The head of general practice at the University of Queensland, Professor Claire Jackson, said the project would provide an evidence base for a closer relationship between State and Federal health services, and better integration between hospitals, general practice and community care organisations.
"Australia is facing some big discussions about delivery of health services. We hope our work will assist state and national governments in making decisions about governance to work for Australian regions," Professor Jackson said.
The research is one of 12 projects around the nation funded by the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute (APHCRI) based at ANU, in its second major funding round for 2005.
The Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute was set up as part of a Federal Government strategy to improve the knowledge base in primary health care policy. This is the Institute's fourth funding round of research into primary health care.
Each of the 12 projects will be funded for 12 months with results expected in September next year. Funding in this round totalled $1,724,200.
APHCRI Director, Professor Nicholas Glasgow, said the Institute was taking an innovative approach to research.
"APHCRI will bring policy makers and researchers together in the early stages of the their work to refine research questions and improve the collaboration between the two diverse groups," he said.
"This aims to make research more relevant to policy formulation in primary health care."
The new stream of research would be able to react quickly to relevant policy questions, with an end result of improving health care outcomes for Australians, he said.
APHCRI Research Advisory Board Chairman, Professor John Marley, congratulated the successful applicants.
"It's great to see so many researchers from all over Australia come together in this body of work. I look forward to seeing the results of their research and the development of APHCRI's approach, bringing the research and policy communities together."
Other projects funded in this round include:
- A study of successful models of Aboriginal primary health care;
- An investigation into primary care interventions for parents of overweight children; and
- Research into whether care in other chronic disease areas, like diabetes, could be used as a model in mental health.