From the NHMRC

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) recently established the first of its Partnerships for Better Health centres, “Dealing with cognitive and related functional decline in older people” (http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/grants/ apply-funding/partnerships-betterhealth/partnerships-centres). This Partnership Centre is cofunded by the NHMRC and four aged and health care providers — HammondCare, Brightwater Care Group, Helping Hand and Alzheimer’s Australia. The total commitment is $25 million over 5 years. The Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre’s chief investigator, Susan Kurrle, has worked with the funders and her team of clinicians, policymakers, multidisciplinary researchers and consumers to identify key activities for improving aged care services and positively affecting the lives of those with cognitive decline. The Centre will assess the physical and psychosocial risks of older people with dementia living in the community and will develop and disseminate an evaluation tool that will guide health professionals and support informed decisions by people considering residential aged care. It will develop an evidence-based plan for a national model of care for older persons aimed at reducing avoidable functional decline, increased morbidity and mortality due to cognitive decline, and adverse events in hospital. Among other activities, it will investigate the quality use of prescription medicines to support health and aged care providers in optimising medication for people with cognitive decline. The Centre will formulate Australian clinical guidelines for dementia focused on primary care, early diagnosis and acute hospital care and prepare complementary user-friendly decision aids for general practitioners and primary care nurses. This is a new model of funding for the NHMRC. Partnerships for Better Health centres will not only conduct original research but also synthesise existing research. They will support the implementation of evidence into health policy and practice across Australia and the training of end users in the new methods and tools produced. In total, the NHMRC aspires to establish four such centres. These centres fit well with the NHMRC’s current Strategic Plan (http://www. nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/publications/ nh160) and the recommendation of the McKeon Review (http://www. mckeonreview.org.au) regarding health services research. From the NHMRC