A Chair of Positive Ageing and Care is to be appointed at UNSW to oversee a pioneering scheme bringing together community, residential and sub-acute hospital care under a "one stop shop" for aged care.

In a blend of the academic and the practical, the senior position, funded by health and aged care provider, HammondCare, will be established under an agreement with UNSW's School of Public Health and Community Medicine.

The research position will be located at the new Clinical Training Centre being built with funds from a $3.3 million federal government grant, at one of HammondCare's Sydney facilities, where clinical training placements will be provided for more than 100 medical, nursing and allied health students in 2011.

The establishment of the Chair was announced by HammondCare Chief Executive, Dr Stephen Judd and the Dean of UNSW Medicine, Professor Peter Smith.

Dr Judd said despite years of health policy debate, the integrated one-stop shop for continuity of healthcare and community support of the elderly did not yet exist, largely due to various types of care being funded by different tiers of government.

"Older people prefer to avoid hospital unless they have an acute illness, which also makes good economic sense. There is an opportunity to pioneer a new model of care which brings together community, residential and sub-acute hospital care into a single matrix," he said.

Professor Smith said: "The new model will have education and research playing a fundamental role in ensuring there is a fully competent workforce delivering the care that the aged need, and that staff are critically evaluating and improving the quality of the services delivered against expected outcomes and care standards."

The academic who eventually fills the Chair will have a substantial clinical consultant role at HammondCare's facilities, Professor Smith said. "As well as being the champion for the development of community-based aged and disabled care research and teaching of students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level."

An appointment is expected to be made early next year.

Media contact: Maria Backlund | UNSW Medicine | 0409 996 294