What role can health infomatics and complementary medicine play in resolving the health care crisis? Associate Professor Andrew Stranieri from the Centre for Infomatics and Applied Optimisation at Federation University posed this question at a seminar on the subject hosted by MUDRH in April.

The Health infomatics discipline deals with how to optimise the collection, storage and use of information in health and biomedicine. Associate Professor Stranieri’s research combines argumentation theory with machine learning and led to a new approach for modelling discretionary reasoning and numerous commercial decision support systems. His research formed the basis of approaches to support group reasoning.

The seminar was well attended by staff and students from Gippsland.

Dr Melinda Goodyear is project manager of the Mental Illness Research Fund (MIRF) project led by Associate Professor Darryl Maybery. Her work and the MIRF project focus on families with a parent with a mental illness. She presented at the COPMI/FaPMI [title: children of parents with a mental illness/families where a parent has a mental illness] International Conference and Research Meeting in Prato, Italy, in December 2013.

The top 30 international researchers in the field attended the meeting so Dr Goodyear was able to profile MUDRIH as a leader in this area of research. Her presentation resulted in the establishment of an international collaboration to write a conceptual paper on family resilience, and another to work on an ARC grant application on the transition to parenthood.

Dr Goodyear was also able to set up mentorships with Professor Joanne Nicholson (Professor of Psychiatry at the Darmouth Psychiatric Research Centre, USA) and Dr Brenda Gladstone (Center for Critial Qualitative Health Research, Canada).

The Deputy Director of the WA Centre for Rural Health, Maeva Hall, visited MUDRIH in March on a whirlwind tour.

Maeva Hall is an occupational therapist with a background in rural based public and private health services. She is interested in the opportunities provided by non-traditional models of clinical placement in rural settings and the use of simulation in health services education.

Her tour began with student supervised clinical at Latrobe Community Health Services, followed by a meeting of Gippsland Health Simulation which she attended as a guest, and observation of a Ramahyuck Indigenous Cultural Safety session. Later, Maeva sat with MUDRIH staff who shared information on their programs and experiences, and discussed future ideas.

Latrobe Regional Hospital hosted Maeve’s final day in Gippsland in their simulation centre where programs and simulation options were discussed.

The WA Centre for Rural Health operates with support from the University of Western Australia and works closely with numerous health organisations on a local and national level.

Following the success of the original Koorie Men’s Health Day in January 2012, the Elders of the Morwell Aboriginal community have organised a program where they will run similar health days twice a year. The first in the new program was conducted on 20 March 2014.

The Elders are supported by the Gippsland Medicare Local. Dr Anton Isaacs from MUDRIH, who was instrumental in developing the original concept, was invited to undertake the medical examinations. Fourteen Aboriginal men from the local community participated in the program and the organisers received very positive feedback.

The Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) has selected Dr Julie Willems’s book – Global Challenges and Perspectives in Blended and Distance Learning – for inclusion on its list of publications recommended as exemplary resources for students. Published in 2013, the book is one of twin volumes looking at best practice in distance education with contributions from around the globe. Dr Willems was lead editor and author or co-author of three chapters.

The resources are chosen from three research banks and databases managed by ACER. ACER is an independent educational research organisation based in Camberwell, Victoria, with offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Dubai and India. ACER provides learning tools for students, develops and manages a range of testing and assessment services for the Australian education community and conducts research and analysis in the education sector.

Quite a ride: some of the Gippsland Regional Interprofessional Partnership in Simulation (GRIPS) team farewell Jane. L-R Katie Yeomans, Mollie Burley, Sue Townsend, Kerry Bell, Jane Taylor, Kaytlyn Eaton.

MUDRIH staff farewelled Jane Taylor at a morning tea in February. Jane has been an Education Lecturer with MUDRIH since 2006 when she first combined private practice as a speech pathologist with part-time lecturing.

She said that she has had “quite a ride” as an academic with Monash and it had been exciting to be part of the development of interprofessional practice in community health in Gippsland. She added that one outstanding honour was the acceptance accorded her at Ramahyuck District Aboriginal Corporation.

“Every one of my colleagues have inspired me along the way, and I have never felt alone,” she said. She was “overwhelmed with all the warm wishes” and promised to keep in touch.

In her retirement, Jane and her husband intend doing some extensive travels in their motor home.

Visitors: left-right - Laura (SRH - East Gippsland), Kerry (Latrobe Community Health Services), Matt and Emma (Department of Health), Tracie (Latrobe Regional Hospital), Mollie (MUDRIH).

The simulation centre at Latrobe Regional hospital played host in late January to staff from the Department of Health Victoria, including two who had only started with the department the previous day.

MUDRIH, SRH – East Gippsland, Latrobe Community Health Services and Latrobe Regional Hospital are partners in the simulation learning environment extension program and met at the Traralgon simulation centre to give the department an update.

The project involves increasing the use of simulation in clinical training for both students and staff across the partner organisations and has also seen the development of equally sophisticated facilities in Bairnsdale. In Traralgon, Latrobe Community Health Services has set up consulting rooms which allow audio and video capture, and replay for participants. Simulated patients also provide cases for students to develop skills in using the interprofessional referral tool and treatment plan.

Pictured from left to right are: The Hon. David Davis, MLC (Minister for Ageing and Minister for Health) Helen Chambers (Database Manager/Research Officer, MUDRIH), Nicole Steers(Executive Directory Ambulatory Care (past), LCHS), Marianne Cullen ( Project Leader and Regional Wound Consultant, LCHS), Ben Leigh (Chief Executive Officer, LCHS), Rachel Strauss (Executive Directory Ambulatory Care (acting), LCHS) John Guy (Chairperson Board of Directors, LCHS)

A big congratulations to the Mobile Wound Care Team.

At the 2013 Victoria Public Healthcare awards, the collaboration of  MUDRIH and Latrobe Community Health Service (LCHS) received a Gold award in the category of “Optimising healthcare through e-health and communications technology”. The topic of our research: “Mobile Wound Care (MWC)”.

E-health and communications technology can improve the way the health system and the community access or receive relevant information, when it is needed and in an understandable and useable form. E-health and communications technology can improve knowledge management and provide ongoing benefits to health services, clinicians and consumers, their carers and families and the broader community. This award recognises innovative use of e-heath and communication technologies that improve knowledge management resulting in better practice, management, patient outcomes or experience.

MWC enables nurses to enter the clinical details of their patients’ wounds, including digital photos into a web-based program. If specialist support is required, referral can be made to the regional nurse consultant (RNC). The RNC can then access the electronic record, reply and make clinical recommendations almost immediately.

MWC represents a unique effort to provide remote consultancy to regional clientele while monitoring treatment and cost outcomes for health services and patients. It has resulted in I improved care and expertise in collecting data and will inform future discussions about a national wound care minimum dataset. The research has facilitated skill development in all participating organisations and enhanced collaboration across the region, including between LCHS and Monash University – a partnership which will lead to future research collaborations.

Well done to all and particularly to LCHS for another great collaboration.

Anton Isaacs (lecturer at MUDRIH) and Berwyn Lampitt (senior mental health nurse at Latrobe Regional Hospital) presented a paper at the 5th Australian Rural and Remote Mental Health Symposium at Geelong on 14 October. Title of the paper is: Working together to develop an innovative model for the early detection of mental illness among rural Aboriginal men.

Pictured is Sue Barker, Anske Robinson and Kate Templeman, another of Anske’s PhD students from NSW.

Congratulations to Dr Anske Robinson of MUDRIH on her recent nomination for the Monash Postgraduate Supervisor of the Year award. Anske was nominated by one of her PhD students, Sue Barker, who firmly believes that Anske is well deserved of the award. One of the comments that Sue made on the nomination form was that ‘Anske is exceptional and does things to ensure that I achieve my goals that are above and beyond the call of duty’.

Anske is one of six supervisors nominated for the award and we would like to wish her all the best. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony to be held in Clayton Wednesday 13^th November.