A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial of Nurse and General Practitioner partnership for care of COPD

Funded Activity Summary

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a chronic disease that can progress to severe disability and use of hospital services. It is an important cause of both death and disability in Australia. Specifically it is the third leading cause of disease burden after heart disease and stroke. Smoking is the most important cause of the disease and there is strong evidence that smoking cessation will largely prevent progression of COPD. National evidence based guidelines for management of COPD were published in 2003 but these need to be implemented in the community. General practice is well placed to have a key role in early intervention and evidence based management of COPD. There is evidence that specialised nurses working in collaboration with GPs can improve the care the chronic illnesses including COPD. Care Plans with input from health professionals from a range of disciplines have been recommended for COPD but there are barriers to implementing these in general practice. This project brings together nurse assistance and care planning in a model of care designed to deliver best practice management of COPD in the community. The aim of this research is to evaluate the impact of anurse and GP partnership for care of COPD. We will examine the effect on quality of care and health outcomes at 6 and 12 months follow up. Our hypothesis is that the use of a nurse to work as a team with the patient and GP to develop and implement a care plan based on clinical practice guidelines will improve the quality of care received and have a beneficial effect on the patients' respiratory and overall health. This research will be of major significance for improving COPD care in the community and will have far reaching implications for both policy and practice. It will also define a new role for nurses and GPs working in partnership.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2006

End Date: 01-01-2008

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $449,377.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Primary Health Care

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

1) Primary Health Care | 2) Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COPD) | 3) Clinical Patient Management | 3) Clinical Practice Guidelines | 4) Clinical Guidelines | 4) Community Intervention Study | 5) Health Outcomes

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