GOALS of Geriatric Medicine Research: An Update on Current Studies | Has anyone heard of this ‘new thing’ called telehealth?

Group 1:  ‘GOALS of Geriatric Medicine Research: An Update on Current Studies’ with Dr Natasha Reid and Professor Ruth Hubbard

Our team is currently undertaking 2 x major studies relating to patient-identified goals. GOAL:CKD (2020 – 2024; NHMRC Targeted Call for Research; $1.5 million) is a cluster randomised controlled trial of 16 sites in six Australian states to examine the effect of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) for frail patients with chronic kidney disease. GOAL: Lung Cancer (2020 – 2023; PA Research Support Scheme; $300,000) is a pre-post intervention study of CGA for frail older people with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. This presentation will review the unique factors in study design that led to the success of these grants in highly competitive schemes and discuss the challenges and opportunities that have arisen to date.

Group 2 : ‘Has anyone heard of this ‘new thing’ called telehealth? ’ with Dr Helen Haydon, Keshia De Guzman and Professor Anthony Smith

The COVID-19 pandemic has made telehealth a household name.  Although the COH have over two decades of experience establishing and evaluating a broad range of telehealth services; there continue to be an array of challenges (and opportunities) for our health system. In this presentation, we will introduce several research projects which involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community health services; work in primary care settings; and telehealth support for cancer care. Examples of government and commercial engagement will also be shared, as well as some insight into the impact of COVID-19 on MBS funded telehealth activity in Australia.