New health partnership funding to engage expertise

New health delivery partnership funding to engage expertise of frontline clinicians and improve patient services

Five research projects have been allocated HRC funding for research partnerships, which will utilise the experience and expertise of frontline clinicians to provide innovative and workable solutions to improve health delivery services.

This new initiative requires the collaboration of the health research community and the health delivery organisations.

Professor Merryn Gott’s palliative care admissions study looks at how to better meet the needs of patients and family/whānau at the end of life. This study not only looks at how to improve palliative care services, but how to support patients who prefer to receive end of life care at home, thus reducing hospital admissions. Professor Gott believes the research will be of interest to health professionals and policy makers not just in New Zealand, but internationally.

About 850 adults present at Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital Emergency Department, five or more times a year, for ‘medical’ (non-surgical) needs. This high level of user repeat visits reflects unmet health care needs. Associate Professor Timothy Kenealy’s study will run trials to evaluate how the use of a new care pathway which coordinates users health care and social services, reduces the costs and frequency of presentations to the emergency department.

Diabetes continues to be a priority for the health sector and is more common in Māori and Pacific people. Health outcomes are better if diabetes is well controlled, but many people with diabetes have inadequate control and the required secondary support services are unable to meet the demand. Dr Jeremy Krebs’ model will evaluate if increased patient access to specialist input, and upskilling of the primary care team in diabetes management, is a cost effective way of improving diabetes care.

Dr Brian McKenna’s research will evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of a ‘best practice’ service delivery model to address the high rate of serious mental illness for New Zealand prisoners, estimated to be 10-15% of the prison population. A pre- and post-test research evaluation will be used to compare detection rates, service response, mental health outcomes, post-release community mental health engagement and reoffending rates, before and after implementation of the model. Successful evaluation could provide a benchmark for the national implementation of an improved model of care.

Patients living in rural communities are often unable to readily access imaging services, such as ultrasound. Dr Garry Nixon’s research aims to evaluate the impact of clinician performed ultrasound services within the rural communities of Otago and the Hokianga, and will evaluate the costs and benefits of this service. The benefits of improved access to ultrasound are likely to be strongest for patients living in socio-economically deprived rural communities.

ENDS

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