Visit focuses on joint health initiatives

The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) hosted a visit by the Hon Stephen Robertson MP, Minister for Health, on Thursday 10 July 2008.

During the visit, the Minister discussed joint USQ/Queensland Health projects, including the Queensland Smart Home Initiative (QSHI) and a project to improve nurses' decision making using wireless PDA.

Located at the Kenmore Blue Care Retirement Village in Brisbane, the QSHI is a demonstrator and research and development (R&D) facility aimed to support frail elderly, chronically ill and disabled people who choose to live independently.

Launched in April 2007, the QSHI is a partner project between USQ, Intel, Queensland Health, Aged Care Queensland, Tunstall, ekoliving, Magitek, Blue Care, Springfield Land Corporation and COTAQ and aims to promote more options for independent living and home care.

USQ Associate Professor in Information Systems QSHI Convenor, Jeffrey Soar, said the visit enabled the University to discuss some of the major milestones achieved by the project over the past twelve months and aims for the coming year.

'Since its launch the QSHI has attracted more than 230 visitors, who are interested in advancing the adoption of intelligent assistive technologies to support independent living, access to care, improved outcomes and reduced costs,' Associate Professor Soar said.

Associate Professor Raj Gururajan and his team also presented a health project to the Ministers aimed at improving nurses' decision making using wireless PDA during the visit.

Media Contact: Amy Cass, USQ Media, +61 7 4631 2092