2021 RACGP Foundation / ANEDGP Innovation Research Grant

Submissions closed at 5:00PM 3 May 2021 (AEST).

Welcome to the RACGP online grant application service, powered by SmartyGrants.

The former Adelaide North East Division of General Practice (ANEDGP) donated its residual funds to the RACGP Foundation to establish a grant for the purpose of conducting projects to improve practice within the boundaries of the former Adelaide North East Division of General Practice. The boundary has since been enlarged to enable a larger number of GPs and members of their practices to apply for this grant.

The objective of this grant is to provide members of general practice teams with an opportunity to undertake innovation, research and/or quality improvement projects with the potential for practical implementation into practice, which can then be shared with other teams.  This might include:

  • Quality improvement projects
  • Education activities
  • Translational or health services research

Applicants will be required to show how they will share the outcomes of the project with other local practices, for example through websites, journals, newsletters, podcasts, videos or local events.

Why does this grant support the future of general practice?

The needs of patients continues to evolve with increased chronic disease and issues of ageing. Delivery of general practice services is required to evolve to meet these needs if a practice is to remain/become high performing. Funding models in Australia are also evolving, for example Health Care Homes, Coordinated Veterans Care, care planning, Quality Improvement PIP, and voluntary patient registration. Utilisation of these funding models to deliver the care required for the practice population needs leadership, innovation, communication and improvisation. To succeed as medical homes and be good citizens of the health care neighbourhood, general practices need to be nimble; capable of continuous learning; and adept at self-assessment, reflection, and improvisation. Researchers have assessed what it takes to be high performing and to survive and sustain change, and the more successful practices had an internal capability for organizational learning and development (Stange, et al).  The authors labelled this capability the “adaptive reserve” of a primary care practice. These elements have also been seen as traits in Australian high performing primary care practices by Dunham et al. This grant recognises that innovation does not just happen, and funding and planning is required for a general practice to innovate, improvise and learn in order to improve the delivery of primary care for people who most need more care.

Award Details

The RACGP Foundation/ANEDGP Innovation Grant is available for a 12 month period to provide members of general practice teams with an opportunity to undertake innovation, research and/or quality improvement projects with the potential for practical implementation into practice.  Projects could include quality improvement, education, or translational or health services research.

Funding of up to $20,000 (excluding GST) is available.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the RACGP Foundation/ ANEDGP Innovation Grant:

  • the principal investigator must be a general practitioner, general practice registrar, practice nurse or practice manager working within the boundaries of the Adelaide Primary Health Network (PHN) https://adelaidephn.com.au/about/our-organisation/our-region/ ; and
  • a general practitioner must be a member of the investigator team.

Selection criteria

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

  • significance or importance of the proposed project to general practice 20%
  • degree to which the project is likely to benefit patients 25%
  • potential for translatable innovation and/or quality improvement outcomes 25%
  • potential for the processes that are developed and tested, and outcomes, to be shared with other practices 10%
  • potential for the impact of the project to be evaluated 10%
  • feasibility of carrying out and completing the project in a one year timeframe 10%

Applications

Applications for this research grant will close on Monday 3 May 2021. See past successful applications here. For more information email foundation@racgp.org.au.

References

Kurt Stange, Paul Nutting and Ben Crabtree. Transforming Physician Practices To Patient-Centered Medical Homes: Lessons From The National Demonstration Project 2011 Health Aff (Millwood). 2011 March ; 30(3): 439–445 https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0159

Dunham,H.D., Dunbar,J.A., Johnson,J.K., Fuller,J., Morgan, M., Ford, D. (2018) What attributions do Australian high performing general practices make for their success? Applying the clinical microsystems framework; a qualitative study. BMJ Open http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020552