IFIC Australia Newsletter: Integrated Care Schools, Webinars, Publications and Conferences

IFIC’s country hubs represent one of the main engines through which IFIC’s aims and mission can be realised. Working in partnership with IFIC, country hubs seek to develop independent and inclusive networks to inspire, influence, facilitate and adopt integrated care in policy and practice.

IFIC Australia was founded in 2015 as a country hub to promote and support integrated care in Australia and the Asia Pacific Region. IFIC Australia seeks to achieve this by providing a platform to develop and exchange ideas and promote activities in the Region in keeping with IFIC’s mission.

Since July 2017, IFIC Australia has sought to develop a group of Partners (individual and organisational) to help take forward IFIC Australia’s work across the Region. IFIC Australia’s Partners have a mutual commitment to support the adoption of integrated care in policy and practice and work together to develop research projects, educational activities or material of mutual benefit that meet the aims and objectives of IFIC Australia
Since the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in June 2022, the commitment to establish and develop IFIC Australia sits with the University of Sydney, the University of Newcastle, Central Coast Local Health District, Sydney Local Health District and the Central Coast Research Institute (CCRI). The hosting organisations are supported by a wide range of individuals and organisations representing academia, health and care services, consumer organisations and private providers.

To find out more about joining IFIC Australia through our partnership programme contact: IFICAustralia@integratedcarefoundation.org

This immersive learning experience responds to demand from the health and aged care sectors in Australia and the Asia Pacific to help build knowledge, capacity and skills to support the effective design and adoption of integrated care in practice. The two-day course is designed as a short, intensive, residential program for individuals, teams and local partners to support the advancement of their integrated care projects and plans in their own context.

The course is organised in advance of the 3rd Asia Pacific Conference on Integrated Care (APIC3). This course has been developed for those involved in the design, implementation, management and evaluation of integrated care approaches and whom want to learn more about leading initiatives, new models of care and evidence-based practice.

The course will be taught by leading academics, police makers and practitioners including IFIC’s international team of experts. It will have a combination of lectures, facilitated discussions, a site visit to ATUNE Health Centre in Cardiff, and some practical exercises.

You will be immersed in the expertise of the Foundation, the CCRI and its partners, the school will be a space for you to share your experiences, concerns, and learning with the rest of the participants in a collaborative learning environment.

There will also be a visit to an Aboriginal Cultural Site, an opportunity to learn from First Nation experience, a core theme of APIC3.

After forty years in the NSW Health system as a clinician, public health physician and senior manager, Dr Greg Stewart retired in April 2020 from his position as Director of Primary, Integrated and Community Health for South-Eastern Sydney Local Health District (2011-20). His career spanned a full range of management and public health activities in NSW Health, including as Director of the South-Western Sydney Public Health Unit (1990-96), Chief Executive Officer of Wentworth Area Health Service (2000-01), Chief Health Officer of NSW (2001-05) and Director of Population Health, Planning and Performance for Sydney South West Area Health Service (2005-11).

Greg undertook his medical training at Sydney University and graduated in 1979. In 1984, he undertook a Master of Public Health degree, also at Sydney University. He is a Foundation Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine (1990) and was President of the Faculty from May 2014 to May 2016. He currently serves as Chair of the AFPHM NSW Regional Committee and is the NSW Regional Education Coordinator. He chairs the Faculty Training Committee and serves on the Faculty Education Committee.

He chairs the Partnership Committee of IFIC Australia, the Advisory Committee of the Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity at UNSW, and the Management Committee of the Join Us Research Register (George Institute).

His Board governance experience includes on the NSW Medical Board/Council (2002-2012), and on the Boards of Sydney Water (2005-2012) and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2006-2012). He has served two terms on the RACP Board (2014-2016 and 2020-2021). He is currently a member of the RACP Ethics Committee.
He was recalled to duty from July to October 2020 and again from July to November 2021 to assist in the NSW Health COVID-19 Public Health Response Branch where he was a Deputy Public Health Controller and Senior Medical Advisor, working on a range of activities related to prevention and response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Digital health has a central role to play in tackling Australia’s many healthcare challenges, especially to support the health and wellbeing of older people and their carers. Technologies including telehealth, electronic health records, wearable devices, mobile health applications and digital therapeutics are increasingly being embedded in the health and aged care system. These provide an opportunity to improve care outcomes and reduce costs by increasing the availability of relevant information, allowing better diagnosis, treatment and care.

Drawing on expertise from Scotland and Australia, this webinar seeks to examine how data sharing with older people and their carers can lead to a transformational impact on service delivery, and examines the future potential for technologies that support older people in the home and aged care environments.

The webinar will be chaired by Professor Nicholas Goodwin, Director, Central Coast Research Institute (CCRI), University of Newcastle

Chaloner Chute

Chief Technology Officer | Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre

Chal leads on digital strategy for DHI and a range of partners and initiatives. He is an expert in leveraging digital technology to support service transformation and in applying systems thinking in these activities. He is devoted to the idea that citizens can be empowered to take an active role in their own care and wellbeing. Chal believes that digital health and care offers the tools to achieve this, and the DHI has the fresh perspective necessary to reconceive the relationship between the citizen and those who might care for them. He brings a range of skills including a Master’s in Healthcare Management & Leadership and a Master’s in Public Health Policy: Health Systems. He has spent nine years working in digital innovation, seven years working in Scottish Government public policy and health and care service delivery and has led the design, development, integration and roll out of many digital health and care services with several now in use at scale across Scotland.

Lyn Davies

Managing Director of Tunstall Healthcare Asia Pacific

Lyn was appointed as Managing Director of Tunstall Healthcare for Asia Pacific in 2011. Tunstall Healthcare is a world-leading provider of Connected Care and Connected Health solutions. Tunstall operates in 18 countries around the world, with 235 Monitoring Centres supporting over 5 million people. Their products and solutions play a key role in helping older people, and those with long-term health needs, to live safely and independently in a place of their choice.

Lyn joined Tunstall in 2004 with 20 years’ of experience in 24/7 operations and service delivery across the public and private sectors. Prior to working for Tunstall she held leadership positions for the Qld Mater Hospitals and for CITEC, the information technology division for the State of Queensland.

Lyn is a strong advocate for consumers and industry and an active member and director on key industry groups.

She is currently a Director on the Board of the Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA) and Chair of the MTAA’s Digital Health Advisory Group (CHAG). Lyn is also a Director and Deputy Chair of the Personal Emergency Response Service Limited (PERSL) and Vice Chair of the Australian Silver Industry Group (ASIG).

George Margelis

Independent Chair, Aged Care Industry Information Technology Council, Australia

Dr George Margelis is a medical practitioner who has been deeply involved in technology for the last 30 years. Originally trained as an optometrist, he started tinkering with computers in 1981 when he bought his first PC, a Sinclair ZX80 before going back to medical school to complete his training at the University of Sydney.

He was Chief Information Officer (CIO) of a private hospital group as well as managing an innovative software development team that produced a personal health record for Australians 10 years before the PCEHR. He joined Intel in 2005, and then Intel-GE Innovations as they tried to radically transform healthcare and has some amusing stories he can share about that time.

In 2013 he was appointed an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Western Sydney with the TeleHealth Research & Innovation Laboratory (THRIL) and is also currently a member of Ignition Labs a start-up incubator in the health space as well as a number of advisory roles. In 2014 he was appointed to the IT in Aged Care Hall of Fame for his work in the use of technology in aged care. He is a board member of Multicultural Care, an aged care provider in Sydney and also acts as their medical adviser.

Catherine Oates-Smith

MedTech Theme Leader, NSW Smart Sensors Network

Catherine Oates Smith is the MedTech Theme Leader at the NSW Smart Sensing Network (NSSN).

Joining the NSSN in October 2022, Catherine is responsible for engagement with university, government and industry stakeholders in MedTech. She also leads the NSSN Aged Care Grand Challenge. In previous roles, Catherine was the Executive Director of a cancer charity and has co-founded gene therapy and microbiome start-up charities.

She has extensive experience in senior management roles in the legal and not-for-profit sectors, was formerly a television journalist in the UK, and has a long track record in PR, branding and strategy. Her industry experience includes finance, banking, property, women's and children’s health (in public hospital settings), and most recently microbiome health in digital platform consumer contexts.

The International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC), in partnership with the Integrated Journal of Integrated Care (IJIC), and the International Foundation for Integrated Care Australia (IFIC Australia), announces a new live, no-cost, webinar offering, How to Get Published in Integrated Care, taking place on Monday, 18 September.

The How to Get Published in Integrated Care webinar is aimed at all those interested in promoting their research and practice in integrated are and writing scientific papers on their programs or initiatives. Whether you are an emerging researcher or an experienced, published academic, whether you are a professional or a consumer, this webinar will allow you to dig deep into the ins and outs of publishing with IJIC and the do’s and don’ts of scientific writing. Engage directly with leading names in integrated care, who will share their advice on how to get published.

Attendees of the webinar will have the opportunity to develop the following skills;
• Adapt your research to meet current topics
• Identify how to make your work stand out
• Ensure your submission meets publishing requirements
• Structure your submissions

The interactive webinar will be led by some of the editors-in-chief of the International Journal of Integrated Care (IJIC)

Some key articles from Australia in recent months include:

Turning Strategy into Action – Using the ECHO Model to Empower the Australian Workforce to Integrate Care

The establishment of the first Project ECHO hub in Queensland facilitated the implementation of a variety of child and youth health CoP that strategically aligned to the organisation’s approach to integrate care through workforce development. Subsequently, other organisations nationally have also been trained to implement and replicate the ECHO model to effect more integrated care through CoPs in other priority areas.

Read the full article here!

The Winter Strategy – a Multifaceted Integrated Care Intervention to Support People with Chronic and Complex Care Needs during the Australian Winter Period

An integrated care intervention was provided to patients at high risk of hospitalisation during the 2017 and 2018 winters in Northern New South Wales, Australia. Patients received increased support including general practice sick day action plans, automated admission notifications to the general practitioner, and care coordination services. Outcomes were provider and patient experience and preventable hospitalisation rates.

Read the full article here!

Making Connections that Count – a Case Study of the Family Referral Service in Schools Program on the Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia

The Family-Referral-Services-In-Schools (FRSIS) is an early-intervention case management program for children and families with complex unmet needs, providing access to family support, housing, mental health care, and/or drug and alcohol services. The in-school trial setting was aimed at improving service uptake which was low in its community counterpart.

Read the full article here!

From People-Centred to People-Driven Care: Can Integrated Care Achieve its Promise without it?

People-centred care seeks to build the skills and resources that individuals and communities need to be articulate and empowered users of health and care services. It is an approach that supports people to make effective decisions about their own health to achieve the outcomes that matter most to them. It enables communities to become active in partnering with care services and contributing to relevant research, education and healthy public policy. Special attention is often given to tackling inequalities by engaging and supporting the voices of marginalised, vulnerable and disengaged people.

Read the full editorial here!

The International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC) in partnership with IFIC Australia and the International Journal of Integrated Care (IJIC) and supported by University of Sydney, Central Coast Research Institute (CCRI), University of Newcastle, Central Coast Local Health District, Sydney Local Health District, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Children’s Health Queensland, Health Consumers NSW, Central and Eastern Sydney PHN and Centre of Research Excellence for Integrated Health and Social Care present the 3rd Asia Pacific Conference on Integrated Care (APIC3) “Building healthcare system sustainability and resilience” which will take place at the Wesley Conference Centre in Sydney from 13-15 November 2023.

To create truly sustainable and resilient health and care systems that really address health inequalities, a system-wide transformation is needed. A new focus on preventative health, particularly for socially and economically disadvantaged communities is required to support better outcomes for all.

This conference will focus on taking an equitable approach to designing and delivering health and care services, working across multiple organisations, health and care agencies, but also policing and housing and other support agencies, and including the NGO and the community sector. A system-wide approach is immediately required to achieve better outcomes for individual consumers and the wider population.

Almost 300 abstracts have been accepted to appear in the programme as oral presentations, workshops or posters and the full programme will be published shortly. This 3 day event will include 80 sessions with presentations from across the world including speaker from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, China, Europe and North America.

Register before 31 August to avail of a 10% Early Bird discount by using the code EARLYBIRD