USQ joins with China’s home aged care e-Health research project

In a bid to develop a model of support care for its ageing population, the Chinese Government has awarded a grant to an international research team that includes USQ’s Professor Jeffrey Soar.

Professor Soar will lead a component of the project to identify and evaluate eHealth and telehealth technologies and services for China’s elderly.

Supported by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the project will involve a pilot in Changzhou City with the support of the National Population and Family planning Commission of P. R. China. It is expected that the model developed will be extended to the elderly in China’s largest cities, Beijing and Shanghai.

Professor Soar said the project would have a global impact, assisting all countries with an ageing population.

'This grant will allow us to undertake the kind of large-scale and high-quality project that policy-makers have been looking for to confirm the potential benefits and provide the eHealth model of care for the elderly,' Professor Soar said.

'The results will impact not only China but across all countries that face challenges of an ageing society. The journal papers from this project will be of interest to policy-makers internationally.'

The three-year research project will commence early next year once agreements are finalised.

Professor Soar said Chinas ISTIC is equivalent to the CSIRO and would lead the research project in collaboration with USQ and partners Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing Institute of Technology, Hospital 301, China National Institute of Standardization (CNIS) and the Basque Foundation for Health Innovation and Research (Spain).

USQ’s Faculty of Business and Law has had an agreement for research collaboration with ISTIC since 2009.

'The USQ research partnership with the ISTIC has been very rewarding and I congratulate the initiators of this in the Faculty and in ISTIC for their shared vision,' he said.

'ISTIC and Beijing’s Hospital 301 have supported USQ grant applications in Australia and have joined us to their research projects in China.'

Project Director Dr Ying Su, Manager of eHealth Research at ISTIC, will visit USQ later this month as a visiting professor. During this three month visit Dr Su will undertake research with Professor Soar and Dr Latif Al-Hakim. He will also report on the planning for project and the opportunities for USQ researchers.

'This project will be transformational for elder care in China,' Dr Su said.

'ISTIC selected USQ’s Professor Jeffrey Soar to be a key researcher in this project due to his, and USQ’s, leadership and international reputation in this field. We are very pleased with the many other outcomes from our research partnership with USQ.'

Professor Soar and Dr Al-Hakim will visit China later this month to present invited key-note conference addresses, as well as participate in research planning workshops and discussions around further collaboration with the Chinese and Spanish research partners.

Connie-Louise Rego, USQ Media, 07 4631 2977