Ms Eliza Watson1, 7, Associate Professor Leon Worth1,2,7, Professor Karin Thursky2,3,7, Dr Janet Sluggett4,5,7, Professor Emeritus David Dunt6,7, Dr Ann Bull1,7, Associate Professor Noleen Bennett1,3,7
1Victorian Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance System (VICNISS) Coordinating Centre – Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Australia
2Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia
3National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship, Melbourne, Australia
4Registry of Senior Australians, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), Adelaide, Australia
5University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
6The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
7NISPAC Advisory Group
Introduction: Residents of residential aged care facilities (RACFs) are vulnerable to infections, many of which are preventable. Infection and antimicrobial use surveillance programs are therefore a vital part of infection prevention and control (IPC) activities for Australian RACFs and support quality and safety systems for residents, staff and visitors. In Australia, there is currently no nationally coordinated surveillance program. We aim to develop a National Infection Surveillance Program for Aged Care (NISPAC), which will streamline and standardise surveillance methodology and enable national benchmarking.
Method: Three peak bodies – the Victorian Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance System (VICNISS), the National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship (NCAS) and the Registry for Senior Australians (ROSA) – have collaborated to endorse a staged investigation, development and implementation framework for the establishment of NISPAC.
Results: The investigation stage involves qualitative interviews with surveillance staff, a survey of RACF staff, document analysis and data linkage to understand existing surveillance programs. The development stage will use results from these methods, along with focus groups and user testing by RACF staff, and expert consultation to develop NISPAC. Finally, the program will be trialled in a representative sample of RACFs. Across these stages, the framework draws on the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems, the Theoretical Domains Framework and co-design principles.
Conclusion: A systematic and comprehensive framework for development, implementation and evaluation of NISPAC will support the establishment of a robust and integrated national program.
Biography: Eliza Watson is the Project Officer for the National Infection Surveillance Program for Aged Care (NISPAC) project. Eliza completed a Master of Public Health at Monash University in 2018, where she specialised in antimicrobial stewardship, infectious diseases and climate change and health, and she has previous training in immunology. Prior to joining NISPAC, she worked as a Research Assistant at The Alfred/Monash University Department of Infectious Diseases and the Department of Immunology.