Transforming residential aged care through evidence-based informatics
This project is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Medical Research Future Fund grant (APP2016001).
Project members
Professor Johanna Westbrook |
Associate Professor Magda Raban |
Professor Enrico Coiera |
Dr Karla Seaman |
Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite |
Dr Nasir Wabe |
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Dr Amy Nguyen |
Dr Bayzidur Rahman |
Dr Lalit Yadav |
Dr Sandun Malpriya Silva |
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Dr Isabelle Meulenbroeks |
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Rachel Jenkins |
External project members
Professor Elizabeth Manias | Professor Ian Cameron | Professor Tracey Bucknall | Professor Christopher Etherton-Beer | Professor Nicholas Zwar |
Professor Mark Morgan | Professor Simon Bell | Jo Root | Dr George Margelis | Dr Brett Gardiner |
Dr Lyn-Li Lim | Jane Marshall | Fiona Clay |
Partners
- BESTMED
- Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission
- Bupa
- Consumers Health Forum of Australia
- Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT
Project contacts
For project enquiries: A/Prof Magda Raban | For consumer related inquiries: Dr Rajendra Gyawali |
Project description
Digital systems in residential aged care (RAC) have enormous potential to improve medication management, reduce the workload of aged care staff, and support residents and their families gain access to timely information. However, there is a significant evidence-gap on effective, scalable, digital applications in Australia and internationally.
This project will significantly advance new knowledge and build the evidence-base for digital capabilities that are scalable and address key medication concerns and the needs of consumers. We will achieve this via an industry partnership with a RAC digital system vendor covering >1,100 RAC facilities, 7,500 clinicians and >2,800 pharmacists across Australia. Consumer review panels will ensure consumer input at every step. Utilising an existing digital infrastructure, used nationwide, will enable rapid translation of research evidence. We work closely with industry, government and consumers to deliver project outcomes of national benefit.
Aims
This project aims to:
- Explore variation in RAC medication use and develop an innovative prototype national atlas of medication use.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of electronic systems on improving psychotropic medication use at scale
- Develop and test new digital clinical decision support for urinary tract infection management in RAC
- Evaluate the feasibility and benefits of providing residents and their loved ones with real-time access to their current medication list and notifications of changes to medications.
News and media
New grant will transform medication safety in aged care using IT innovationProfessor Johanna Westbrook has been awarded $992,386 from the National Health and Medical Research Council Medical Research Future Fund to lead a project to demonstrate how sophisticated and user-friendly IT systems can improve the management of medication and support staff and residents. Read about the project here. |
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Researchers, aged care residents, and industry collaborate to improve safety with real-time medication updatesA research collaboration between academics at Macquarie University and industry partner BESTMED is leading to the roll-out of digital tools to improve medication management in aged care. Click here for more information. |
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Related stream of research
Medication Safety and Electronic Decision Support