Women in Leadership Program 2020

Mark your calendar to join us for our next Women in Leadership program! This three-day workshop will be delivered by Ms. Tracey Ezard and Professor Helena Teede with support from current leaders in healthcare and research.

Implementation and Healthcare Improvement Masterclass

Hear from internationally renowned experts on innovative means to improve the healthcare system!

MCHRI Short Courses: Implementation masterclass & Women in Leadership program

Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI) are conducting exciting professional development courses. MCHRI is a key partnership between Monash Health and Monash University, forming a unique, collaborative centre focused on directly delivering improved health outcomes.

Shared medical appointment course, 25 March

Please express your interest in attending a one day workshop on Saturday 25th March 2017 on how to deliver Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs).  

If we can generate sufficient interest, the workshop will be hosted at MCHRI and conducted in collaboration with the Australian Society of Lifestyle Medicine (ASLM).

Doctors, allied health practitioners, ancillary staff and researchers interested in new models of patient care will benefit from attending.  40 Category 1 points will be available for GPs and allied health CPD points should be available to most other practitioners.

The workshop price is expected to be $440 (inc gst) and includes one year of follow up which is especially relevant for those wishing to be registered as trained in the ASLM SMA protocol.

If you are interested, please email to josphin.johnson@monash.edu .

More information below:

MCHRI researchers visit the UK

Researchers from the Monash Centre for Health Research Implementation (MCHRI) have recently returned from the Oxford Foundation International Health Conference “Improving Health and Health Services Through Research”, King’s College London having won a prize for the best abstract submitted to the conference.

Dr Melanie Gibson-Helm and Dr Jacqueline Boyle from MCHRI’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Refugee Women’s Health Research Program each presented their research about improving pregnancy care. Their collaborative project with Monash Health, “From Paper to Practice: Implementation of evidence based screening for mental health in pregnancy in refugee women” won Best Abstract.

Dr Gibson-Helm said that meetings with research teams from Newcastle University, the Imperial College of London, University College of London, Oxford University and Bristol University have already led to several new and exciting collaborations.

Monash research to improve pregnancy care for at-risk populations in Australia

Dr Gibson-Helm

Three different at-risk populations with evidence of poor pregnancy outcomes are the focus of Dr Melanie Gibson-Helm’s research program, funded by an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship.

In collaboration with Monash Health clinicians and Monash University researchers Dr Jacqueline Boyle and Professor Helena Teede, Dr Gibson-Helm from the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI) leads research aiming to improve pregnancy care for women of refugee background, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).

“There is considerable evidence that women in these populations can experience poorer health than the general population, are at greater risk of long-term health problems, and may not receive the health care they need,” said Dr Gibson-Helm.

MCHRI, a partnership between Monash University and Monash Health, is the only Centre in Australia with dedicated women’s public health research programs in refugee health, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and PCOS.

Dr Gibson-Helm said high-quality and appropriate pregnancy care is of particular importance for women who may have poor general health, experience barriers accessing health care generally or may benefit from support to change health behaviours.

“Pregnancy is a period of frequent contact with a level of health care not typically accessed otherwise and is also an opportune time to initiate lifestyle change.”

One study in this program that recently received a Monash University Faculty Strategic Grant and Monash Health seed funding aims to address a current gap in pregnancy care delivery in Victoria by designing, implementing and evaluating a mental health screening program in pregnancy for women of refugee background.

“A key gap we have previously identified is a lack of screening and facilitated referral pathways for diagnosis and management of anxiety and depression in pregnancy, despite screening being part of recommended pregnancy care for all women in Australia.”

“Under-recognition of anxiety or depression may mean that women do not receive the support and treatment they need and this is a challenge for many health services in Australia.”

 “Providing high-quality, appropriate pregnancy care can be complex, but also presents a vital opportunity to improve both short and long-term wellbeing of women and their babies,” added Dr Gibson-Helm.

Dr Gibson-Helm’s project will be conducted at Monash Health and was co-developed by a multidisciplinary team of researchers and clinicians at MCHRI, Monash Women's Maternity Services, Monash Refugee Health and Wellbeing and the Monash University Centre for Developmental Psychiatry & Psychology.

Monash leading diabetes research project in India

Assoc Prof Lombard, Prof Zoungas
and Prof Teede

Professors Sophia Zoungas and Helena Teede and Assoc Professor Lombard from the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI) were recently in India at the initial meeting for the NHMRC Global Alliance funded project ($2.25M) on lifestyle intervention for prevention of conversion from gestational diabetes to diabetes in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. 

These MCHRI Chief Investigators are collaborating with the George Institute to provide content expertise in GDM, diabetes and lifestyle intervention on this large scale implementation research project.

Monash National Diabetes Centre of Excellence

Professor Helena Teede

A new Centre of Excellence in diabetes at Monash has been accredited by the National Association of Diabetes Centres (NADC).

Monash Diabetes in association with the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI), a collaborative Centre across the School of Public Health Monash University and Monash Health, have been accreditation as a ‘National Diabetes Centre of Excellence’.

“Accreditation recognises Monash Diabetes and MCHRI as a provider of excellence across all categories including clinical care, education, service advocacy, research and national leadership in the area of diabetes,” said MCHRI Director Professor Helena Teede.

Already acknowledged as a leader in diabetes research, Professor Sophia Zoungas is Chair of the NADC and Monash Health / MCHRI hold the federal government contract for national data collection, quality indicators, benchmarking and reporting.

“We are now accredited for four years and are the only accredited Centre of excellence in Victoria. Our work was specifically cited for consumer engagement in research and clinical care design and delivery,” added Professor Teede, who is also Executive Director Monash Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre.

“Our success in attaining this accreditation can be attributed to all the members of the Monash Health and Monash University team who work very hard to deliver in all critical areas.” said Deputy Director Dr Georgia Soldartos.

“Special thanks must go to Helena Teede for her vision and leadership,” said Diabetes Clinical Director, Dr Jennifer Wong.

“Together we have transformed Monash Diabetes over the last ten years and established and grown the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation.” Professor Teede noted.

Ten years ago Monash Diabetes included one inpatient service, three ambulatory care services at Monash Medical Centre and a small pharmaceutical research program.

“We have built this to five inpatient and 26 ambulatory care services and have co-developed these services with our partners and patient groups to increase services overall by 800%,” said Professor Teede.

Monash Diabetes now provide approximately 40,000 episodes of care per year from Monash Link in the community Health setting to Koo Wee Rup in a regional hospital setting.

While rapidly expanding their services to patients, Professor Teede and her team have also developed an internationally recognised and competitively funded research program within MCHRI, and the team has a significant national and international leadership profile.

“We remain one of the only operationally integrated interdisciplinary units in the country with no staff working in silos.” said Lorraine Marom, Monash Diabetes Nurse Practitioner.

The Monash Diabetes team would like to acknowledge the support of Monash Health, Monash University and Monash Partners over this time.