2019 Therapeutic Guidelines Ltd (TGL) / RACGP Foundation Research Grant (EOI)

Submissions closed at 7:00PM 8 April 2019 (AEST).

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There are over 125 million general practice consultations taking place annually in Australia, with 83% of the Australian population consulting a GP at least once a year. General practitioners (GPs) provide person centered, continuing and comprehensive medical care to individuals and families within their community. 

General practitioners are not limited by age, gender, body system, disease process or service site. The scope of clinical practice is challenging, spanning prevention, health promotion, early intervention for those at risk, and the management of acute, chronic and complex conditions within the practice population whether in the home, practice, health service, outreach clinic, hospital or community. General practitioners utilise best practice evidence in the light of individual patient circumstances, to understand, plan and manage their patients’ health needs.

There are many guidelines providing best practice and evidence for managing different conditions for GPs. The aim of this grant is to support guidelines research that investigates use and implementation of TGL point of care guidelines in general practice. Specifically, research topics focusing on: 

  • Content and format of TGL electronic and book products: presentation, useability, navigation, access and functionality of guidelines - how do GPs want information presented and implemented? 
  • Behavioural aspects of guideline use: how do people use TGL guidelines, how often, what is looked up, when, why and how can this be improved? 
  • Consequence (outcome): benefits of using TGL guidelines to improve prescribing and health outcomes. 
  • Evidence-practice gaps: do Australian GPs follow TGL guidelines well, and if not, why not? 

While research falling under any of these areas will be considered, studies focusing on (3) benefits of using TGL guidelines to improve prescribing and health outcomes are encouraged as areas of particular interest to TGL. Both pilot studies and proposals for full-scale research studies will be considered. The grant is not designed to support primary research on clinical issues or guidelines development. 

Award Details

Up to two grants (one large and one smaller project) to a total value of up to $100,000 (excl. GST) will be offered for a period up to 18 months to fund a project(s) focusing on use and/or implementation of TGL guidelines in general practice.

This grant is made available by Therapeutic Guidelines Limited and administered by the RACGP Foundation.

As part of the letter of offer for this grant, successful recipients will be required to agree to provide joint ownership of any intellectual property rights developed in connection with the grant funds to Therapeutic Guidelines Ltd (TGL).  Please refer to clause 38 of the Terms of Grants and Awards 2019.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the TGL/RACGP Foundation research grant in 2019, the principal investigator or at least one member of the research team must be a GP or GP registrar.

Selection criteria

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria: 

  • significance or importance of the proposed research to general practice and use and/or implementation of TGL guidelines 30% 
  • scientific quality and originality of the proposed research project 30% 
  • feasibility of carrying out and completing the research in an 18-month timeframe 30% 
  • appropriateness of proposed budget to fulfil research objectives 10% 

Applications

Expressions of interest are called for this research grant, and will close on Monday 8 April 2019. Following assessment of expressions of interest, selected researchers will be invited to submit an application for funding in mid-May. Full applications will close on Monday 24 June 2019. For more information email foundation@racgp.org.au.