Wounds cause pain, discomfort and can compromise quality of life. They also place patients at risk of various complications such as deadly infections. This CRE in Wiser Wound Care will improve the care provided to hospitalised patients with wounds, resulting in better patient experiences and outcomes and savings to the health system. Almost all patients in hospital have a wound, whether it be a surgical wound, a wound from an intravascular device (drip) or a pressure injury (or bedsore).
Evaluating Hand Hygiene Interventions And Their Ability To Reduce Haelthcare Associated Infection
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$508,848.00
Summary
Healthcare associated infection is a major problem for Australian hospitals. One of the best ways to reduce it is to improve hand hygiene among hospital workers. The National Hand Hygiene Initiative (NHHI) is currently being implemented to improve hygiene among health care workers. This research will evaluate the NHHI and measure how well the program works, what factors are important to its success, and whether implementing the program is good value for money.
Proactive Specialist Diabetes Inpatient Team To Improve Outcomes In Hospitalised Patients With Diabetes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$124,761.00
Summary
Diabetes is a major epidemic in Australia. Current care of hospitalised patients with diabetes is complex, suboptimal and contributes to longer hospital stay, poor outcomes and strain on healthcare resources. This research aims to improve diabetes care in hospitalised patients by implementing a proactive specialist diabetes team that will autonomously identify and provide specialist care for these patients. The expected findings have potential to shape a new approach to hospital diabetes care.
Evaluation Of The Effect Of Providing Individual Patient Education On Rates Of Falls In Older Hospital Patients In The Post Discharge Period - A Randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$307,946.00
Summary
Older people are at increased risk of falls and related injuries when they return home from hospital. There are numerous discharge programs that attempt to improve patient outcomes and prevent hospital re-admission but there is limited knowledge about falls after discharge and evidence for reducing falls during this period. This study will examine the effect of providing older people themselves with education about effective methods to reduce falls and recover safe function during this period.
Near Real-time Identification Of Patient Safety Incidents Reported By Health Professionals.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$324,174.00
Summary
Ten percent of admissions to Australian hospitals are associated with harm to patients. Reporting of patient safety incidents is now widespread. Current methods, which rely upon humans to manually review incident reports, do not permit timely detection of safety problems and can no longer keep up with the growing volume. This study will be the first internationally to automate the monitoring of incident reports. The outcomes have broad and immediate potential to improve the monitoring of inciden ....Ten percent of admissions to Australian hospitals are associated with harm to patients. Reporting of patient safety incidents is now widespread. Current methods, which rely upon humans to manually review incident reports, do not permit timely detection of safety problems and can no longer keep up with the growing volume. This study will be the first internationally to automate the monitoring of incident reports. The outcomes have broad and immediate potential to improve the monitoring of incidents on a local, national and international scale.Read moreRead less
Communication During Hospitalisation: The Path To Better Healthcare
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$327,991.00
Summary
The aims of this research are to remove barriers to successful communication in hospital for people with no speech. Better communication in hospital will facilitate patient participation in health care decisions and reduce adverse experiences arising through poor communication. Project outcomes will lead to changes in policy and practice to improve the health care of patients in hospital, improve the health of Australians, and bring economic improvements through better care.
Application Of A Novel Research Design To Aid Disinvestment From Existing Health Technologies With Uncertain Effectiveness, Cost-effectiveness And/or Safety.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$258,643.00
Summary
Health policy makers and managers need to make choices between funding some health services and not others. This decision is made difficult when there is limited evidence as to whether the health service in question is effective, cost-effective and safe. Removing a health service when there is uncertainty exposes patients to risk of poorer outcomes. This study employs a novel research design that will help decision makers to make these choices while minimising the level of risk they expose patie ....Health policy makers and managers need to make choices between funding some health services and not others. This decision is made difficult when there is limited evidence as to whether the health service in question is effective, cost-effective and safe. Removing a health service when there is uncertainty exposes patients to risk of poorer outcomes. This study employs a novel research design that will help decision makers to make these choices while minimising the level of risk they expose patients to.Read moreRead less
Determining The Cost-effectiveness Of A Novel Australian Stroke Telemedicine Program: CAST Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$496,015.00
Summary
Urgent treatment of acute stroke in rural Australia is problematic. Telemedicine could improve delivery of acute stroke treatments in rural communities. Currently this is being investigated through the Victorian Stroke Telemedicine (VST) program by providing an acute telestroke service in 16 hospitals located in rural and regional Victoria. This project, known as CAST, forms an important sub-study for the VST program since it provides a full economic evaluation of the program.