Transcript TRANSLATING EVIDENCE INTO ACTION AGEING RESEARCH …

TRANSLATING EVIDENCE
INTO ACTION
AGEING RESEARCH IN AUSTRALIA
Ms Mary Murnane
Deputy Secretary
Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing
This paper outlines what
Australia has been doing to
build research on ageing
since 2002, and some of
the lessons we are learning
from that process.
CONTEXT
• Ageing research is crucial to maintaining older
people’s health and wellbeing & economic and
social participation
• International Research Agenda on
Ageing for the 21st Century (Valencia, 2002)
• National Strategy for an Ageing
Australia (2002) identified the importance of an
ageing research agenda in Australia
THE ISSUE
•
Ageing is a cross-disciplinary issue
•
How do we build evidence on ageing?
•
How do we translate evidence into
action?
AUSTRALIA’S RESEARCH
ENVIRONMENT
Australian cross-disciplinary research
organisations relevant to ageing:
•
Australian Research Council (ARC)
•
National Health and Medical
Research Council (NHMRC)
•
Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
These research organisations
support quality and excellence in
research.
There is a new move towards a
stronger focus on relevance and
applicability.
RESEARCH PRIORITIES
National Research Priorities were
announced in December 2002.
“Ageing Well, Ageing Productively”
was identified as a research priority
goal in the National Research Priority
Promoting and Maintaining Good Health.
BUILDING AGEING
RESEARCH CAPACITY
•
Research networks and
collaboration
•
Information sources and
dissemination
•
Translating evidence into policy
and practice
RESEARCH NETWORKS
AND COLLABORATION
•
ARC Research Network in Ageing
Well
•
Joint NHMRC/ARC work on
“Ageing Well, Ageing Productively”
•
Australian Association of
Gerontology
INFORMATION SOURCES
AND DISSEMINATION

Ageing Research On-Line
(www.aro.gov.au)

National conferences on ageing
research

Longitudinal studies
TRANSLATING EVIDENCE
INTO POLICY & PRACTICE


The next big challenge.
Initiatives we can build on are:
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Burden of Disease studies
National Institute of Clinical Studies (NICS)
Health Insite and Seniors Portal
National Seniors Productive Ageing Centre
National responses to emerging issues such as
obesity
FUTURE CHALLENGES
•
Aligning research activity with
emerging issues
•
Using evaluation to identify priorities
•
Engaging older people in setting
research priorities
•
Maximising availability and uptake of
evidence