Equity-centred implementation science program of research receives NHMRC Investigator Grant funding
Professor Helen Skouteris
A program of research to strengthen implementation practice and research with equity has been awarded a $3 million National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant Level 3 Fellowship.
Led by Professor Helen Skouteris, Head of the Health and Social Care Unit in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash Warwick Alliance Joint Professor of Health and Social Care Improvement and Implementation Science, and inaugural Maureen Brunt Professorial Fellow, the funding will support the Strengthening implEMentation Practice and Research with Equity (SEMPRE) program, which aims to develop the first programmatic, multi-sectoral and transcultural agenda focused on advancing equity-centred implementation science across health, social care and education.
People living with the most disadvantage and vulnerability experience poorer health, social and educational outcomes. To bridge the gap and make things more equitable for all, research and practical solutions need to be combined. This can be achieved through the use of implementation science - the adoption, implementation, and sustainability of evidence-based approaches into real-world settings.
Yet, despite an extensive array of implementation frameworks, theories and models, the 'how' of using implementation science to advance equity remains largely unknown. The Investigator Grant Fellowship will fill this gap in knowledge by establishing Australia's first programmatic study of equity-centred implementation science.
The Investigator Grant will explore ‘how’ to embed implementation science in practice and ‘how’ to do so fairly and equitably. It will be co-led with lived experience experts to co-create knowledge and solidarity in equity-centred implementation science with the goal of improving how interventions, programs, and resources are implemented.
Expected outcomes include new transdisciplinary and transcultural theoretically and empirically informed intersectional knowledge, frameworks and guidance that will build Australia’s research and practice capacity to advance health equity through implementation science. Professor Skouteris said that she was excited and proud to be awarded the Investigator Grant Fellowship. “I know that this research will benefit Australian families living with disadvantage and benefit society as a whole through improved health outcomes, as well as improved social and education outcomes that we know are also associated with health inequities”.
“As well as enhancing national and international collaborations, and providing the imprimatur, credibility, and platform to nurture, mentor and grow a critical mass of world-class early to mid-career researchers, this work should provide economic benefits by fostering health equity across the lifespan and skilling our next generation research leaders, clinicians and practitioners to see beyond only risks to equity for all.”
About the Maureen Brunt Fellowship
The Maureen Brunt Professorial Fellowship is an initiative to provide development opportunities and research support to senior female researchers at Monash. The scheme provides research support and professional development package to talented senior women researchers, to address the underrepresentation of women in many significant funding schemes.