Leading the way in collaboration to improve lives in the Logan community

Logan Healthy Living by UQ Health Care is a pioneering alliance to deliver chronic disease support to people living with type 2 diabetes, through a partnership with Health and Wellbeing Queensland (HWQld) and the Health and Wellbeing Centre for Research Innovation (HWCRI) at The University of Queensland (UQ).

Details of the development of the program and the plan for its evaluation, recently published in JMIR Research Protocols, outline how working with partners across the healthcare industry and community can create a positive impact.

The paper, led by A/Prof Sjaan Gomersall, Associate Director of HWCRI at UQ) and co-authored by team members from UQ, Logan Healthy Living, UQ Health Care and HWQld, demonstrates how partnerships between research, health care, communities and government can embed research, teaching, and learning opportunities, while delivering locally designed services to improve the lives of people in the community.

Through a student-infused model, Logan Healthy Living has delivered over 30,000 student placement hours, with over 300 students involved in the program, contributing to building future health workforce capacity in Queensland.

‘Ensuring this work is published means that other organisations can learn from the process and the steps required to establish the multi-sectoral alliance that supports Logan Healthy Living,’ HWQld Chief Executive Dr Robyn Littlewood said.

‘This collaborative approach is making a real difference to the people of Logan. The clinic is changing the lives of people living with diabetes with its multidisciplinary team approach that focuses on physical, mental and social health,’ said Dr Littlewood.

Logan Healthy Living is one of many initiatives being supported with research and evaluation by UQ and HWQld through HWCRI. The research centre itself is an exemplar of how government and academia can work together to bridge the gap between research and practice to improve the health and wellbeing of Queenslanders. 

HWCRI invests in the delivery of impactful preventive health research and programs, designed to reduce health inequities. It is jointly funded by HWQld and UQ and allows for a targeted, evidence-based and responsive approach to prevention and health promotion actions, policies and practices across Queensland. 

Since partnering with UQ to establish HWCRI in December 2021, the Centre has obtained more than $7 million in funding and is working with over 40 industry partners and 30 national and international academics on over 66 research projects.

A key aspect of HWCRIs work is supporting collaborative projects with research and evaluation. In addition to the evaluation of Logan Healthy Living by UQ Health Care, HWCRI partners with HWQld on the following projects:

• Podsquad
• Wellness my Way
• Move and Measure It! Project ECHO®
• Healthy Kids Series – Project ECHO®
• Clinical Prevention Framework
• Performing Arts for Wellbeing (partnership with QPAC and HWQld)

HWCRI continues to foster future health research professionals and has supported 25 Higher Degree students, 15 Honours students, 16 Summer/Winter Research Program students, and 10 visiting international placement students and scholars. Since its inceptions, HWCRI and HWQld authors have also co-authored 155 peer-reviewed publications on health prevention topics.

Find out more at Health and Wellbeing Queensland and UQ’s School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences.