ProfessorViet Tran

Project Total: $1,000,000; Tasmania has the oldest, most rapidly ageing population in Australia and some of the poorest health outcomes of any Australian state or territory due to higher levels of socioeconomic disadvantage, chronic disease and disability. It faces regional health challenges with a highly geographically dispersed population. To address these health needs, the Tasmanian Collaboration for Health Improvement (TCHI) was formally established in 2018. TCHI is a collaborative partnership between the Tasmanian Department of Health and Tasmanian Health Services, the University of Tasmania, Primary Health Tasmania (Tasmanias sole Primary Health Network) and Health Consumers Tasmania. This is a strong, committed partnership evidenced by the major investment from its partners since its inception. It has an established governance and leadership structure. With one health system, one Primary Health Network and one University working together, the collaboration is in a unique position to rapidly and effectively translate research evidence into practice and policy and improve the health outcomes for Tasmanians. TCHI has co-developed a series of five priority projects that will address specific health needs in Tasmania. Project 1 will implement and evaluate a co-designed intervention in general practice to reduce unwarranted surgical referral for osteoarthritis. Project 2 will implement a nation-leading model for monitoring and managing blood pressure in primary care to reduce the burden of hypertension in the State. Project 3 focuses on improving services, health outcomes and preventing hospitalisations for individuals that are frequently admitted to hospital. Project 4 aims to reduce the pressure on emergency departments through the implementation of a novel Emergency Department Learning Health System that has been co-developed with all TCHI partners. Project 5 will co-design approaches for measuring and monitoring racism experienced by First Peoples in Tasmanias public health system. Funded by: National Health & Medical Research CouncilNational Health & Medical Research Council - Collaborations in Health Services Research ($2,000,000); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $113,575; A small proportion of people impose a disproportionately high burden on the healthcare system, called high healthcare service utilisation (HSU). These people have complex care needs, often having multiple chronic conditions. Interventions aimed at improving outcomes for people with HSU have had limited effectiveness. A major reason for this is a lack of understanding of how people with different forms of HSU differ in their characteristics and potential needs. For example, people who frequently use hospital emergency departments (EDs) are likely to have different health and/or social problems than those who require frequent hospital admissions and so require different care delivered in different ways. This project aims to understand the issues driving HSU across Tasmania and develop an agreed rank of priorities for addressing issues related to HSU in Tasmania. We will undertake semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of key stakeholders (i.e., acute and primary care clinicians, policy makers, and NGO representatives). We will combine the results of this study with the results of our study that used stories of Tasmanians with lived experience of HSU. Results of the two studies will inform a priority setting workshop. At project end we aim to have an agreed priority area to which we will apply co-design methodology to (re)design a service to address this priority area. Funded by: Royal Australian College of General Practitioners - Grant - RACGP/HCF Research Grant ($113,575); University of Tasmania ($319).

Project Total: $61,911; A small proportion of people impose a disproportionately high burden on the healthcare system, called high healthcare service utilisation (HSU). These people have complex care needs, often having multiple chronic conditions. Interventions aimed at improving outcomes for people with HSU have had limited effectiveness. A major reason for this is a lack of understanding of how people with different forms of HSU differ in their characteristics and potential needs. For example, people who frequently use hospital emergency departments (EDs) are likely to have different health and/or social problems than those who require frequent hospital admissions and so require different care delivered in different ways. This project aims to understand the issues driving HSU across Tasmania. We will undertake semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of Tasmanias with lived experience of HSU across the three regions (north, north-west, and south) to identify the issues specific to each region and / or type of HSU. Funded by: The MPST Foundation Ltd - Grant ($61,911); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $2,890,283; Funded by: Medical Research Futures Fund

Project Total: $2,919,109; Clinical pathways (CPs) are multidisciplinary tools enabling large-scale consistent practice of evidence-based medicine, and have the potential to improve patient care and reduce pressure on Emergency Departments. The effectiveness of CPs in Australia is not well known. IMPACT will utilise a consumer-driven approach to investigate barriers for CP use, develop a scalable and sustainable implementation strategy for CPs, and identify CP priorities to drive further excellence in health care. Funded by: Medical Research Future Fund - Grant-2022 Models of Care to Improve the Efficienc ($2,919,109); University of Tasmania ($108,157).

Project Total: $9,812; This project involves development of a simple, minimally invasive Volumetric Absorptive Microsampling (VAMS) analysis of paracetamol and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels to provide easier and safer management of patients with paracetamol toxicity due to overdose. Funded by: Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation - Grant-Incubator ($9,812); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $25,000; Funded by: RHH Research Foundation

Project Total: $3,400; Funded by: RHH Research Foundation

Project Total: $11,998,906; A clinical trials network to enhance treatment access and improve the health of communities across Australia through innovative mental health trials, generating much needed new therapies, lived experience leadership. MAGNET is the first Australia-wide clinical trials network in adult mental health. Funded by: Medical Research Future Fund - Grant - Million Minds Mission; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $3,722,730; Funded by: NHMRC

Project Total: $19,950; Funded by: RHH Research Foundation

Project Total: $76,062; Funded by: The Motor Accidents Insurance Board

Project Total: $150,000; A before and after study in 2 Vietnamese hospitals of the effectiveness of a trauma management course for the reduction of morbidity and mortality of road trauma in that country. Funded by: Elphinstone Group - Donation ($150,000); University of Tasmania.