RED THE LETTER
RESNET WA NEWSLETTER July 2005
Welcome to the July PHC RED researchers network e-letter! Can I also remind you of our website which you can access from the following link
http://www.meddent.uwa.edu.au/gp/research/. The discussion board is being set up with details below. Therefore, if you have any queries, notices and suggestions for the Red Letter or what ResNet WA can provide then please let us know at [e-mail].
CONSUMER REPRESENTATION Nancy Pierce is coordinator of the Australian Primary Care Community Partnership and has recently joined the researcher network. Consumer participation has become an essential part of the health research process. The NHMRC has published guidelines for consumer participation in the grants and funding process of health research. Nancy has had many years experience in consumer health issues and has written the following piece for the newsletter regarding the partnership. Please feel free to contact Nancy with any queries.
Australian Primary Care Community Partnership is a group that has been incorporated since June 2004. Its formation eventuated to meet a need for there to be a more cooperative and collaborative approach between community and consumer groups who are interested and experienced in research in primary care. Extending this collaborative approach to working with health professionals and others is perceived by the group to be essential to improve safety for the individual and health outcomes for the community in general. The management team has more than twenty five years experience in working with general practice and includes a General Practitioner. Members have expertise in population health, Cochrane, national collaboratives, Quality Use of Medicines and all the national priority areas of aged care, mental health, rural health, chronic illness and Aboriginal and CALD community health. . Members are currently engaged with organisations such as Universities in WA and interstate, RACGP, NHMRC, Dept of
Health and Ageing, National Prescribing Service, Department of Health WA and Divisions of General Practice across Australia. Nancy Pierce, coordinator of the group, says the groups strength is in the diversity, experience and ability of its members to contribute their expertise and complement each other in an efficient and positive way which ensures a harmonious working relationship. Our network is wide and we are available for consultation if there is a need for community/consumer input. Contact details [e-mail]
DISCUSSIONS @ RESNET WA
ResNet WA
The discussion board for the website for the researcher network has finally gone live! The discussion board is a means of providing members with greater access to the network and the opportunity to interact with other members about topics of interest to them. The website, entitled ResNet WA, can be accessed through the from the PHCRED webpage of the University of Western Australia website. Please be patient over the next few months as we add members only access to presentations from meetings and seminars during 2005. Watch this space!
WHAT OUR MEMBERS THINK.. Most of you will recall filling out membership forms when you joined the network. I have collated preferences and demographics from this form of all our members. We currently have 42 members. The majority of our members are GPs (45%) and divisional staff in various roles (29%). Occupations are shown in the Table below (refer Table 1).
Table 1 Occupations of network members
Profession GP Divisional staff Allied Health Nursing Other*
No of respondents 19 12 4 3 3
% respondents 46.3 29.3 9.8 7.3 7.3
Reasons for joining the network Reasons were as varied as members for joining the network. The results have been collated and shown below in Table 2.
Table 2 Interests of network members [multiple response]
Interest General PHC research Chronic disease area Aged care Workforce issues Mental health Palliative care Health promotion EBM Paediatric medicine e-medicine Safety and quality Quality use of meds Rural health Other
No of respondents 13 12 8 5 4 3 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 8
% respondents 30.9 28.6 19.0 11.9 9.5 7.1 9.5 7.1 7.1 7.1 7.1 4.7 4.7 19.0
[Other* includes biostatistics, womens health, substance abuse, family and domestic violence, sports medicine, cosmetic surgery, use of imaging and experience of health professional patients]
More members had joined the network for assistance with potential future research projects (43%) with a surprising seven members (17%) who had joined to access the UWA library. Overall, 61% preferred receive to a monthly newsletter. In regard to topics for inclusion in the network, methodological advice from other researchers and members was the most often cited topic (50%) followed by 25% of members who named all topics as of equal importance to their research needs. 64% of members already accessed an electronic library of which Cochrane Collaboration was most often accessed (55%). A majority of members felt that they would use the library regularly if provided with access. The results clearly show the importance of members ability to network with other researchers. It is hoped that the 2*2 conference with details below and the network
website will have the ability to facilitate this interaction for members in coming months. PHCRED, RACGP and CUCRH Conference Two by Two Research at the Zoo Early bird registration and book voucher
Hurry Registrations limited!! Following the success of 04s inaugural Two by Two Research Conference, this years conference aims to highlight local primary care research initiatives, provide opportunities for networking plus facilitate the learning of new skills. The conference is aimed at both new and experienced researchers and works in progress are particularly welcome. The conference, a joint collaboration between PHC RED, UWA, CUCRRH and RACGP WA, will be of particular interest to GPs and Divisions of General Practice and will be chaired by Prof Jon Emery, Professor of General Practice UWA , Director of PHC RED. Assoc Prof Jane Gunn, from University of Melbourne will give the Keynote Address entitled Oil and water dont mix but what about research and practice? The WA Faculty is dedicated to supporting medical practitioners who initiate research programs in to some of the issues facing them in their day to day practice. This conference offers areas of interest to all members of the primary health care team, by providing GP researchers with the opportunity to present their research project to their peers and colleagues. See you there! says Dr Vasantha Preetham, Chair, WA Faculty. Registration is $50 p/p Early Bird registrations paid before 12th August entered into draw for $50 book voucher from Archive Books Please contact Caroline Bulsara by phone [phone] or email [e-mail] Proudly Sponsored by General Pathology Laboratories
http://www.meddent.uwa.edu.au/gp/research/ A registration form is now available. Please consider joining us at the Perth Zoo for this wonderful venue. The registration fee is set at $50 for this year. The conference hopes to provide a range of workshops once more. The workshops were extremely popular last year and themes for this year have now been decided upon. The topics to be covered are: Meaningful consumer parti...