Centre Reports

The Centre has continued its focus on close interaction with the primary health care sector; in particular through convening and providing secretariat support to the Victorian and National Primary and Community Health Networks. The National Primary and Community Health Network is a coalition of government representatives, peak bodies representing the field, and others interested in sharing information on primary health care and the important role it plays in the Australian health system. The Victorian Network also has members from the major peak bodies in the sector and aims to promote debate and infl uence policy on and development of primary and community health issues in Victoria. CHSD also coordinates publication of the Australian Journal of Primary Health . In 2007, the Journal received notifi cation of its selection for coverage in Thomson Scientific and work has commenced to publish in electronic format in addition to hard copy.

An ageing population and increasing incidence of chronic disease is placing enormous demands on the hospital sector. The health system must be responsive to this; at the same time difficulties created by the federal system and “ownership” of different parts of the sector must be addressed. Prevention, early intervention and primary health care have never been higher on the health agenda. This, combined with the change of government federally, provides an exciting context to be working on health systems, health reform and particularly new opportunities for primary health care. CHSD looks forward to extending its work in Victoria and nationally in response to the challenges and opportunities ahead.

The Centre for Quality Improvement Research and Practice undertakes consultancies and research projects involving the evaluation and development of management approaches, methods and techniques related to continuous quality improvement.

CQIRP is responsible for the primary accreditation and standards service for community services in Victoria, through Quality Improvement and Community Services Accreditation (QICSA). 2007 was another year of strong growth, particularly in Psychiatric disability rehabilitation and support, Child, youth and family, and Housing support sectors. The number of QICSA member agencies increased from 146 in 2006 to 163 in 2007, and its reviewer pool has grown significantly, with more than 20 new reviewers being trained in the first half of the year. QICSA reviewed its model of service provision to deliver services equitably across its membership and to better support organisations across the accreditation cycle. This new model was implemented in 2007.

CQIRP continued to provide coordination of the graduate certificate in quality improvement in primary care at La Trobe.

Staff recruitments during 2007 included Evie Soldatos (Homelessness Assistance Service Standards Manager), Carli Lamb and Debra Millist (Customer Service Managers) and Linda Ryland (Office Manager) for QICSA and Tuan Do for QIPPS. Sandra Marshall left CQIRP in November and Dell Horey took up a position at the Centre for Health Systems Development within AIPC.

Angela Herd was awarded her PhD from the University of Melbourne, on Development of a model to promote optimal training of final year dietetic students. Angela continued her postgraduate studies in public policy and management at Monash University.

New projects commenced in 2007 included the Stock-take and Gap Analysis of Indigenous Drug Prevention Research for the Victorian Department of Human Services. Continuing projects included the Improving the Culture of Hospitals for the CRC for Aboriginal Health (consultations for which commenced during the year), and the review of pilots of the Statewide Homelessness Assessment and Referral Framework, again for the Department of Human Services. The two-year Primary Health Care Consumer Opinion Survey project was completed in 2007. Aggregated results from the survey are available on the AIPC website.

Another program that falls under the aegis of CQIRP is the Quality Improvement Program Planning System (QIPPS), which has extended its reach from being primarily a Victorian-based project to having subscribers in New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory and New Zealand. A great deal of support has gone into ensuring these subscribers and users have access to the same level of resourcing as Victorian subscribers. A four-year funding agreement with the Victorian Department of Human Services came to an end in 2007. Staff numbers increased and the web-based tools are functioning at an optimal level. 2007 was also a year of better integrating QIPPS into undergraduate teaching on health promotion. Student feedback has demonstrated that QIPPS is a very useful tool for consolidating learning, both in the classroom as well as in field placements.

QIPPS is increasing its focus on writing up projects to extending the learnings for project managers. This will increase the number of projects in the QIPPS public library and direct attention on writing and disseminating the evidence.

The Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group coordinates the preparation and production of Cochrane systematic reviews of interventions which affect consumers’ interactions with health care professionals, services and researchers. The interventions may relate, for example, to individual use of health care services, or to consumer participation in health planning, policy and research. The reviews are published on The Cochrane Library (www. thecochranelibrary.com)

2007 was a year of growth and consolidation for the Review Group. Dianne Lowe joined Cochrane in the second half of the year to provide both administrative and research support. At year’s end Cochrane were employing two-full time and four part-time staff, and had a stable international editorial team of eleven editors.

Staff were very active in local and international activities associated with their involvement in The Cochrane Collaboration.

The core focus of the Review Group is supporting the production and publication of Cochrane systematic reviews.

New Reviews

The Review Group focused more intently on knowledge transfer, and was successful in obtaining funding for its Health Knowledge Network from the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust. The Health Knowledge Network—managed by Helen Dilkes—grew to over 100 Victorian health professionals and consumer advocates. Evidence and Resource bulletins were sent monthly, and a website was developed for easy access to all information and resources.

Funding from the Department of Human Services, Statewide Quality Branch enabled Cochrane to provide support and resources for hospitals undertaking research that evaluated the effectiveness of consumer and carer participation (the EEP projects).

The mission of the Lincoln Centre for Research on Ageing is to conduct research and development activities designed to address policy and to improve the planning, delivery and evaluation of services for older Australians who require ongoing assistance to achieve and maintain a reasonable quality of life in the community. Lincoln supports an active research program in areas such as health, retirement, community and residential aged care services, ageing and social policy, and community-based rehabilitation.

As older people are frequent users of community care, they warrant a special focus in services research. This is reflected in the name of and research programs within the Centre. However, Lincoln’s overall approach and its research activities include other individuals who require continuing care services, such as those with a mental or physical disability or chronic illness condition. Lincoln is also interested in the interface between community care and other sectors, such as residential care and acute hospital care.

2007 was a year of consolidation for the Lincoln Centre. Joanne Vanzwol joined us in the first half of the year to provide helpdesk support to the Aged Care Assessment Services as part of the Victorian Evaluation Unit. By the end of 2007, our staff complement was 11—most of whom are employed in a part-time capacity.

In 2007, the Lincoln Centre began to take a more active role in graduate education programs in gerontology offered by the Faculty of Health Sciences at La Trobe University, in the areas of gerontology and aged care. Karen Teshuva was particularly involved in helping set up processes to make this possible. Staff also contributed to professional education programs in related areas.

Lincoln was commissioned by the Victorian Department of Human Services to carry out:

In addition, Lincoln worked with AIPC Director Associate Professor Peter Foreman on a project to assist ACT Health to describe issues in its collection of data for the Home and Community Care program, and to identify computer-based solutions to address any deficiencies.

Lincoln’s research activities grew in 2007. Yvonne Wells commenced work on Care Pathways—a project led by the University of Queensland and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council—to conduct analysis on a set of merged administrative databases, including the ACCMIS, HACC and ACAP Minimum Data Sets and the National Death Index. Karen Teshuva and Yvonne Wells were successful in their application to the Wicking Foundation for a research grant on care-provision in community and residential care settings for survivors of genocide and mass trauma, and to the Faculty of Health Sciences for support for a related study on management issues in such care- provision. In addition, Bridget Ryburn secured funding from the Alzheimer’s Association for support for a study on the impacts of residential respite care on people with dementia and their carers. Colleen Doyle was successful in obtaining an Alzheimer’s Association Travelling Fellowship.

Several postgraduate students were supervised by the Lincoln Centre during 2007. Delwyne Stephens—a professional doctorate student supervised by Yvonne Wells and Ian Gardner and recipient of the first AIPC student scholarship— began her studies in 2007 and was successful in securing funds from the Faculty of Health Sciences to attend the Emerging Health Policy Research Conference at The Australian National University, Canberra. Delwyne’s study is about the medium-term outcomes for older people on the waiting list for a Community Aged Care Package. In addition, Frank Luzza graduated with a PhD (on Factors Associated with the Difficulties and Gratifications of new Parenthood), Ling Chen submitted her Masters in Gerontology thesis (“Comparison of Chinese-Australian and Australian-born carers’ experiences of caring for a family member with dementia at home”), and Jodi Oakman enrolled for a PhD on factors that encourage mature age workers to remain in the paid workforce.

In 2007, the Lincoln Centre continued to have an impact on policy development for community care for older people in Australia. New projects and continuing ones—such as analyses undertaken by Lincoln in its capacity as the National Data Repository for the ACAP MDS—had an impact on deliberations undertaken by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and various working groups of the Department of Health and Ageing. We anticipate Lincoln will continue to thrive, with a growing older population and ongoing developments in policy and practice in aged care in Australia.

The Administration Unit is responsible for the provision of assistance to all Institute staff with finance and budget management, human resources, computer support, website maintenance, travel arrangements, editing and quality control, collection and submission of data required by the University/government, and general administrative functions. It plays a co-ordinating role in the preparation of tenders and the publication of reports and newsletters and is responsible for organising the AIPC seminars, which are held on a monthly basis. The unit is also part of the production team of the Australian Journal of Primary Health.

During 2007 a major computer upgrade was undertaken and work began on a compiling an AIPC-specific policy and procedures manual.

Service agreements for the provision of administrative assistance with both the Health Issues Centre and the Quality Improvement Council were renewed and a new agreement for the provision of assistance with finance and human resources for the Australian Centre for Evidence Based aged Care (ACEBAC) commenced in September.

The Unit was strengthened during the year by appointment of a senior administrative officer and by approval being obtained to re-classify the position of PA to the Director; a post to be filled in early 2008