One in four Australians will have a stroke in their lifetime and more than a third will move to rehabilitation services after hospital. Strokes often lead to temporary or permanent neurological damage, and frequently result in disability, with one in four stroke survivors of working age.
Returning to work after stroke is challenging, with people often needing to relearn how to physically complete basic activities.
Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and contributes to significant burden upon Victorians as the leading cause of stroke and a frequent cause of hospital admission. With appropriate prescription of blood thinning medication (anticoagulants) the incidence of stroke can be dramatically reduced.
Cardiac rehabilitation programs reduce hospital readmissions and improve quality of life after a heart attack or heart surgery, with reductions in morbidity and mortality often observed.
Cardiac rehabilitation is typically delivered face to face over six to 12 weeks after a heart attack or heart surgery where a patient interacts with health professionals in a centre-based program. Unfortunately, despite the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation, many Victorians do not attend.
To reduce avoidable acute care admissions related to heart failure.
Heart failure is a complex chronic condition. One in four patients with heart failure is readmitted to hospital within 30 days of being discharged.
In this Commonwealth-funded pilot project, we’re partnering with Victorian health services to co-design and test a service delivery model to help people with heart failure after a hospital admission. The project will focus on increasing patient self-management and better educating carers.
It can be hard to know when an older person is becoming really unwell, as their symptoms can be different to what is expected. All we may have to go on is a family member or staff member who notice that a resident is ‘just not themselves’.
So we have started a new project to help staff recognise clinical deterioration early and improve outcomes for aged care residents.
This project will: