Formalised joint governance across the 3 Centres has been established through an Executive Committee.

Independently chaired by Professor Richard Larkins with additional Government, Health Service CEO and Consumer representation.

This committee will oversee the funding for this initiative.

Click here to download the Terms of Reference for the executive committee.

The Victorian Collaborative Healthcare Recovery Initiative proposal has been awarded $800,000 within the Government’s recent $8 million funding announcement for research relating to the impacts of COVID-19. Funding will go towards supporting Monash Partners led programs to improve the value and cost-effectiveness of colonoscopies undertaken in Victorian health services; and, identify and prioritise virtual care initiatives used to enhance care for older adults for future scaling-up activities in Victoria. Both initiatives will use the Learning Health System Framework.

Telehealth/virtual care project, led by Professor Terry Haines

Virtual care describes interactions between patients and/or members of their circle of care, occurring remotely, using any forms of communication or information technologies, with the aim of facilitating or maximising the quality and effectiveness of patient care.  The Victorian Collaborative Healthcare Recovery Initiative - Virtual care project is seeking to identify and prioritise virtual care initiatives used to enhance care for older adults for future scaling-up activities in Victoria. Our academic team will use a co-production process with key stakeholders (including end-users) under a broader Learning Health System framework to scope the current landscape of virtual care activities, review available evidence on the strengths and limitations of different initiatives, and create new evidence examining the effectiveness, feasibility, acceptability, economic efficiency and alignment of these initiatives to current policy settings and programs. These activities will focus on three areas of care for older adults that encompass care interactions between older adults, their caregivers, hospitals, primary care, residential aged care, specialists, and community-based care providers. These areas were purposefully selected as older adults often have chronic and complex care needs shared between multiple providers, such that virtual care initiatives have great potential to improve care integration and outcomes from these interactions.

Supporting hospitals to optimise colonoscopy best practice, led by Associate Professor Denise O’Connor

A new quality improvement project is being conducted to promote high-value use of colonoscopy in Victorian public hospitals. Colonoscopies are important for detecting and treating bowel cancer, Australia’s second most common cancer. However, colonoscopies are sometimes performed on people who do not require them, or are performed too often or not often enough. Optimising use of colonoscopies will reduce risks related to unnecessary procedures, reduce wait times for those who would receive benefit, and promote timely detection and treatment of bowel cancer.

Monash Partners, in collaboration with the Melbourne Academic Centre for Health and Western Alliance, have been funded to improve colonoscopy care by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services through the Victorian Healthcare Recovery Initiative.

This project will draw on expertise from clinical leaders and involve co-design of interventions in collaboration with the people involved in providing on-the-ground colonoscopy care in participating hospitals. The project team will support hospitals to implement interventions and monitor subsequent outcomes.

Key learnings from this important work will inform how to drive and sustain change in hospitals to optimise best practice in other key non-urgent elective procedures.

This project is expected to continue until the end of 2022.

The Falls Prevention Committee is part of The Victorian Research Translation Centre Collaborative between the three Victorian translation centres: Monash Partners Academic Health Science Centre, the Melbourne Academic Centre for Health (MACH) and Western Alliance.

Falls are a leading cause of harm across the continuum of care. Falls are particularly challenging in the hospital setting where they are the most frequent clinical risk in patient care. To date, there is a variable evidence base supporting commonly used strategies to prevent falls. There is also variability between health services as to what strategies are utilised for the prevention of falls. Drawing on research and clinical expertise across the Research Translation Centres, a state-wide Falls Workshop was held in April 2021 to explore current evidence, challenges and future directions.

The purpose of the Falls Prevention Alliance is to work collaboratively to reduce falls and falls injuries in hospitals. This work is overseen by a committee made up of researchers, clinicians and consumers.

To find out more please contact:

MACH – mach-admin@unimelb.edu.au
Monash Partners – info@monashpartners.org.au
Western Alliance – info@westernalliance.org.au

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Committee

CHAIR

Associate Professor Cathy Said, University of Melbourne, Western Health

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Mr Drew Aras, Western Alliance

Associate Professor Frances Batchelor, National Ageing Research Institute

Mr Barry Baulch, Consumer representative

Professor Gustavo Duque, Western Health, University of Melbourne

Professor Terry Haines, Monash University

Professor Alison Hutchinson, Deakin University

Ms Michelle Iddles, MACH

Ms Angela Jones, Monash Partners

Professor Meg Morris, La Trobe University