Kim-Huong Nguyen

Key Achievements in the Past 5 Years (2019-2023):

1. Completed the "Cost of Care" project that measured the productivity and efficiency of residential aged care facilities (nursing homes) in Australia, while adjusting for quality differences. This project proposes a method to generate a composite quality index to benchmark individual facilities based on their service quality. The research findings directly contributed to the Final Recommendations by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (February 2021), which led to the development of the Star Ratings system for residential aged care facilities in Australia. This project was a collaborative effort between CHSR and the School of Economics.

2. Conducted the "Star Ratings" project, aimed at developing a quality signaling mechanism to assist senior Australians and their representatives in making informed choices about residential aged care services. The development of Star Ratings was a direct outcome of the Cost of Care project mentioned above. The Department of Health and Aged Care partnered with CHSR, the Aged Care Industry Information Technology Council (ACIITC), and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to design the Star Ratings and build a website where senior Australians and their families can access the Star Ratings system.

3. Became an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health through a one-year onsite training with the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity College Dublin. During the training, she led multiple collaborative initiatives, including a joint publication about hope and brain health, and an implementation report for the "Creativity and Well-Being for Personal and Professional Growth" initiative (a project funded by Erasmus++).