Meet our Member: Associate Professor Aileen Collier

Associate Professor Aileen Collier

Associate Professor Aileen Collier holds a joint appointment as Associate Professor (Palliative and Aged Care Nursing) in the Division of Aged Care, Palliative Care and Rehabilitation at Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN) and the Research Centre for Palliative Care Death and Dying at Flinders University. RePaDD spoke with Aileen to learn more about her research, what she’s working on and a little about her life outside of research.

What is your main research area and why did it pique your interest?

My research program is focused on safety, quality and equity of palliative care. My work sits at the boundaries of social science and health research. Since my student days in an early cohort of the BSc(Hons) degree program at what is now Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland, I have been passionate about people and their families receiving the best care possible, whatever their circumstances and wherever they live or their site of care.

My research interests and passion have been largely shaped by my experiences as a palliative care nurse in Scotland, Aotearoa (New Zealand) and here in Australia. They are also in no small way a result of my life-changing experience as a volunteer in the Champone District, Savannakhet, Lao PDR (Laos), where I learned participatory approaches to working with communities and where the research value of “nothing about us without us” was strongly instilled in me.

Fast forward to the late 2000s, I worked on an end-of-life care project to implement the Liverpool Care Pathway in a large tertiary referral centre. Somewhat troubled by the tick-box approach, as well as unintended consequences, the project raised more questions than answers. So, when a PhD scholarship on an ARC-funded study led by Professor Rick Iedema provided me the opportunity to read, think deeply and to learn with scholars outside my own discipline, I grabbed it!

What are you currently working on and how do you envision it helping improve palliative and end-of-life care?

I am currently working on numerous projects focused on improving the palliative care of older people. Several of these are focused on the care of people at risk of or have experienced cognitive impairment.

One example is our THRF/NALHN seed grant-funded study exploring patient safety for older people with cognitive impairment in the emergency department. Together with NALHN senior nurse managers, Alice Every, Kerri Grant and Monique Bolding – all of whom have an interest in improving the care of older people – in the Division of Aged Care, Rehabilitation and Palliative Care, we are currently analysing data from this study. The findings will not only directly inform the care of older people locally in NALHN but will contribute to the field internationally.

Can you tell us about how your joint appointment promotes nexus through other collaborations?

In my joint appointment role, my collaborations are with patients, family members, consumers, clinicians, managers, community members, as well as peers locally in SA, nationally and internationally.

For instance, funded by a Royal Society Te Apārangi Catalyst grant and led by Dr Rosemary Frey (University of Auckland) together with Rangimahora Reddy (CEO at Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust), we are working with colleagues from NALHN (Alice Every, Dr David Holden, Toni Shearer), the University of Leeds (A/Prof Matthew Allsop), SA Health (Kate Swetenham) and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Palliative Care Association (Cindy Paardekooper) to build a collaboration for a study investigating palliative care, telehealth and underserved population.

Aileen with colleagues on a recent visit to the UK and Ireland to investigate telehealth approaches: (L to R) A/Prof Mathew Allsop (University of Leeds), Dr Jakki Birtwhistle (University of Leeds), Dr Rosemary Frey (University of Auckland), A/Prof Aileen Collier, Prof Vanessa Burholt (University of Auckland), Dr Sarute Chawvavanich (Mahidol University).
Aileen with colleagues on a recent visit to the UK and Ireland to investigate telehealth approaches: (L to R) A/Prof Mathew Allsop (University of Leeds), Dr Jakki Birtwhistle (University of Leeds), Dr Rosemary Frey (University of Auckland), A/Prof Aileen Collier, Prof Vanessa Burholt (University of Auckland), Dr Sarute Chawvavanich (Mahidol University).

Which publication/project is most important to you and why did it excite you?

This is a tricky question. All our projects are important and exciting!  Perhaps one that particularly excites me is our recently funded NHMRC study titled: Partnering for Person-centred infection prevention and control (IPC) in residential aged care led by Dr Suyin Hor at UTS. This study brings together the most incredible team of video reflexive ethnographers, aged care providers, leaders in the field of IPC and palliative care researchers with consumers and policy leaders. I have been keen to partner with residents, their family caregivers and staff in the aged care sector on a video reflexive ethnography study for some years and to finally have a funded opportunity to do so is very exciting.

This project also speaks to our important findings reported in ‘Patient safety and hospital visiting at the end of life during COVID-19 restrictions in Aotearoa New Zealand: a qualitative study’, published in BMJ Quality & Safety and was listed as a top ten paper in 2023.

What is the most rewarding part about being a supervisor for HDR students?

I love learning together with students as well as their supervisors. I have had the incredible privilege of co-supervising with several inspiring colleagues. To see a lightbulb turn on and to play a part in a HDR student’s journey is hugely rewarding.

My joint appointment role means that I also have a significant teaching and mentoring role in NALHN; this is just as rewarding. Working alongside clinical nurses at the nexus of practice, education and research to demystify research and support nurses on their research journey is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding parts of my role.

For instance, I am currently supporting Flinders Nurse Practitioner candidate Gage Brewer, a palliative care nurse in the Northern Adelaide Palliative Service in his leadership of a study to explore stakeholder experiences of a co-designed palliative care needs round in an Aboriginal aged care facility along with Zena Bonney, a Aboriginal Health worker, and Dr Sheree Cross, a palliative care doctor.

You can meet Gage Brewer talking about another of his passions on supporting the LGBTIQA+ community at the end of life on the CarerHelp website – a collaboration between St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, Flinders University (CareSearch) and Carers Australia that NALHN has contributed to through the joint appointment with RePaDD at Flinders University.

Outside of research, how do you like to spend your spare time?

When I’m not at work, you will find me in the paddock with my horses or building fences with husband, John, in my other role as a grass farmer on our property, Nabranga, in the Northern Adelaide Hills on the edge of the Barossa Valley. There is nothing quite like the feeling when I pull up at the Nabranga gate on a clear spring evening.

Nabranga gate through the ears of Fergus
Nabranga gate through the ears of Fergus
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