$400,000 electronic documentation project
ACSA and four aged care providers have joined with health informatics researchers in an ARC project that aims to improve the implementation of electronic nursing documentation.
Four major aged care providers and Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) are partnering with researchers from the University of Wollongong in a $400,000 research project seeking to improve the implementation and effective use of electronic nursing documentation systems in residential aged care.
Over three years, the project will develop a tool to evaluate the success of information systems and identify factors that affect the uptake of IT programs in nursing homes.
The research will also record the qualitative and quantitative benefits of using electronic documentation.
Funding for the project has come from the Australian Research Council Industry Linkage Grants Scheme with in-kind support from the collaborating partners – Warrigal Care, RSL Care, UnitingCare Ageing South Eastern Region, Illawarra Retirement Trust and ACSA.
Dr Ping Yu from the University of Wollongong’s Health Informatics Research Lab said the research was crucial because the adoption of information systems in the industry has been slow.
“Most aged care organisations still don’t have enough IT infrastructure in place,” she said.
“The management often has little experience with technology and the aged care workforce is mainly composed of older women who are often identified with ‘technophobia’.”
It is hoped that the project will serve as a platform for sharing knowledge and experience in IT management across the sector.
