N-PARTI Project

N-PARTI Project

The National Paediatric Applied Research Translation Initiative (N-PARTI)

The National Paediatric Applied Research Translation Initiative (N-PARTI) is a MRFF funded project led by the Centre for Healthcare Resilience and Implementation Science at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation.

Project members - Macquarie University

    

Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite
Project Lead, CIA

Professor Reema Harrison
Professor 		Dr Virginia Mumford
Senior Research Fellow 		Professor Rebecca Mitchell
Professor 

Dr Georgia Fisher
Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr Gaston Arnolda
Senior Research Fellow

Professor Yvonne Zurynski
Professor of Health System Sustainability

Honorary Professor Peter Hibbert

Project description

The National Paediatric Applied Research Translation Initiative (N-PARTI) is a Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) project. It is an Australia-wide collaboration of researchers, clinicians, and consumers running from 2024 to 2029. The triple aims of N-PARTI are to improve the health of children across Australia in three priority areas: Asthma, Type 1 Diabetes, and antibiotic use. In researching these priority areas, the project will work with GPs to improve care in line with ‘gold-standard’ guidelines. During the project, N-PARTI collaborators will use cutting-edge implementation science frameworks and techniques to implement a range of interventions to improve care, refine interventions, and roll-out the project at scale across Australia.

Clinicians and patients will be central to N-PARTI’s efforts, which will focus on patient education, interactive education and training for general practitioners, and ongoing feedback on their practices’ performance. A key focus of N-PARTI is co-design, which will unite the experience and knowledge of patients and their families, clinicians, policy-makers, and researchers to improve care for children with Asthma and Type 1 Diabetes, and protect them from the harms of antibiotic over-prescription.

The N-PARTI partnership is a collaboration of consumer groups, Primary Health Networks, clinicians, researchers, managers, relevant Royal Colleges, children’s hospitals, and policymakers. Our work will strengthen primary care for Australian children by increasing adherence to best practice, improving diagnosis and treatment, and reducing unnecessary burdens on the health system.

Our impact will be healthier Australian children and an Australian primary healthcare system that is empowered to rapidly implement evidence-based change. Our project meets several MRFF Measures of Success, including focusing on priority areas of unmet need, engaging the community in new practices, and ensuring health professionals adopt best practices faster both as part of project implementation, and into the future.

Project members - external

  • Professor Elizabeth Ann Davis, Head of Department, Endocrinology and Diabetes/Co-Director Children Diabetes Centre, Perth Children's Hospital, Telethon Kids Institute
  • Dr Carl de Wet, Clinical Director, Specialist Medical Services CBU, Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service
  • Dr Nusrat Homaira, Senior Lecturer and Respiratory Researcher, University of New South Wales
  • Professor Adam Jaffé, Professor of Paediatrics, University of New South Wales
  • Professor Simon Mark Willcock, Program Head, Primary care and Wellbeing, MQ Health
  • Dr Brendan McMullan, Physician, University of New South Wales
  • Dr Helen Jaye Woodhead, Senior Staff Specialist in Paediatric Endocrinology, University of New South Wales

Background

Despite strong research evidence and the availability of best practice guidelines, aspects of paediatric healthcare remain difficult to improve. A key reason for this is that rResearch evidence from tightly controlled clinical trials cannot simply be transplanted into complex, real-world settings. Instead, sSuch evidence needs to be translated – into safe, feasible and acceptable practices that can then be scaled up across the healthcare system. Our proposal, an Australia-wide transformational initiative, will structure and support rapid translation to efficiently bridge the gap between research and practice in paediatric healthcare.

N-PARTI will target three national priority areas as exemplars: asthma, type 1 diabetes (T1D) and antibiotic overuse. Our previous CareTrack Kids study, the largest ever to assess the quality of care provided to children, identified these as key target areas where guidelines are not being implemented and flagged that general practice was the setting in which adherence to guidelines was most challenging. Thus N-PARTI will target key clinical areas where healthcare providers find it difficult to comply, in the setting where change is most needed.

N-PARTI will harness the expertise of consumers, healthcare providers and implementation specialists to improve paediatric health outcomes by implementing a robust methodology to scale up, sustain change, and build translational capacity across Australian healthcare. The initiative is underpinned by our team’s internationally recognised experience in large-scale health systems research and implementation science.

Each priority area is important. Proven interventions have been carefully selected for feasible implementation, for each priority area. Working with patients and families and healthcare providers, we will fine tune these interventions for different Australian GP contexts. Packaged as Implementation Bundles, they are purpose-built for rapid dissemination. Their implementation will cost-effectively improve health outcomes of children.

Related publications

Braithwaite J, Hibbert P, Jaffe A, White L, Cowell C, Harris M, Runciman W, Hallahan AR, Wheaton G, Williams H, Murphy E, Molloy C, Wiles L, Ramanathan S, Arnolda G, Ting HP, Hooper TD, Szabo N, Wakefield JG, Hughes CF, Schmiede A, Dalton C, Dalton S, Holt J, Donaldson L, Kelley E, Lilford R, Lachman P, Muething S. The quality of health care for children in Australia. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2018; 319(11):1113-24 http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.0162

Arnolda G, Hibbert P, Ting HP, Molloy C, Wiles L, Warwick M, Snelling T, Homaira N, Jaffe A, Braithwaite J. Assessing the appropriateness of paediatric antibiotic overuse in Australian children: a population-based sample survey. BMC Pediatrics. 2020 Apr 24;20(1):1-8. 185. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-020-02052-6

Homaira H, Wiles LK, Gardner C, Molloy C, Arnolda G, Ting HP, Hibbert P, Boyling C, Braithwaite J. Assessing appropriateness of paediatric asthma management: a population-based sample survey. Respirology. 2020 Jan;25(1):71-79. Epub 2019 Jun 20. DOI: 10.1111/resp.13611

McGee RG, Cowell CT, Arnolda G, Ting HP, Hibbert P, Dowton SB, Braithwaite J. Assessing guideline adherence in the management of type 1 diabetes mellitus in Australian children: a population-based sample survey. BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care. 2020 Jul 1;8(1):1-9. e001141. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjdrc-2019-001141

Wiles LK, Hooper TD, Hibbert PD, Molloy C, White L, Jaffe A, Cowell CT, Harris M, Runciman WB, Schmiede A, Dalton C, Hallahan AR, Dalton S, Williams H, Wheaton G, Murphy E, Braithwaite J, 2019,  Clinical indicators for common paediatric conditions: processes, provenance and products of the CareTrack Kids study. PLoS ONE. 2019 Jan 9;14(1):1-23. e0209637. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209637 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209637

Collaborators
  • Asthma Australia
  • Central and Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network
  • North Coast Primary Health Network
  • Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators
  • South-Western Sydney Primary Health Network
  • Western NSW Primary Health Network
  • WA Primary Health Alliance
  • Western Queensland Primary Health Network
  • Western Victoria Primary Health Network

Research scholarship (PhD and Masters) opportunities

Multiple research scholarships are available for this landmark project. More information is available here. This is an unrivalled opportunity to conduct a research degree supervised by researchers who are amongst the best in the world.

Related projects

CareTrack Kids

Content owner: Australian Institute of Health Innovation Last updated: 22 Aug 2024 6:05pm

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