Research Opportunity for IPC Leads working in Residential Aged Care Homes

[Joanne Tropea]

Are you an Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Lead or work in Residential Aged Care and passionate about improving IPC practice?
Would you like to be part of a Community of Practice to share learnings and problem-solve with other IPC Leads?
If YES, you may be interested in being part of IMMERSE-2 (IMpleMenting Effective infection prevention and control in ReSidential aged carE). IMMERSE-2 will develop and assess Communities of Practice for IPC Lead nurses who work in residential aged care across Australia.
A Community of Practice brings together people with shared roles and interests to learn collaboratively, share knowledge, and support each other. We hope the program will lead to better quality of care and health for people living in residential aged care.

Why participate?
• Connect with others in similar roles across Australia
• Share experiences, resources and best practice knowledge
• Learn from other IPC Leads and hear from IPC experts
• Help strengthen IPC practices in residential aged care

What’s involved?
Small groups of IPC Leads will meet online monthly for 30-45 minutes. You are invited to join one of the groups. Group sessions will commence in May-June 2026 and run for 12 months.

A community of practice is different to webinars. Participation is largely interactive and involves sharing information and resources, problem-solving and learning with and from one another. We will invite IPC subject experts to join some of the sessions to work with community of practice members and problem solve together.

To get most benefit from the Community of Practice it is best to attend all or most sessions, but we understand this may not always be possible. The initial session will be an opportunity to meet one another and to plan and decide on key aspects of IPC that you would like to cover and what the group hopes to achieve.

You will be asked to fill in a survey at the start and end of the 12-month period. The IMMERSE-2 researchers will help coordinate the Communities of Practice – this includes for example getting experts in IPC topics selected to present.

What topics will be covered?
The communities of practice will focus on one of the following two key topics of IPC in residential aged care.

1. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS)
Examples of topics covered include:
▪ Surveillance and auditing – how to do it well
▪ Skin and wound care and AMS
▪ Working with Pharmacists
▪ Working with General Practitioners
▪ Working with residents and their families

2. Transmissible infections – moving away from COVID
Examples of topics covered include:
▪ The why, when and how of transmission-based precautions
▪ Understanding transmissible pathogens – their chain of infection and breaking the chain
▪ Surveillance and auditing – how to do it well
▪ IPC Lead role in outbreak management of common respiratory, gastrointestinal, skin and bloodborne infections
▪ Supporting residents living with dementia
▪ Working with residents and their families, including resident vaccinations

There will be multiple Communities of Practice for IPC Leads implemented across Australia.

How do I join?

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST HERE TO JOIN A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE FOR IPC LEADS
Note: You will be asked to select from one of the two key areas, and to nominate times that suit you to participate.

IMMERSE-2 is a national initiative led by researchers from the University of Melbourne and funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC Grant ID 2023909). IMMERSE-2 aims to enhance infection prevention and control capabilities in residential aged care through supportive Communities of Practice.
Contact: Dr Joanne Tropea Joanne.Tropea@unimelb.edu.au
This project has human research ethics approval from The University of Melbourne, Project ID 32579.

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