Thirty-five people attended the two-hour research priorities webinar on Wednesday 15 November 2022 organised by the Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, UNSW in collaboration with Sydney Local Health District (SLHD), South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD) and Central and Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network (CESPHN).

The purpose of the day was to: build on the Central and Eastern Sydney primary and community health research priorities identified at the previous workshops held in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020; explore ways to maximise use of the research findings from the Central and Eastern Sydney Primary and Community Health Linkage Resource (CES-P&CH), and inform a program of work using the CES-P&CH for 2023 and beyond. The workshop was chaired by Professor Mark Harris, Executive Director, CPHCE. The Webinar was divided into two main sessions (1) summary of research to date and future possibilities (2) identification of research priorities.  

Summary of research to date and future possibilities

A/Prof Margo Barr, who leads the CES-P&CH team, provided information on the findings from the research to date including: (i) impact of GP care plans on health outcomes, (ii) GP follow-up after hospitalisation on subsequent hospitalisations, (iii) impact of social isolation on health service use and health outcomes, (iv) health service use in people aged over 75 years, (v) health of carers over time focusing on changing status, (vi) weight/obesity and ageing focusing on the impact of GPs, (vii) ways increased primary health care use could reduce potentially preventable hospitalisations and/or emergency department presentations (see link to the presentation below).

This was followed by the Keynote Address by Dr Kerrin Bleicher, Director, Research Assets at the Sax Institute. She spoke about the 45 and Up Study (from which CES-P&CH is based), what is included, linkage to other datasets, the COVID Insights surveys for policy and planning, and future plans for the 45 and Up Study (see link to the presentation below).

Identification of research priorities

Primary health care and integration priorities and current issues were presented from the partner organisations (Dr Brendan Goodger, General Manager Primary Care Improvement for CESPHN, Dr Marianne Gale, Director, Population and Community Health for SESLHD, and Ms Lou-Anne Blunden, Executive Director, Clinical Services Integration & Population Health for SLHD (see link to the presentations below) to inform the research priority identification discussion. People were then divided into five ‘breakout rooms’ where the participants identified their research priorities and recorded them on a shared padlet page. The priorities identified included: evaluating models of care, exploring link between oral health and overall health, health literacy, multimorbidity, and further work exploring the health of carers and loneliness in older people. Each group them reported back to the larger group and people were encouraged to edit and/or add other priorities during the session onto the shared padlet page.

The Chair stated that list of possible priories will be finalised by the Management Group and sent out to all of the participants in the New Year to vote on. He also stated that once the voting is completed the Management Group would develop three to four research questions for the top three priority areas—applying primary health care, feasibility and policy relevance lenses—and these will become the CES-P&CH research projects for 2023/2024. He also thanked everyone for attending and hoped that we would be able to hold the next Forum face-to-face.

Please see links below for the program, presentations, and summary report (once finalised).

Program

Program_2022 CES Research Priorities Forum.pdf

Presentations and Report

Background and progress to date – Margo Barr

Keynote: 45 and Up Study Supporting CPHCE Research – Kerrin Bleicher

Landscape and partner priorities – Brendan Goodger, Marianne Gale, Lou-Anne Blunden

Summary Report (once finalised)