$7.9 million investment in collaborative health research

Projects aiming to improve leadership equity in health care, mental health, children’s wellbeing and patient safety are among those awarded $7.9 million in grants for research conducted in collaboration with health sector partners across Australia.

Six projects have been funded through the latest round of National Health and Medical Research Council Partnership Project grants commencing in 2023.

These grants support researchers to partner with policymakers and health service providers to design and deliver research that addresses health needs in our community.

Led by the Director of the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation Professor Helena Teede, a grant of almost $1.5 million to Monash University aims to improve equity and health outcomes through research on organisational interventions to advance the representation of women in healthcare leadership.

‘Delivered by women, led by men’, a 2019 World Health Organization report, found that, while women account for 70% of the global health and social care workforce and deliver care to around five billion people worldwide, they remain under-represented in the most senior roles and largely segregated into lower-status and lower-paid jobs in health care.

Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney MP said, “The projects funded have the potential to support more women into leadership in the health system, improve the health and wellbeing of children, digitally enhance the provision of mental health care and reduce barriers to access to health care.”

Through their grant, Teede and her team will work with partners such as the Australian Medical Association, Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators, Royal Australasian College of Physicians and Royal Australasian College of Surgeons to generate an implementation toolkit to advance leadership equity and improve health care.

The Partnership Project grant funding also includes:

• Almost $1.1 million for Professor Robyn Clark at Flinders University and collaborators to investigate the effectiveness of delivering virtual care for people living with chronic diseases in low socioeconomic neighbourhoods to reduce hospital admissions and improve patients’ quality of life.
• Almost $1.5 million for Professor Mario Alvarez-Jimenez at the University of Melbourne and collaborators to evaluate the real-world impact of digitally enhancing a large network of mental health services.
• Almost $1.5 million for Professor Fiona Coyer at Queensland University of Technology and collaborators for a project seeking to eliminate harm caused by medical devices and improve patient safety.
   

Researchers work with partners to define research questions and undertake research that the partners then translate into improved health services for end users.

NHMRC CEO Professor Anne Kelso AO said, “Partners are vital to this research, identifying the problems, making sure the right questions are asked and working with the research teams to undertake the research and implement the results.”

Projects funded will be supported by 34 funding partners, which together are contributing a further $10.5 million, bringing the total investment in the collaborative research to over $18 million.

The full list of projects funded can be found here.

Image credit: iStock.com/oatawa