Leg ulcer research team receives nearly $1M
A multidisciplinary team of researchers have been granted $999,820 in funding to research a community care approach to venous and lymphoedema leg ulcer treatment.
Researchers from Curtin University, Edith Cowan University, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Royal Perth Hospital are collaborating with home care provider Silverchain on a new research project that looks at how venous and lymphoedema leg ulcers heal and how to best manage treatment in community patients.
The research project – Leg oedema assessment and knowledge yield in leg oedema and gait study, or LEAKY LEGS – has secured $999,820 in funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Collaborations in Health Services Research grant.
Head of Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery at SCGH Professor Shirley Jansen said the Specialist Multidisciplinary Leg Ulcer Clinic is seeing a lot of patients suffering from complex end stage disease from these conditions, and the “much-needed grant” will enable the team of experts to undertake multipronged research across primary and tertiary care.
“It is a neglected area of research which has high personal and health care costs,” she added.
Silverchain’s national director of research and evidence, Adjunct Professor Karen Smith, told Community Care Review the research project will go for two years.
Over the two years, the team will conduct six discrete projects within a community health and aged care setting, involving clinicians and patients as participants and active contributors in the co-design of interventions and study materials. She said they hope to recruit more than 300 patients with VLU.
Meanwhile, researchers from Edith Cowan University’s Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute – including Professor Joshua Lewis, Dr Liezhou Zhong and Dr Lauren Blekkenhorst – will develop food products and nutritional strategies to improve the nutritional status of patients with leg ulcers.
Other researchers will collaborate on community health and aged care delivery, health services research, wound care, vascular surgery, consumer engagement, service optimisation, data analysis and research translation.
Dr Smith said the LEAKY LEGS project will contribute evidence to inform an innovative model of care that addresses the evidence-practice gap for care of venous leg ulcers in the community – with the potential to be translated nationally.
“These include understanding the impact of compression modalities on optimal pressure and gait, the impact of comorbidities on healing trajectories, a digital intervention to improve patient concordance with treatment, piloting an innovative nutrition intervention and validating nurse assessment of wound infections in the community,” she told CCR.
Many patients with VLUs suffer from prolonged healing times, chronic oedema, limited mobility, and poor quality of life because in practice, management of the condition is commonly sub-optimal, Dr Smith said, and the increase in chronic conditions such as diabetes and an ageing population in Australia, has in turn increased the prevalence, impact, and cost of VLUs.
“Not enough is known about how to address the evidence-practice gap in the management of VLUs in community patients. Addressing this is key to avoid excessive healing times, healthcare costs, unplanned hospital presentations and premature transition to residential aged care. The LEAKY LEGS program aims to address this gap,” she explained to CCR.
“This NHMRC funded, health services led partnership will ensure meaningful translation and impact via our direct connection to clinical teams and patients. The project will deliver outputs that directly improve patient outcomes. These will include the identification of best treatment options that will inform 1) An innovative care model that drives optimal outcomes and, 2) A robust set of policy recommendations.”
Wound expert from Curtin University School of Nursing and Silverchain Professor of Primary Health Care and Community Nursing, Research and Innovation Professor Keryln Carville will lead the multi-disciplinary project.
“More evidence is needed to help us reduce wound healing times for those with ‘leaky legs’ and consequently improve quality of life for those who experience this problem,” Professor Carville explained.
“We are grateful the NHMRC has recognised the potential of this project, and the long term benefits this research can provide to Australians with leg ulcers, as well as to the broader health care system,” she added.
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