Professor Caleb Ferguson awarded Heart Foundation Fellowship to research improving cardiovascular care for Australia's ageing population
University of Wollongong (UOW) cardiovascular nurse researcher Professor Caleb Ferguson has been awarded a four-year $652,000 Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship. His research program aims to transform how frail, older adults with multiple heart-related conditions transition safely from hospital to home.
Professor Ferguson's program will develop and test a nurse-coordinated, phone-based model of transitional care designed to improve recovery, reduce hospital readmissions and enhance quality of life for people living with heart disease and stroke.
Professor Ferguson is Academic Director of the Centre for Chronic and Complex Care Research, a partnership between UOW and the Western Sydney Local Health District, and a member of UOW's Health Innovations multidisciplinary research team.
"As a nurse of two decades and an expert in stroke and cardiovascular care, I've seen how devastating stroke, atrial fibrillation and heart failure can be," Professor Ferguson said.
"Too often, patients feel as though they've 'fallen off a cliff' after leaving hospital and returning home because they lack the preparation, information and support they need. This experience drives my research to improve quality of life and help people transition safely home."
Australia's ageing population has created what Professor Ferguson calls "a perfect storm" of cardiovascular disease and frailty. Many older patients with complex heart-related conditions (such as high blood pressure, heart failure, atrial fibrillation or stroke) return home after a hospital stay feeling unprepared and unsupported, a gap this research directly tackles with new tools to coordinate care and empower patients.
The project will draw on his expertise leading Australia's first clinical frailty registry, which has already highlighted the high rehospitalisation risk for older adults with multiple cardiovascular conditions. The new research program will also strengthen global collaboration in frailty research and build capacity among Australia's next generation of cardio-geriatric clinician-scientists.
The Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship will involve partnerships with people with lived experience, and health services across Western Sydney, Illawarra-Shoalhaven and Victoria, and include a large, multi-site clinical trial.
Professor Ferguson's Fellowship reinforces UOW's leadership in cardiovascular nursing and translational health research, and its contribution to tackling national priorities in chronic disease, cardiovascular health and ageing.
