In September 2023, two grants were awarded to the Quality Use of Medicines Alliance, to support consumer health literacy and improve the use of medicines in Australia. The grants have seen peak health and consumer organisations working together. The grants run for a 2-year period, until August 2025. They are helping address priority quality use of medicines issues for:
- atopic dermatitis
- gout
- antidepressants in older people, and
- oral anticoagulants.
These are four health areas where we know consumers can experience problems with medicines quality and safety.
The Grants – Consumer Health Literacy and Health Professional Education
The two grants were awarded under the Australian Government’s Quality Use of Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Pathology (QUDTP) Program. Through these grants, free educational activities and resources on these four topics are being developed for a national audience of both health professionals and consumers.
The Consumer Health Literacy Grant, led by HCCA, is ensuring consumers’ needs and perspectives are reflected in the resources developed for both consumers and health professionals. Consumer resources can be found at:
Quality Use of Medicines: Using Medicines for Better Health (hcca.org.au)
Complementing this effort, the Health Professional Education Grant, led by Medcast Pty Ltd is leveraging evidence-based approaches to create a comprehensive suite of interactive learning activities and resources for health professionals.
Health Professional Education resources can be found at: QHUB: quality use of medicines education and resources (medcast.com.au)
Consumer Resources Now Available (as at October 2024)
Eczema
- Eczema Care Plan (plan your eczema management with your health professional)
- Caring for babies or children with eczema (Factsheet)
- Topical Corticosteroids for Eczema Flare Control (Factsheet)
- 5 questions to ask when your eczema is hard to manage (Factsheet)
- Eczema Care Online Toolkit (find out the best way to care for your eczema or your child’s eczema)
- Eczema Unfiltered Video Series
- Eczema Webinar “Burning Eczema Questions: Ask an expert”
Gout
- Gout Care Plan (plan your gout management with your health professional)
- Gout Decision Support Tool (deciding how to manage your gout)
- What about Gout? (Factsheet)
- Gout and Diet (Factsheet)
The Quality Use of Medicines Alliance
The Health Care Consumers’ Association (HCCA) is a member of the Quality Use of Medicines Alliance. The Quality Use of Medicines Alliance is a consortium of eight health and consumer organisations. The Quality Use of Medicines Alliance will align their work across the two grants (Consumer Health Literacy and Health Professional Education).
The Quality Use of Medicines Alliance brings together unique expertise from:
- education providers,
- consumer groups,
- researchers,
- health professional colleges,
- peak bodies, and
- member organisations.
The Quality Use of Medicines Alliance consists of:
- Medcast: a nationwide provider of independent education for a range of health professions
- Health Care Consumers’ Association: a peak health consumer organisation working to improve the quality and safety of health care
- Arthritis Australia: the leading national arthritis charity supporting people living with all types of arthritis
- Eczema Support Australia: a national support network advocating for people living with eczema
- Pharmaceutical Society of Australia: the national peak professional pharmacy body representing Australia’s 36,000 pharmacists across all sectors and specialisations
- QUM Connect: a specialist consultancy with experience and expertise in creating and implementing quality use of medicines initiatives to improve health outcomes
- Royal Australian College of General Practitioners: Australia’s largest professional general practice organisation responsible for maintaining standards for quality clinical practice, education and training, and research in Australian general practice
- Wiser Healthcare: a research collaboration involving the University of Sydney, Bond University, Monash University and the University of Wollongong, with a special interest in research in the areas of rational test ordering and quality use of medicines.
The Quality Use of Medicines Alliance will collaborate with a wide range of health and consumer organisations over two years under this grant, until August 2025.
Current opportunities
None at present.
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