Professor Lucie Walters, Director of the University of Adelaide's Rural Clinical School, is working to build an interdisciplinary system around medication safety in regional areas.
The project, titled BRIDGE (Building Rural medication safety through Interdisciplinary, Data-driven, clinical Governance focused on Equity), received $999,557 from the Medical Research Future Fund's (MRFF) 2024 Collaborations in Health Research program.
"Medications can sometimes cause serious problems, like ending up in hospital or even death, and people living in rural and deprived areas are more vulnerable to these problems," said Professor Walters.
"We aim to work with rural consumers and healthcare providers to develop a new computer support tool that will help health professionals find people who might be at risk because of their medicines.
"Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists then can check these medications and make necessary changes to keep rural Australians safe."
Professor Anton Middelberg, University of Adelaide Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) congratulated Professor Walters on her grant.
"Through her work with the Adelaide Rural Clinical School, Professor Walters has identified the need for a new way to support patients and practitioners who live outside of metro areas regarding medication safety," he said.
"BRIDGE aims to address those concerns and help keep people at risk safe, and continues the University of Adelaide's legacy of improving health outcomes in South Australia and around the world."
