Current News

UB partners in clever health program

[Extracted from Research@YourUB Newsletter Volume Five > Issue Three> Spring 2007 edition]

Dr Patrice Braun’s initial involvement in an e-learning feasibility study involving health professionals in the Grampians region ultimately led to the preparation of a successful funding proposal and today’s ongoing program.

In August 2007, as part of the Clever Networks initiative, the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) awarded $3.385 million in funding to the Grampians Rural Health Alliance Network (GRHANet) for Clever Health, a project that will revolutionise the delivery of emergency and maternity healthcare in the region.

Access to quality and timely healthcare is a concern for people in the Ballarat and Western Victorian region. The region has an ageing workforce and attraction of younger health professionals to the area can be problematical. The Clever Health program involves the delivery of video conference units that will be used to enable rapid treatment and peer support in the diagnosis of patients in rural and remote areas. Health care services will be linked to the Emergency/Urgent Care and Maternity patients in the region with high-quality expertise via wireless and video conference technology and associated specialist equipment.

These video conference units will enable rapid treatment and peer support in the diagnosis of patients, which will reduce the need to move patients between agencies. This innovative use of broadband technology will bring doctors, other medical personnel and patients together in a way which will see benefits not only to individuals, but also to the region as a whole. Thus Clever Health is designed to promote up-to-date standardised practices throughout the region, improve patient care and reduce the risks faced by both patients
and health care providers.

Thanks to wireless technology, Clever Health will be able to deliver up-to-date professional development and implementation of both clinical and non-clinical information and blended learning programs. By developing collaborative and innovative ways of providing flexible learning, peer support and advice mechanisms, Clever Health aims to augment the retention and attraction of health professionals to the region. Increased capability also means decreased patient risk.

To deliver Clever Health, GRHANet, has partnered with the Grampians Health Information and Communications Technology Alliance, UB, the Victorian Department of Human Services and the 12 primary health agencies that form part of the Grampians Health Alliance Network. Dimension Data, Telstra and Integrated Vision are also
contributing to the project. With the link to UB, employers and employees in the Grampians region will benefit from increased access to appropriate and relevant training and learning.

CRIC has been appointed to undertake the Clever Health program evaluation, which will involve tracking program progress and evaluating the extent to which the project changes the way health services are delivered in the region and health issues of concern to the community are being addressed.

What’s in a name?: A PhD topic and UN trip!

[Extracted from Research@YourUB Newsletter Volume Five > Issue Three> Spring 2007 edition]

Laura Kostanski has recently returned to her PhD study desk after spending two weeks as an official Australian Delegate to the United Nations headquarters in New York. Five years ago when travelling home from the Murray River she became fascinated by the names of the towns she was travelling through. Being a history student Laura was eager to research the backgrounds of the names, and would never have believed then that her research would take her to such an international stage so quickly.

Since that initial undergraduate research into the history of Murray River place names, Laura’s PhD research has developed to focus on uncovering the cultural and historical identity of place names with a particular emphasis on and exploration of the Indigenous place names restoration program for the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park which commenced in 1989 with strong community reactions.

Toponyms (place names) are not common conversation topics when people discuss the issues that affect their lives. Hot topics of debate are usually in areas deemed to be controversial. Indeed, the three topics Australians are often told to avoid at polite dinner parties are politics, religion and sex! So, to focus a thesis on the implications of toponyms in the daily lives of people is often met with an incredulous raising of the eyebrows, and a question of ‘why?’ In having attended the 9th UN Conference on the Standardisation of Geographical Names and the meeting of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) Laura can now confirm the particular interest in the cultural heritage of place names and Indigenous toponym restoration projects. She has found that there’s a world of interest out there. A summary of Laura’s paper was translated into the other five official UN languages, and they along with the full paper are available at : http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ 9th-UNCSGN-Docs/E-CONF-98-41-Add1.pdf In addition to the UN work on indigenous toponym restoration projects Laura was able to contribute to discussions on the cultural heritage of toponyms and now has been invited to work with delegates from Australia, New Zealand, France, Canada, Norway and the Netherlands to collaborate with UNESCO and develop a register for culturally significant placenames.

Awards for Academic Excellence

A major celebration for the annual School of Business Awards for Academic Excellence 2006 was held on Monday 7 May at the Greenhill Enterprise Centre. Outstanding students during 2006 were recognised for their achievements and received valuable sponsored prizes to further assist their studies. This year 37 undergraduate, seven graduate, two Higher Research by Degree, 11 Textbook sholarships, six Commonwealth Supported Place scholarships and two scholarships for indigenous students were awarded to current and graduating students.

> Click here for a list of 2007 winners and award sponsors.

> Awards for Excellence 2007 Photo Gallery

For further information on this year's presentations please contact Melanie Hose:

Email: m.hose@ballarat.edu.au
Tel: 03 5327 9400

> Click here for a full report on the 2006 Awards Presentation.