Talks by Mark Harris
The provides an overview of the first qualitative phase of a NHMRC Partnership Project on the Imp... more The provides an overview of the first qualitative phase of a NHMRC Partnership Project on the Implementaiton of Clinical Guidelines for the Prevention of Chronic Disease in General Practice.
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The provides an overview of the first qualitative phase of a NHMRC Partnership Project on the Imp... more The provides an overview of the first qualitative phase of a NHMRC Partnership Project on the Implementaiton of Clinical Guidelines for the Prevention of Chronic Disease in General Practice.
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Overview presentation
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Primary health care services in Australia include a diverse range of public and private providers... more Primary health care services in Australia include a diverse range of public and private providers. Most general medical practitioners (GPs) are in private practice, are funded on a fee for service basis from Australia’s taxation based national health insurance scheme, are vocational trained and have to complete a number of education or audit activities to remain registered. Local primary care organisations (PHCOs) provide support to improve care and outcomes for 50-250,000 people.
Chronic long term conditions place an increasing burden on Australia’s health system and wider economy. In 2004, 77% of Australians reported having at least one long term medical condition. This is related an ageing population and the increasing prevalence of some chronic diseases and their related risk factors. The five most common conditions comprise over half of the reasons that patient’s present in general practice and primary health care has an important role in their prevention and management thereby reducing complications and hospitalizations. However there is a gap between current and optimal practice. For example, less that half of people are offered age appropriate lifestyle interventions or screening, less than half of those with chronic disease are offered management appropriate to their level of risk and less than half achieve optimal intermediate outcomes (such as control of blood pressure). These gaps are amplified by co- or multi-morbidity and socioeconomic disadvantage.
Effective chronic disease prevention and management requires a shift to more structured approaches to care supported by systems described in the Chronic Care Model. National and state governments have incrementally implemented elements of these systems over the past decade. In taking the process of reform to the next level, Australia faces a number challenges related to the capacity of health services to improve and the need for structural change.
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Title: Research which makes a difference
The presentation describes how our research developed ... more Title: Research which makes a difference
The presentation describes how our research developed from a desire to make a difference to some of the problems identified in clinical practice and local communities. This began in Bourke in the 1980’s with concern about a range of health problems in the Aboriginal community there. More recently my own research has focused on preventing and more effectively managing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It all shares a focus on implementation research in the real world of primary health care.
In order to conduct good research, we had to build focus, capacity and attract funding. I will discuss some of the strategies we used to develop this over about 10 years including identifying priorities and themes for our research, developing innovative approaches and methods, developing the research degrees and experience of staff, attracting staff with specific research skills such as sophisticated statistics, developing track record and publications, systematically seeking to understand how funding bodies worked.
We have sought to engage both policy makers and practitioners in our implementation research. This begins by trying to understand what makes our research more or less relevant both to policy makers and practitioners. Both share some concerns about quality of care and patient outcomes and improving efficiency and capacity of practitioners and practices. As researchers we have tried to engage with both in these broad agendas to help frame some of our research and see how it can applied to the problems as they seem them.
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This talk presents some key issues in implementing primary health care reform in Australia in 2009.
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These slides present our thinking about prevention of chronic disease across the lifecyle taking ... more These slides present our thinking about prevention of chronic disease across the lifecyle taking into consideration the impact of the social determinants of health. This represents an effort to move upstream of our previous work with behavioural and physiological risk factors in middle age adults to address the determinants in childhood, adolescents and young adults.
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Planned health checks have been introduced for certain age and population groups in Australia in ... more Planned health checks have been introduced for certain age and population groups in Australia in recognition of the importance care and its increasing complexity. The aim of the health check for people age 45-49 years is to facilitate evidence based early intervention with the behavioural and physiological risk factors so as to prevent chronic disease. Although the health check has achieved modest levels of population coverage and an improved frequency of lifestyle assessment and management based on the 5As approach, achieving adequate intensity of intervention either within general practice or outside if from referral services and programs has been difficult. This is likely to compromise its ability to modify not only risk factors with the practice populations but also to achieve health outcomes.
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Teaching Documents by Mark Harris
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Papers by Mark Harris
Family Practice, 2017
The rising incidence of cancer and increasing number of cancer survivors place competing demands ... more The rising incidence of cancer and increasing number of cancer survivors place competing demands on specialist oncology clinics. This has led to a need to consider collaborative care between primary and secondary care for the long-term post-treatment care of cancer survivors. Objective. To explore the views of breast and colorectal cancer survivors, their oncologist and GP about GPs taking a more active role in long-term cancer follow-up care. Methods. Semi-structured interviews using a thematic analysis framework. Respondents were asked their views on the specialist hospital-based model for cancer follow-up care and their views on their GP taking a greater or leading role in follow-up care. Researcher triangulation was used to refine the coding framework and emergent themes; source triangulation and participant validation were used to increase credibility. Results. Fifty-six interviews were conducted (22 patients, 16 oncologists, 18 GPs). Respondents highlighted the importance of GPs needing specialist cancer knowledge; the need for GPs to have an interest in and time for cancer follow-up care; the GPs role in providing psychosocial care; and the reassurance that was provided from a specialist overseeing care. A staged, shared care team arrangement with both GPs and specialists flexibly providing continuing care was found to be acceptable for most. Conclusion. Collaborative care of cancer survivors may lessen the load on specialist oncology clinics. The findings suggest that building this model will require early and ongoing shared care processes.
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Australian family physician
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Talks by Mark Harris
Chronic long term conditions place an increasing burden on Australia’s health system and wider economy. In 2004, 77% of Australians reported having at least one long term medical condition. This is related an ageing population and the increasing prevalence of some chronic diseases and their related risk factors. The five most common conditions comprise over half of the reasons that patient’s present in general practice and primary health care has an important role in their prevention and management thereby reducing complications and hospitalizations. However there is a gap between current and optimal practice. For example, less that half of people are offered age appropriate lifestyle interventions or screening, less than half of those with chronic disease are offered management appropriate to their level of risk and less than half achieve optimal intermediate outcomes (such as control of blood pressure). These gaps are amplified by co- or multi-morbidity and socioeconomic disadvantage.
Effective chronic disease prevention and management requires a shift to more structured approaches to care supported by systems described in the Chronic Care Model. National and state governments have incrementally implemented elements of these systems over the past decade. In taking the process of reform to the next level, Australia faces a number challenges related to the capacity of health services to improve and the need for structural change.
The presentation describes how our research developed from a desire to make a difference to some of the problems identified in clinical practice and local communities. This began in Bourke in the 1980’s with concern about a range of health problems in the Aboriginal community there. More recently my own research has focused on preventing and more effectively managing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It all shares a focus on implementation research in the real world of primary health care.
In order to conduct good research, we had to build focus, capacity and attract funding. I will discuss some of the strategies we used to develop this over about 10 years including identifying priorities and themes for our research, developing innovative approaches and methods, developing the research degrees and experience of staff, attracting staff with specific research skills such as sophisticated statistics, developing track record and publications, systematically seeking to understand how funding bodies worked.
We have sought to engage both policy makers and practitioners in our implementation research. This begins by trying to understand what makes our research more or less relevant both to policy makers and practitioners. Both share some concerns about quality of care and patient outcomes and improving efficiency and capacity of practitioners and practices. As researchers we have tried to engage with both in these broad agendas to help frame some of our research and see how it can applied to the problems as they seem them.
Teaching Documents by Mark Harris
Papers by Mark Harris
Chronic long term conditions place an increasing burden on Australia’s health system and wider economy. In 2004, 77% of Australians reported having at least one long term medical condition. This is related an ageing population and the increasing prevalence of some chronic diseases and their related risk factors. The five most common conditions comprise over half of the reasons that patient’s present in general practice and primary health care has an important role in their prevention and management thereby reducing complications and hospitalizations. However there is a gap between current and optimal practice. For example, less that half of people are offered age appropriate lifestyle interventions or screening, less than half of those with chronic disease are offered management appropriate to their level of risk and less than half achieve optimal intermediate outcomes (such as control of blood pressure). These gaps are amplified by co- or multi-morbidity and socioeconomic disadvantage.
Effective chronic disease prevention and management requires a shift to more structured approaches to care supported by systems described in the Chronic Care Model. National and state governments have incrementally implemented elements of these systems over the past decade. In taking the process of reform to the next level, Australia faces a number challenges related to the capacity of health services to improve and the need for structural change.
The presentation describes how our research developed from a desire to make a difference to some of the problems identified in clinical practice and local communities. This began in Bourke in the 1980’s with concern about a range of health problems in the Aboriginal community there. More recently my own research has focused on preventing and more effectively managing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It all shares a focus on implementation research in the real world of primary health care.
In order to conduct good research, we had to build focus, capacity and attract funding. I will discuss some of the strategies we used to develop this over about 10 years including identifying priorities and themes for our research, developing innovative approaches and methods, developing the research degrees and experience of staff, attracting staff with specific research skills such as sophisticated statistics, developing track record and publications, systematically seeking to understand how funding bodies worked.
We have sought to engage both policy makers and practitioners in our implementation research. This begins by trying to understand what makes our research more or less relevant both to policy makers and practitioners. Both share some concerns about quality of care and patient outcomes and improving efficiency and capacity of practitioners and practices. As researchers we have tried to engage with both in these broad agendas to help frame some of our research and see how it can applied to the problems as they seem them.