Driving innovation in wound care will be the focus of a new Bolton Clarke research initiative, funded through Aged Care Research and Industry Innovation Australia’s (ARIIA) $2 million 2025 Flagship Project Grants program.
Bolton Clarke is one of eight aged care providers awarded funding under Flagship Project 2, which is designed to build data literacy and capability to improve the quality of care across the sector. View the full list here.
The 12-month project will use routinely collected data to strengthen prevention, early identification and treatment of wounds through co-designed interventions. It will build on Bolton Clarke’s existing work to improve outcomes for clients with venous leg ulcers; a condition affecting around one per cent of Australians and often linked to long-term pain and disability. Healing rates remain poor, with up to half of venous ulcers unhealed after nine months, according to the Australian and New Zealand Society for Vascular Surgery.
Bolton Clarke Research Institute Senior Research Fellow Dr Rajna Ogrin and Senior Clinical Nurse Adviser Kylie Elder will co-lead the initiative. Dr Ogrin has previously collaborated with RMIT to trial non-invasive imaging technology for the early detection of slow-healing wounds in community care.
“We are delighted to be awarded funding for this Aged Care Collaborative Flagship Project,” Dr Ogrin said. “Leg ulcers are the most common wound type in community care and can seriously impact quality of life for older people. This project will help teams build data capabilities and draw insights to inform wound prevention, identification and care.”
She added that the outcomes would have broader application across healthcare: “We also aim to use what we learn to apply in other health areas so we can provide the highest quality care for clients.”
ARIIA recently announced the recipients of its $2 million 2025 Flagship Project Grants, with 14 aged care providers set to collaborate on two of the sector’s most pressing challenges: workforce retention and data literacy….Read more.
