in previous studies. Current algorithms and analysis methods have not kept up with the speed of data collection, nor has the training of qualified researchers. We will develop quantitative trait loci (fine) mapping analysis methods and bioinformatics algorithms and train (post)graduates in these research areas.