RESEARCHER PROFILE
Georgina Hughes,
Pharmacist & PhD Candidate
University of South Australia Clinical and Health Sciences
Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA)
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute
Georgina Hughes is a pharmacist & PhD Candidate with the University of South Australia Clinical and Health Sciences and the Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA), undertaking research at South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).
Georgina’s PhD study and first published paper was on how to improve the safe and effective use of antidepressant medicines and optimise quality use of medicines in older people accessing residential aged care.
The study, published in the Journal of American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA), was led by Georgina, in collaboration with Professor Maria Inacio and Associate Professor Janet Sluggett. It’s Australia’s first national study investigating the use of antidepressants among older people living in residential aged care homes across the country, analysing the de-identified data of 779,659 residents from 3,371 aged care homes, between 2006 and 2019.
“We found antidepressants were used by 46.1% of residents in 2006 and this increased to 58.5% of residents in 2019,” Ms Hughes said.
“Nearly six in every ten residents of aged care homes are using an antidepressant, which is much higher than use in the general older population.”
The use of antidepressant medicines among older people in aged care homes in Australia is high, and there is a need for better mental health support and safer use of antidepressants to improve clinical care and health outcomes for older people.
Antidepressant medicines can have side effects, especially in older people, and Australia is one of the largest consumers globally.
Almost 60% of aged care home residents are using antidepressant medicines, prompting the need to investigate the reasons for such high usage.
Georgina talks to how big data is crucial in understanding and improving the use of antidepressant medicines in aged care, leading to better clinical care and health outcomes for older people in Australia.
Georgina is passionate about practice-informing, translational and innovative research to improve quality use of medicines and health outcomes.
-
Applying nanotechnology to chronic pain management
Dr Felicity Han is a Research Fellow and Leader in Pain Relief Innovation, at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in the University of Queensland. Dr Han’s research interests sit at the interface of drug delivery and the pain field. Her overarching research goal is to improve the quality of day to day life of patients suffering from chronic pain, by applying nanotechnology to the development of novel highly effective pain-killer products for improving chronic pain management.
-
Healthcare associated infection prevention
Professor Philip Russo is an internationally regarded expert in healthcare associated infection prevention, and led the recently completed the Australian National Healthcare Associated Infection Point Prevalence Survey, the first in Australia for 34 years. He is also Past President of the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control (ACIPC), the peak body for Infection Prevention and Control professionals in the Australasian region.
-
Vision impairment in children and the impact on children and their families
Dr Sue Silveira holds a conjoint academic position with Macquarie University and is the Course Director for their Master of Disability Studies, which is administered and delivered by NextSense Institute in affiliation with the University. She teaches in the areas of vision impairment and disability, and aims to share her knowledge while learning from others, especially people who are blind or have low vision and their families.
