Research Stream 2
How can we apply exploratory learning to identify opportunities for improvement?
Research overview
Streams
Stream 1: Exploration
Stream 2: Preparation
Stream 3: Implementation
Stream 4: Sustainment
Seed funding
Project 2.1: Co-designing testable solutions
Project leads: Professor Alison Hutchinson and Professor Kate Laver
Rationale: While evidence exists to inform some improvements in health care at home for older Australians, there remains many unknowns. This project will take the findings from the exploratory (Stream 1 projects), which provide in-depth insights into the issues that need to be addressed to improve the delivery and experience of home care and progress these issues from being a problem to potential solutions. As the first step in this process, more focused engagement with intended end-users of the research (i.e., older people, carers, service providers, and local policy makers) is needed.
We will run co-design workshops, applying a User-Centred Design (UCD) approach with older Australians, their carers and key health and aged care providers to discuss and interpret the findings emerging from Stream 1 (UCD – inspiration phase). In the next phase a series of workshops will be held. These will include workshops for our priority groups (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, culturally and linguistically diverse, socioeconomically disadvantaged and rural/remote people). Methods such as journey mapping and storyboarding will be employed to facilitate the ideation phase of UCD. Consensus methods will be used to reach agreement on interventions and strategies to be developed for phase 3 of UCD – prototyping, implementation, testing and iterative improvement in Project 2.2.
Project 2.2: Establish feasibility of prototype interventions and strategies
Project leads: Professor Alison Hutchinson, Professor Kate Laver
Rationale: Best practice guidance on designing and evaluating complex interventions emphasises early-stage feasibility testing before proceeding to a full-scale, fully powered trial. Our approach does not simply aim to address the question of ‘does the intervention work’, but also whether it will be acceptable, implementable, cost-effective, and scalable across contexts. This enables a systems perspective to inform decisions about whether and how the co-designed intervention or strategy could contribute to system change – a key consideration when working in the complex environment of caring for older people across multiple sectors.
Seed funding
The implementation phase of UCD involves prototyping, iterative testing and refinement and is a stage where implementation science can usefully be applied to guide the process. Up to 10 solutions from the ideation phase will be selected through consensus methods for progression to implementation. Seed funding will be provided through the CRE for these projects. We will plan, conduct and evaluate the implementation, tracking barriers and enablers and adapting interventions and strategies accordingly. Key evaluation measures of acceptability, feasibility, fidelity, effectiveness and cost will be tracked. Prototypes that show promising signals of effect and feasibility will progress to grant-writing workshops to inform future grant applications. This initiative aligns with our capacity building goal and broader commitment to strengthening research capability. Funded projects will be led by early to mid-career researchers who will be mentored by senior CRE researchers, building skills in implementation science and theory-informed evaluation.