Self-care plays a pivotal role in the management of heart failure (HF). Health literacy and empowerment are considered the prerequisites of effective self-care. This project aims to improve self-management in people with HF by describing, analysing and enhancing the communication practices of clinicians and patients to support people with HF to increase their health literacy skills and participate in shared decision-making.

A multimethod research design incorporating an interview component, a concurrent mixed-methods component and a pilot intervention study is used. The study is currently being conducted at two Australian hospitals in metropolitan areas (one public and one private). The interview component involves semistructured interviews with healthcare providers and hospital executives and managers at the participating sites to explore perceived barriers and facilitators to HF self-management and understand the institutional context of HF care. The concurrent mixed-methods components include: (a) tracking and audio recording the clinical interactions of patients with HF (n=30) during their hospitalisation and up to 6 months after discharge and semistructured interviews with the patient (and the carer) and the participating clinician after each clinical interaction and (b) collecting longitudinal survey data (n=180, patients) to track patients’ health literacy, empowerment and self-management over 6 months. The pilot feasibility study includes developing a complex intervention for clinicians and patients and evaluating its acceptability and potential in improving health literacy and reducing readmissions, length of stay and costs.

This study was approved by the Australian Capital Territory Health (2023.ETH.00007) and Edith Cowan University (023–04314-SAUNDERS) Human Research Ethics Committees. Informed consent was obtained and will continue to be sought from all participants. Study results will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals.

Most older adults living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) have at least one marker of potentially suboptimal prescribing. Pharmacists play a crucial role in medication management, with their effectiveness enhanced by using computerised decision support tools. The Pharmacists Review to Optimise Medicines in Residential Aged Care (PROMPT-RC) study aims to optimise medicine use by providing pharmacists in RACFs with an electronic medicine management app with integrated decision support (AusTAPER App/Pathway) to use as part of medication reviews they undertake.

The PROMPT-RC study is a parallel cluster randomised controlled trial design involving Australian RACFs. It will assess if pharmacists’ use of the AusTAPER App/Pathway for medication reviews improves medication regimens for RACF residents compared with usual care. Pharmacists in RACFs randomised to the intervention arm will be trained to use the AusTAPER App/Pathway, which flags potentially inappropriate medicines (PIMs) across a person’s entire medicine regimen. Pharmacists in RACFs randomised to the control arm will not have access to the AusTAPER App/Pathway—they will continue to provide usual care. The primary outcome is the difference in the number of regular medicines between treatment arms at 12 months. Secondary outcomes will measure the number of regular and pro re nata medicines, PIMs, medicine administration times, medicine regimen complexity, use of antipsychotics, antidepressants, and benzodiazepines, quality of life, mortality, instances of physical restraint, and the number of falls, hospitalisations and general practitioner/health professional visits. The cost-effectiveness of the AusTAPER App/Pathway compared with usual care will be calculated. Data collection will occur at baseline, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months postrandomisation and 3 and 6 months prebaseline. We aim to recruit 668 participants to adjust for an estimated 10% loss to follow-up, giving 334 participants in each arm. Data analysis will follow an intention-to-treat approach using a linear mixed model.

Ethical approval was obtained from The University of Western Australia Human Research Ethics Committee (Reference: 2024/ET000525; approved 14 August 2024). Reciprocal approval was also obtained in other states. This study is registered on the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (https://anzctr.org.au). Trial findings will be disseminated through national and international peer-reviewed publications and conferences.

ACTRN12624001409561.