Helen Rawson1, Karen Harris2, Philip Russo3
1Deputy Head of School – Monash University, Australia, 2Senior Project Coordinator | A-PRECISE Study, 3Director of Research, Nursing and Midwifery, Monash University
Biography:
Helen is a Registered Nurse and Professor at Monash Nursing and Midwifery. She completed a BSc Honours Nursing Degree in London and a Masters in Human Biology at Oxford University. She has over 17 years of experience in academia involved in teaching and research. Helen has extensive clinical expertise working with older people in acute and residential care settings.
Helen’s research agenda is to enhance wellbeing and promote safe and evidence-based care for older people across three interrelated areas: engaging older people and families in hospital, community and residential aged care settings; workforce development; and the health needs of culturally and linguistically diverse older people. Her most significant contributions include development and implementation of care models that increased staff capacity to engage older people and families in care delivery, and research translation that supports quality care for older people in hospital and community care. She has presented at various national and international conferences, including as an invited speaker.
Dr Karen Harris is the senior project co-ordinator for the A-PRECISE study at Monash University. She has over 18 years of experience delivering high-impact, multidisciplinary research across academic, commercial, and healthcare sectors. Her expertise spans infection prevention in aged care, precision oncology, clinical trials, and therapeutic development. She has enabled large-scale, multi-stakeholder research initiatives that engage consumers, clinicians, and policymakers to drive sustainable health system improvements. Karen brings experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods, strategic foresight, and inclusive leadership to translational research.
Professor Philip Russo is an internationally recognised expert in healthcare-associated infection prevention. He is Director of Research in Nursing and Midwifery at Monash University and Cabrini Health, and Adjunct Professor at Avondale University. A Fellow and Past President of ACIPC, he served as Deputy Chair of the Infection Control Expert Group during the COVID-19 pandemic. He co-leads A-PRECISE, a co-designed infection prevention strategy for aged care. Professor Russo brings deep expertise, national leadership, and strong partnerships across government, industry, and academia to drive safer healthcare practices
Abstract:
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety highlighted an urgent need for infection prevention and control (IPC) resources in residential aged care homes (RACHs). It also recommended prioritising research and innovation that includes co-design with older people, their families and the aged care workforce, aligning with the person-centred approach central to the new Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards. Adopting co-design is reported to increase the acceptability, effectiveness and sustainability of new interventions. But what is co-design, and how can this be done effectively with those who receive and provide care in RACHs?
In this interactive workshop, we will describe the development and outcomes of the A-PRECISE model, a co-designed IPC strategy for RACHs, and equip participants to undertake co-design in their own setting. At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
- Understand co-design principles and why it is important.
- Consider barriers and enablers to co-design in aged care.
- Explore opportunities to implement co-design in their own setting.
- Develop a three-step roadmap for co-design.
- Review examples of outcomes from co-design.