Rural Health Academic Network (RHAN)

• 
  Director,
  Rural Health Academic Network
  Prof Lisa Bourke

  bourke@unimelb.edu.au

  View researcher's webpage

  +61358234519

Research Overview

RHAN is a health workforce initiative which partners directly with rural health organisations to:

1. Build innovation in rural health care,
2. Promote research translation into rural clinical practice ,
3. Support rural health student placements
4. Enhance retention of existing rural clinicians through post graduate research and education opportunities.
5. Maintain and progress an evidence base which advances the rural health agenda.

Through a network of rural health academics placed in the local health services, RHAN coordinators work with clinicians from multiple disciplines by applying systematic enquiry and education to facilitate local clinical research in addition to collaborative network wide research. RHAN coordinators work closely with their respective health services in applying structures for ethical governance of research activity that embeds an evidenced based approach into practice. Through RHAN, rural health care practitioners have the support of the University and the University has direct links to the health services and the community.

RHAN projects and publications reflect the diversity of rural health and the individual clinical research and workforce priorities of our partner organisations.

Resources and education

Resources and education

Staff

Lisa Bourke, Director, Rural Health Academic Network

Vacant, Rural Health Academic Network Coordinator, NCN Health – Cobram Campus

Nadine Glanville, Rural Health Academic Network Coordinator, Echuca Regional Health

Carol Reid, Rural Health Academic Network Coordinator, NCN Health – Numurkah Campus

Rowan O'Hagan, Rural Health Academic Network Coordinator, Northeast Health Wangaratta

Anton Forsyth, Rural Health Academic Network Coordinator, Albury-Wodonga Health

Collaborators

Northeast Health Wangaratta

NCN Health

Echuca Regional Health

Albury Wodonga Health

Funding

This program has been supported by

The Australian Government Department of Health's Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program

Research Outcomes

In addition to the selected research publications listed which reflect recent output from the RHAN program, the following project reports are available upon request.

Ervin, K., Weller-Newton, J. and Phillips, J. (2020). Clinicians’ experience of telehealth at NCN Health. Final report. (Unpublished). The University of Melbourne.

Ervin, K. & Reid, C. (2020). NCN staff knowledge, attitudes and awareness of trauma informed care: Final report.(Unpublished) The University of Melbourne, Rural Health Academic Network/NCN Health.

Ervin, K. (2019). Staff get message on urgent care patient experience. Health Victoria. March 2019

Moran, A., Cosgrave, C., Nancarrow, S., Boyce, R., Memery,R., King, O., Malatzky, C., (2019). Year 1 report to the Department of Health & Human Services, East Division: The role, function and value of “non-traditional” allied health roles in rural and regional health services. Shepparton, Vic.: The University of Melbourne, Department of Rural Health.

Opie, C., & Gibson-Thorpe, B. (2018). Mangan Dunguludja Ngatan (Build Strong Employment) Project Report.: Mangan unguludja Ngatan (Build Strong Employment) Project Report. (1). Echuca: Echuca Regional Health.

Surviving Cancer: Evaluation of a Model of Care to Improve Outcomes of Cancer Survivors in the Hume Region. Ervin, K. & Koschel, A. September 2016.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of supportive care screening in rural ambulatory cancer care at Echuca Regional Health. Opie, C., Koschel, A., Ervin, K., Jeffreson, L.  Haines, H., June 2016.

Activities in the Park evaluation Report to Greater City of Shepparton Council. Ervin, K. & Koschel, A. June 2016

Emotional Health of Mothers and Fathers in a Northern Victorian Cohort. Haines HM. 01 Jul 2015. 1-41 (Report to NBVLL).

Regional Emergency Department Telehealth Support to Urgent Care Centres After Hours in Northeast Victoria, Australia. Haines HM, Dattakumar A, Kealey J, Gray K 30 Aug 2015. 1-235

Research Publications

Rural Health Workforce

Ervin, K., Weller-Newton, J. & Phillips, J. Primary Healthcare Clinicians’ positive perceptions of the implementation of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic using Normalisation Process Theory. Australian Journal of Primary Health (accepted 7/12/20)*

Thistlethwaite, J., Locke, R., Buckley, S., Chandratilake, M., Jensen, G., van Schalkwyk, S., & Weller-Newton, J. (2020). Global perspectives on Covid-19 from the editorial board. CLINICAL TEACHER, 17(3), 234-237. doi:10.1111/tct.13167

Weller-Newton, J. M., & Kent, F. (2020). Community health placements for junior medical and nursing students for interprofessional learning. JOURNAL OF INTERPROFESSIONAL CARE, 4 pages. doi:10.1080/13561820.2020.1760803

Weller-Newton, J. M., & McCormack, B. (2020). From Nightingale to now: time to rethink clinical education in nursing. CLINICAL TEACHER, 17(5), 461-463. doi:10.1111/tct.13252

Weller-Newton, J. M., Phillips, C., Roche, M. A., McGillion, A., Mapes, J., Dufty, T., . . . Haines, S. (2020). Datasets to support workforce planning in nursing: A scoping review. COLLEGIAN. doi:10.1016/j.colegn.2020.09.001

Farquhar, E., Moran, A., & Schmidt, D. (2020). Mechanisms to achieve a successful rural physiotherapy public-private partnership: a qualitative study. RURAL AND REMOTE HEALTH, 20(3), 9 pages. doi:10.22605/RRH5668

Moran, A., Nancarrow, S., Cosgrave, C., Griffith, A., & Memery, R. (2020). What works, why and how? A scoping review and logic model of rural clinical placements for allied health students. BMC HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, 20(1), 18 pages. doi:10.1186/s12913-020-05669-6

Ervin, K., Reid, C., Moran, A., Opie, C., Haines, H. (2019). Implementation of an older person’s nurse practitioner in rural aged care in Victoria, Australia: a qualitative study. Human Resources for Health, BMC. 17:80 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-019-0415-z

Reid, C., Ervin, K., Kelly, L. (2019). Doctors in secondary schools program: the first year of program implementation in a rural Victorian school. Rural and Remote Health, 19:4.

Chronic ill Health

Ervin, K. E., Tse, K. C., Reid, C., & Smith, E. (2020). Exploring barriers to and enablers of antimicrobial stewardship in rural health services. INFECTION, DISEASE & HEALTH.  doi:10.1016/j.idh.2020.08.003

Peck,B., Terry,D., Ervin,K. (2020). A Narrative Synthesis of Childhood Injury Prevention Programs for Pre-school Children. UNIVERSAL JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, 8(6), 193 - 197. DOI: 10.13189/ujph.2020.080602.

Kelly, L. M., & Reid, C. (2020). Baselines and monitoring: More than a means to measure the end. EVALUATION JOURNAL OF AUSTRALASIA. https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X20977522

Zhai, J., Weller-Newton, J. M., Shimoinaba, K., Chen, H., & Copnell, B. (2020). Emerging From the "Ku:" Fluctuating in Adjusting With Breast Cancer-A Post-Traumatic Growth Theory Situated Within Chinese Culture. QUALITATIVE HEALTH RESEARCH, 30(11), 1674-1683. doi:10.1177/1049732320930195

Moran, A., Chapman, G., Picard, R., Chapman, J., Squire, S., Threlkeld, G., & Blackberry, I. (2020). Consumer experiences of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in regional Australia: A mixed methods study and logic model to identify consumer-experience mechanisms to avoid hospital and enhance outcomes. PATIENT EXPERIENCE JOURNAL, 7(3), 98 - 108. doi: 10.35680/2372-0247.1421

Ervin, K., Clark, M., Haines, H., Blackberry, I. (2019). Time for Australia to revisit antipsychotic use in dementia in residential aged care. Australasian Medical Journal. 12(5):138-142

van Weel, J. M., Renehan, E., Ervin, K. E., & Enticott, J. (2019). Home care service utilisation by people with dementia—A retrospective cohort study of community nursing data in Australia. Health and Social Care in the Community, 27(3), 665-675. doi:10.1111/hsc.12683

Ervin, K., Opie, C., Koschel, A., Jeffreson, L., Haines, H. (2019). Unmet supportive needs of rural men with cancer: A qualitative study. Australian Journal of Cancer Nursing, 20(1):19-24.  https://doi.org/10.33235/ajcn.20.1.19-24

Clinical/Other

Comparing Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With Standard Care for Women With Fear of Birth: Randomized Controlled Trial

Moran, A., Haines, H., Raschke, N., Schmidt, D., Koschel, A., Stephens, A., . . . Nancarrow, S. (2019). Mind the gap: Is it time to invest in embedded researchers in regional, rural and remote health services to address health outcome discrepancies for those living in rural, remote and regional areas? Australian Journal of Primary Health, 25(2), 104-107. doi:10.1071/PY18201

Reid, C., Ervin, K., Kelly, L. (2019). Doctors in secondary schools program: the first year of program implementation in a rural Victorian school. Rural and Remote Health, 19:4.