DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL PRACTICE
THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
Melinda Soós
Practice-Based Research Network Coordinator
P: 03 8344 3392
E: msoos@unimelb.edu.au
The VicReN Model: Building Research Capacity
Building research capacity in primary health care is multifaceted in nature.
Academic-based networks composed of primary care practitioners and academics such as the Victorian Primary Care Practice-Based Research Network (VicReN) form an important conduit for up-skilling members and ensuring the research agenda reflects primary health care needs through two important channels.
Firstly, VicReN directs members wishing to explore a research idea towards established academic postgraduate programs or a PHCRED Fellowship. VicReN also links members into existing research information or alternatively, into approved high-quality projects members. VicReN members Dr Debra Wilson, Dr Cathy Hutton and Dr Christine Longman are currently undertaking Masters programs and Dr Hubert van Doorn is researching an area of interest. According to Dr Wilson “It is hoped that harnessing the rich amount of information that exists in primary care will again assist policy makers to make better decisions. Research also leads to improvements in behaviour and practice and I hope that it will bring a culture of reflection and continual improvement to general practice and primary care more widely.”
Secondly, VicReN is becoming a model to provide excellent research support. The VicReN Coordinator administers the network, builds a database of practices, provides advice on recruitment and project management issues, in addition to human resourcing, training staff and managing the multi-centre Ageing in general practice study.
VicReN members consult on VicReN's research agenda and can act as project advisers. Dr. Hutton informs the Better outcomes for obese children in general practice study and Lynne Walker is a practice nurse adviser for the Women's evaluation of abuse and violence care in general practice study.
Excitingly, VicReN's membership has tripled since May 2007. It is proud of its members' achievements to facilitate the future of appropriate, high-quality primary care research. VicReN proves a multifaceted approach to building research capacity.
UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF RURAL HEALTH NORTHERN NSW
UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE
Rod Cooper
PHCRED Coordinator
P: 02 6767 8465
E: rodney.cooper@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au
Researcher Development Program (RDP)
Two Hunter New England Area Health Service midwives have started different research projects as the University Department of Rural Health Northern NSW 's latest RDP research fellows.
Jo Blake, a Midwife/Child and Family Health Nurse with the Tamworth Aboriginal Mothers and Babies Service, is researching the specific barriers that Aboriginal families have in accessing health services in the Tamworth Area after being discharged from the Aboriginal Mothers and Babies Service.
The primary goal of the Aboriginal Mothers and Babies Program is to provide culturally sensitive, evidence based, antenatal and postnatal care. Women are provided with support to make informed decisions in relation to their own and their baby's wellbeing.
This research project is being conducted in close partnership with local Aboriginal organisations and it is hoped that the findings will lead to better health outcomes and more culturally responsive services.
Robin Skewes, a Clinical Midwife Consultant based in Tamworth and longstanding Lactation Consultant has a strong interest in promoting and supporting breastfeeding.
The health benefits to infants and mothers of exclusive breastfeeding to six months are well established with the promotion of breastfeeding an action area in the prevention of obesity in children. However, whilst breastfeeding is a natural function it is also a learned technique that sometimes requires effort and assistance to establish and maintain with some mothers needing timely appropriate support, advice and assistance in order to sustain breastfeeding.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that for many rural women, such support and assistance is not available resulting in cessation of breastfeeding.
Robin will use her RDP fellowship to develop her research project into rural mothers' reasons for weaning within the first three months postpartum.
Local population data will hopefully assist in tailoring services to better provide the support needed to increase breastfeeding duration within the community.
DISCIPLINE OF GENERAL PRACTICE
UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
Raechelle Rubinstein
PHC RED Coordinator
P: 02 9556 7200
E: raechelle@gp.med.usyd.edu.au
Our 2008 Program has got off to a good start
Applications for our 2008 Research Development Program Awards have been received and recipients will shortly be announced. The award of Research Capacity Building Initiative Bursaries for early career researchers will also be announced.
Planning of our program of research related activities for the year is underway. Apart from research seminars, these include writing grants for early career researchers for articles submitted to peer reviewed publications, workshops on doing a literature search and use of Endnote, short courses on qualitative methodology in health research and qualitative techniques, as well as a writing workshop.
Planning is also underway for the workshop on youth health that the Youth Health Research Interest Group will conduct at the 2008 GP & PHC Research Conference.
To date we have held two research seminars with speakers from the Institute of Postgraduate Medicine at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Professor Deborah Saltman and Dr Gail Louw. Both seminars were well attended. Our next research seminar is scheduled for 10 April, when Professor Michael Kidd, Head of the Discipline of General Practice at the University of Sydney, will present 10 Golden Rules for young researchers.
In late February, we mentored Alliance of NSW Divisions staff undertaking the Short Course in Evaluation and Project Development Retreat conducted by the NSW Consortium of RCB universities and departments of rural health. It is hoped that stronger relationships with Divisions of General Practice will result from this activity.
GENERAL PRACTICE AND RURAL MEDICINE
JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY
Robyn Preston
PHCRED Coordinator
P: 07 4796 3383
E: robyn.preston@jcu.edu.au
Gail Kingston is a Senior Occupational Therapist at the Townsville Hospital and a PHCRED-JCU Fellow. A large number of her patients who have had a traumatic hand injury reside in rural and remote locations. While rural and remote people have higher risk of injury because of the nature of employment in the regions, the long term impact of traumatic hand injuries on their lives has not been well documented.
Guidelines following management of a traumatic hand injury tend to favour city patients. Issues such as not being allowed to or work or lift heavy items, drive a car or ride a horse can become major obstacles that can threaten the livelihood of patients living in rural and remote locations. Successful rehabilitation often relies on the performance of home based exercise programs. Many patients do not understand the full impact of not undertaking these exercises and do not have the ongoing monitoring to ensure rehabilitation runs smoothly.
To address these issues Gail has developed an instructional DVD so that her rural and remote clients can undertake home exercise hand therapy programs. She will determine if the DVD provides better instruction than printed materials and identify the barriers to compliance with home based rehabilitation programs. Her study will also address the lack of information about the impact of traumatic hand injury on the occupational roles of rural and remote people.
The information will help health care staff gain a greater understanding of the needs of rural and remote patients with traumatic hand injuries. A busy clinician who has always been interested in research, with PHCRED Gail is able to have a quarantined time to undertake her project. While Gail aims to work towards her PhD; her most important achievement will be improving the lives of her rural and remote clients in Queensland .
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE RESEARCH, EVALUATION AND DEVELOPMENT (PHCRED)
BOND UNIVERSITY
Nermina Komaric
PHCRED fellow and Chronic Disease Coordinator for CALD communities
P: 07 3844 9166
E: nerminak@eccq.com.au
Supervised home-based exercise versus the Cornish Walking Program (CWP) for management of diabetes type 2 in people who require English language interpretation
Physical inactivity is a leading cause of preventable death and morbidity in developed countries. Compared with the relevant death rates among Australian-born people, the death rates due to diabetes are higher amongst immigrants born in Germany, Italy, Croatia (Former Yugoslavia) Greece, Poland and India (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2006).
Compared with the relevant death rates among Australian-born people, the death rates due to diabetes are higher amongst immigrants who are not English language proficient. This work aims to compare the effectiveness of a supervised home program with the community Cornish Walking Program (CWP), in managing diabetes type 2.
Participants will be recruited from community settings; such as immigrant local clubs, community media, churches, general practice centres and community health centres. Twenty volunteers will be randomly assigned to each group. The CWP will be delivered twice weekly for 12 weeks with the supervision in the participants' first language and twenty volunteers will be assigned to the home based exercise program with 10 minutes telephone support in the participants' first language twice weekly for 12 weeks.
The primary outcome measure will be HbA1C%, secondary outcomes will be six minute walk distance and Quality of life. Data collection will be completed at baseline, six, 12 and 18 weeks. Health services utilisation will be collected at monthly intervals for five months. The results will indicate whether supervised home-based or community delivered exercise program is superior in managing diabetes type 2 in people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
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