Health Translation SA has been successful in its application to be formally re-accredited by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) from 2022-2027.

Below is an excerpt from the application summary:

Health Translation SA – Role, Strategy and Approach

HTSA is a state-wide partnership that enables vibrant and high functioning collaborations between universities, health services, industry, education providers and the community to deliver research and health care benefits for the community. Together, we are working to facilitate culture change across SA – orienting research to achieve maximum impact through the adoption of a translational research paradigm that reflects and applies the principles of implementation science. We also work collaboratively with other Advanced Health Research Translation Centres (AHRTCs), through the Australian Health Research Alliance (AHRA), to advocate for action to drive health research translation and research impact across Australia.

Our Partnership encompasses key health services across the primary care and hospital care sectors: SA Department for Health and Wellbeing (DHW) and the 10 LHNs; SA’s two Primary Health Networks; CEIH; AHCSA; and academic research institutions (SAHMRI, FU, UoA, UniSA, Torrens University, and CSIRO). In addition, we meet our state-wide remit by engaging meaningfully with consumers and other stakeholders through our annual HTSA Stakeholder Forum and Consumer & Community Engagement Action Group which is represented on our Board. This cross-section of highly relevant, influential organisations and individuals engaged in the Board and activities supported by HTSA has ensured (and continues to ensure) that outcomes from strategic projects are being successfully and rapidly implemented.

Over the last 5 years, we have cemented our role as the leading entity in health and medical research translation in SA. HTSA is recognised as an independent catalyst and broker, to mobilise leadership and drive cross-sector collaborations to address unmet health system priorities and health challenges.  

We work closely with our partners to harness and leverage the translational strengths in SA and improve capability to conduct impactful research and support the implementation of evidence into health care practice. All HTSA affiliated initiatives align with our 4 strategic priorities:

1. Mobilise leadership and collaboration to activate and improve the translation of research into practice
2. Facilitate translation projects to address significant health and health system challenges
3. Drive state-wide system improvements to enhance and enable research translation
4. Measure, demonstrate and communicate HTSA’s role, successes, and impact.

Health Translation SA – Excellence and Achievement 

We measure research translation excellence using both traditional research metrics and non-traditional metrics. Our non-traditional impact metrics include indicators of the effective adoption of the principles of knowledge translation in our projects, such as consumer engagement, cross-sector stakeholder engagement, collaborative co-design, and impact. This application showcases exemplar initiatives that demonstrate HTSA’s excellence and achievement in improving the translation of research into benefits for patients and the health care system.

HTSA Change Management Initiatives

HTSA’s change management initiatives have led to system-wide improvements in: 

• Research governance processes and structures via our Clinical Research Governance initiative
• Data access and analytic capacity via the Health Analytics Research Collaborative
• Improved translation capability of researchers in key focus areas:
  • Data analytics via the Data Translation Fellowship Program co-developed with the CEIH which offers networking and mentorship opportunities and career pathway development in the health system for data science leaders 
  • Consumer and community engagement via the establishment of a Community Interest Register and Consumer Engagement Toolkit 
  • Implementation science via the state-wide Implementation Science forum, Spotlight Series, and promoted training opportunities
  • Applied health economics via the Embedded Economist initiative conducted in partnership with NSW Regional Health Partners.
• HTSA has also played a key role in several AHRA National System Level Initiatives (NSLIs) including leading the Indigenous Researcher Capacity Building Initiative (IRNet). 

HTSA Strategic Translation Projects

HTSA oversees six state-wide, collaborative programs that bring together teams of researchers, clinicians, policy makers, and consumers to address significant areas of need (Flagship Programs). These, together with our other Research Translation Projects (including 26 Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Rapid Applied Research Translation (RART) projects and NSLIs) target the HTSA priority areas – Aboriginal Health; Mental Health; Ageing and Frailty; Women’s and Children’s Health; Chronic Diseases; Digital Health; Primary/Acute-Care Interface; and Wound Care. Some key exemplars included in this application include (but are not limited to) the: 

• Stroke Datalink Project
• SA Aboriginal Chronic Disease Consortium (SA ACDC)
• First 1000 Days of Life – Omega 3 
• Digital Support Tool for Mental Health (AI²) 
• Registry of Senior Australians 
• No Australians Dying of Bowel Cancer initiative.

To date, HTSA has coordinated the investment of $12.2M to advance the translation of research into practice and policy across SA.  

Health Translation SA – The Future 

Since original accreditation HTSA has successfully moved from being a “push” organisation to a “pull” organisation. This is evidenced by the recent addition of three new financial partners and a variety of requests for HTSA support, from both health services and research groups, as they strive to utilise and build on HTSA’s expertise and positioning.We are committed to building strategic collaborations that break down the silos between health service and research organisations.

HTSA has reached a level of maturity that has allowed it to achieve early impact when considering health and health service outcomes.  It is acknowledged, however, that changing culture to enable end user and system impact is a core focus of all HTSA activities, and that this will require some further time to yield ongoing improvements that are systematically scaled and sustained.  

Since our establishment in 2015, HTSA has grown to become a well-respected and trusted independent broker within the health sector and beyond that ensures the research being undertaken has the best opportunity for impact. HTSA supports our researchers, clinicians, and change agents to think nationally, and globally, and guides them as they navigate the complex journey towards successful health research translation. Re-accreditation of HTSA as a NHMRC RTC will ensure that the progress made since accreditation can be leveraged and deliver significant, improved health and system outcomes over the next 5 years.