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Funded by the Australian Research Council, Linkage Projects Grant
Industry Partners:
Smith & Nephew 
Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
Project Team:
Prof Helen Edwards Head, School of Nursing, QUT
Prof Mary Courtney , Faculty of Health, QUT
Prof Nick Graves , School of Public Health, QUT
Contact: Prof Helen Edwards
Email: h.edwards@qut.edu.au
Phone: +61 7 31383819
Chronic leg ulcers result in loss of functional ability and long term ill-health for 1-3% of those aged over 60 years. Although evidence on effective management of the condition is available, a significant evidence-practice gap exists due to problems with multiple care providers, access to specialist wound care expertise, costs and/or distance. This project aimed to determine the effectiveness of alternative pathways of care on implementation of evidence-based practice leading to healing and prevention of chronic leg ulcers. The objectives were to:
- Identify current management and referral pathways for community clients with chronic leg ulcers
- Identify current levels of implementation of evidence based guidelines
- Identify wound healing and recurrence rates according to differing pathways of care
- Evaluate the effectiveness of evidence based practice, wound healing rates and prevention of chronic leg ulcers.
Efficient use of health resources and improved health as a result of effective chronic wound management (early healing and prevention) are the most significant potential outcomes from this study.