ePREVENT 360 research project :

What is the ePREVENT 360 project?

This initiative is funded by the 2023 RACGP Foundation and the HCF Research Foundation grant. The ePREVENT 360 project is a collaboration between the University of Wollongong and In2health, an Australian digital health company.

This project aims to assess the feasibility and acceptability of automation of some key aspects of preventive care to augment the work of GPs and practice nurses to optimise health outcomes for their patients.

Why should you join as a partner on this project?

The purpose of this research is to assess the feasibility of a new digital chronic disease prevention tool (In2health) in primary care, to see if it has potential to:

• Improve Patient Outcomes: By identifying risks for 20 chronic conditions, providing patients with personalised, evidence-based recommendations and a concise clinical summary and

• Enhance Practice Efficiency: By providing guideline based preventive care recommendations with an aim to improve workflow, save time and improve remuneration.

We invite you to be a part of this pioneering study to allow your patients to access this new model of care and to provide insights into ways to potentially address some of the challenges faced by primary care in Australia.  

How It Works:

Participation of practices is voluntary. The researchers understand the time constraints of a busy general practice and thus have designed this project to require very little time from clinicians. Agreeing to become a research partner on this project means that your patients and staff will have 6 months access to the In2health platform.

For patients:

• Individuals aged 30-65 will be invited to participate through a digital link providing when booking an online appointment or by scanning a QR code from a brochure or poster in the waiting room. The researchers are seeking at least 38 patients at each clinic.

• Access to a brief online survey to identify barriers and promoters to use of digital health. This includes questions about

  - Sociodemographics

  - Consumer Health Activation Index (CHAI score measures how ‘activated’ individuals are to look after their health)

  - Self rated health and perception of chronic disease risk and

  - Trust in their healthcare providers.

• Access to the In2health pre-visit assessment (the ‘Health Check’) assessing risk for 20 chronic conditions.

• Access to personalised health dashboard and comprehensive ‘action plan’ with lifestyle and medical recommendations relevant to their level of risk for 20 chronic conditions. The recommendations are based on a ‘best practice’ approach from Australian guidelines.

• Follow up brief ‘Pulse Check’ assessment at 3 and 6 months to identify changes in risk factors and to update health scores over time.

• Online brief feedback survey +/- participation in interview.

For GPs and nurses:

• Option to participate in brief interview exploring barriers and promoters to preventive care delivery.

• Concise but comprehensive patient risk assessment summary and recommendations

• Brief feedback survey +/- interview about experience with In2health intervention.

What data are the researchers collecting?

Only de-identified data will be gathered through this project. and will only be used for the purpose of research. Findings will be published in a PhD thesis, journal articles, academic conferences, seminars and other related events. No individuals will be able to be identified.

The data being collected includes anonymous:

• Data on how many people start and complete the In2health assessment and follow up ‘Pulse Checks’.

• Survey and interview data on barriers and promoters to use of digital health and preventive care (including sociodemographics, CHAI score, self rated health and trust in clinician score)

• Chronic disease risk scores.

• Feedback on the In2health intervention and suggestions on improvements.

Are there any risks?

Apart from patients’ and clinicians’ time to participate in the study, there will be no risks to them.

Involvement in this study is voluntary. Individual patients and clinicians can choose to withdraw from the study at any time.

Recompense for time

Staff who participate in the interviews will be provided with an $80 gift card as compensation for their time. 

Patients who choose to participate in the project will be provided with a $60 gift card as compensation for their time.  .

Ethics review and complaints

This study has been reviewed by the Health and Medical Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of Wollongong (Reference number: XXX). If you have any concerns or complaints regarding the way this research has been conducted, you can contact the University of Wollongong Ethics Officer, uow-humanethics@uow.edu.au, +61 2 4239 2191. 

If you have questions or to register your interest

Please contact Dr Gillian Singleton MBBS(Hons) FRACGP FARGP MPH at gms993@uowmail.edu.au or on 0419 520 537.