Better health and ageing for all Australians

Encouraging Better Practice in Aged Care Initiative

Aged Care Service Improvement and Healthy Ageing Grants Fund

This page contains information on Priority Area 3.3a DoHA 116/1213

Better Health Care Connections: Promoting better practice and partnerships in research translation

Building the capacity of the aged care workforce to provide quality care is critical as the aged care sector enters a period of major reform which will see significant changes in the way aged care is delivered.

Good, sound research into clinical and non-clinical aspects of aged care exists, but does not always translate into improving how care is delivered. Existing research needs to be made accessible, user friendly and relevant to the aged care workforce in order to be successfully integrated into everyday care and service delivery.

An aged care workforce that is adequately supported and skilled can provide optimum care to clients, as well as support the business imperatives of aged care providers.

The Encouraging Better Practice in Aged Care (EBPAC) initiative aims to encourage and support the uptake of evidence-based, person centred, better practice in Australian Government subsidised aged care services. Previous funding rounds of EBPAC have focused on evidence translation of clinical areas through education and training of staff which has enhanced outcomes for consumers and the workforce. More information on the initiative and these projects, as well as the findings from the national evaluation, Encouraging Better Practice in Residential Aged Care Final Report (March 2011), are available at the Department of Health and Ageing website.

EBPAC has expanded to include initiatives applicable to both the Community and Residential aged care setting.
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Priority Area 3.3a ITA DoHA 116/1213 - Quality Use of Medicines

The aim of the funding is to promote best practice in medication management within the aged care sector to improve the health outcomes for older Australians.

While a significant amount of research has been undertaken and resources developed, tested and evaluated in the use of medicines, these resources have not been particularly relevant to the aged care sector. Older Australians are the largest users of medicines and often use several prescribed and over the counter medicines at the same time. The possibility of adverse drug reactions increase with the number of medicines used concurrently impacting on the overall quality of life. Aged care services need to support, and often manage, each client’s health needs, which include complex medication regimens.

Funding is available for projects that identify strategies to support aged care services to implement QUM practices that are accessible and relevant to the aged care workforce.
The types of activities that applicants will be expected to undertake include, but are not limited to:
  1. reviewing the range of existing resources for their currency and relevance to the aged care sector;
  2. identifying the most suitable resources for residential and community aged care services;
  3. tailoring these resources for aged care services to assist them to embed evidence-based QUM practices into day-to-day care delivery;
  4. proposing a dissemination and education strategy to encourage the uptake of these resources and promote quality use of medicines;
  5. recommending cost effective options for business process re-design that incorporates QUM; and
  6. outlining performance indicators to assess the QUM practices in the aged care sector.
Applicants will need to consider state and territory legislations and professional requirements. Proposals outlining strategies that use information and telecommunication technology will be considered favourably.

Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) is one of the central objectives of Australia’s National Medicines Policy. QUM means:
  • selecting management options wisely;
  • choosing suitable medicines if a medicine is considered necessary; and
  • using medicines safely and effectively.
QUM applies equally to decisions about medicine use by individuals and to decisions that affect the health of the population. The term ‘medicine’ includes prescription, non-prescription and complementary medicines.

The Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act) requires providers of aged care homes to meet the Accreditation Standards to ensure the quality of care and quality of life of all residents. Under Outcome 2.7 Medication management, approved providers are required to ensure that residents’ medication is managed safely and correctly by appropriately skilled staff.
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