Touchstone Research Program

Impact the future of palliative care delivery and policy within St Vincent's Hospitals

Study purpose:

Understanding quality, safety, appropriateness and cost-effectiveness of end-of-life care for people receiving palliative care. Outcomes of the Touchstone Research Program will be used to inform the feasibility of future intervention studies in the care of people with advanced disease.

The Touchstone Project is an initiative across St. Vincent's Health Australia (SVHA), aimed at evaluating and enhancing the quality of palliative care services.

Multi-Center Collaboration

We encourage interested researchers to put forward ideas that might align with this initiative. Please consult the study protocol for detailed information on methodology, ethical considerations, and data handling procedures.

Spanning Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane St Vincent's hospitals, the Touchstone Research Program investigates multiple facets of end-of-life care, including quality, safety, appropriateness, and cost-effectiveness.

This research will serve as a foundation for potential future intervention studies in advanced disease care, substantially impacting palliative care delivery and policy.

Demographic profiles and diagnoses
Symptom prevalence and management
Medication prescribing and utilisation
Patient performance status and hospital service data

Project Application Process

Scheduled Touchstone Investigator Meetings:

17th November 2025

Interested to apply?

Please read the Touchstone Study Information and Study Protocol.

Then, speak to the Touchstone Principal Investigator at your site about your project idea. If needed, they will assist you to refine it.

Complete the Touchstone Study Expression of Interest form

Submit the completed form via email to the Principal investigator at your site and the study co-ordinator (c.platts@unimelb.edu.au) at least 10 business days prior to the next scheduled review meeting.

Please note, preference will be granted to multi-site studies.

Project review by Touchstone Investigator Team

Your study will be presented at the next review meeting (quarterly), if required, interim review by the Touchstone Investigators is possible, please contact the study co-ordinator in this instance.

Please note, studies involving more than one Touchstone site will be preferenced.

Please see calendar for upcoming meeting dates

Outcome

Within ten business days following review of your project, you will receive formal feedback with the outcome of your application. If accepted, you will receive an acceptance pack including study ethics and governance documents required for data access, and a conditions of approval form.

Please sign and return the conditions of approval form to us within ten days of receipt.

Project

You will now undertake your approved project.

Please continue to check in with your site Touchstone Investigator throughout the project, they will arrange regular meeting times with you.

Please ensure ongoing compliance with ethics, governance and data-sharing conditions

Completion & Presentation

Once your project is complete, you will now prepare a short final report and short presentation.

These findings will be presented to the Touchstone supervisors at the next meeting - see calendar for upcoming meeting dates.

Please note, if submitting findings for peer-reviewed publication, this can serve as the final Touchstone project report.

Dissemination

Support with manuscript preparation, conference abstract submission or other scholarly outputs is available.

Where appropriate, please consider co-authorship with the Touchstone supervisors and collaborators.