With increasing numbers of older people with complex needs seeking hospital care the rapid applied translational research initiative State Action on Avoidable Rehospitalisations and Unplanned Admissions (STAAR-SA) project is delivering innovative and significantly improved pathways of care for older South Australians.

The STAAR-SA project, funded by a Medical Research Future Fund Rapid Applied Research Translation Grant and facilitated by HTSA, has brought together the full scope of health and aged care experts and practitioners with consumers to work together to develop models of care designed to improve health outcomes for older people and reduce avoidable hospitalisations.

Study lead, Professor Maria Crotty, Professor of Rehabilitation and Aged Care, at Flinders University says many people leave hospital while they are still on a waiting list for a Commonwealth in-home care package.
 
“We drew on qualitative research, where older people including those who had been repeatedly readmitted to hospital were all very clear that between leaving hospital and going home, there was something missing in the middle,” Prof Crotty says.

Also on the research team, internationally recognised expert in implementation science and leader in the field of knowledge translation, Professor Gillian Harvey, from the Caring Futures Institute at Flinders University, says the outcomes from the Quality Improvement Collaborative have been significant.

“Part of what we set out to do was establish a network of knowledge users, researchers, and policy makers working across differences in resources, knowledge, skills, and culture, that would have the potential to tackle other complex problems associated with caring for the older population across SA,” Prof Harvey says.

“We have delivered that, and it will continue to make an impact on improving aged care in South Australia.”

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Photo: Left- Professor Maria Crotty, Right-Professor Gillian Harvey