Four fellowship recipients will strive to identify new strategies and progress innovative ideas in Western Australia’s public health system in two streams covering Aboriginal, and country and regional health.
The Implementation Science Fellowship Program is funded through the McGowan Government’s Future Health Research and Innovation Fund (FHRIF). The FHRIF provides a secure source of funding to drive health and medical research, innovation and commercialisation.
A total of $2.3 million in funding has been awarded for implementation science research in four program areas.
Clinical Yarning
(Dr Ivan Lin, The University of Western Australia)
Clinical Yarning strives to improve the communication between healthcare clinicians and Aboriginal patients to ensure better access to quality health care. This research program will be trialled initially in the Mid-West region and if successful, will be expanded to other WA country areas.
Paediatric ‘Escalation’ System
(Associate Professor Fenella Gill, Curtin University)
The ‘Escalation’ system improves the processes for detecting and responding to the clinical deterioration of children in hospital in WA. The system fully integrates family involvement into a paediatric early warning system. This research program will evaluate the scale up and implementation of the ‘Escalation’ system at the WA Country Health Service and further research will be conducted to strengthen the involvement of and improve benefits to Aboriginal children and their families.
Beating Cancer
(Dr Mary Kennedy, Edith Cowan University)
Research suggests eating well and being active following a cancer diagnosis can help with better outcomes. This research program seeks to develop better nutritional and exercise regimes to support regional patients battling cancer, and aims to generate the first evidence-based blueprint for the integration of nutrition into cancer care delivery in country and regional areas of WA.
Optimising Health Service
(Professor Suzanne Robinson, Curtin University)
Co-ordinating care in country and regional communities across vast areas is challenging. This research program aims to improve processes and use technology to provide a real-time view of the WA country health system. The research will find ways to improve situational awareness, effectiveness, efficiency and operational management across the WA Country Health Service, and ultimately lead to better health outcomes for those living in regional WA.
Details of the Implementation Science Fellowships Program recipients can be found on the FHRIF website.
As stated by Medical Research Minister Stephen Dawson:
“These are exciting research programs that address challenges in the WA public health system.
“The WA Country Health Service spans 2.5 million square kilometres, so we need to be innovative with new ways of providing the best care to regional WA.
“We are proud to be funding and supporting these novel research programs to find better ways to care for Western Australians.”
As stated by WA Country Health Service Board Chair Dr Neale Fong:
“WA Country Health Service is very excited to be involved in these innovative trials and will observe the progress with great interest and anticipation.
“We’re always open to fresh ideas and different ways of delivering quality health care.”
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