Preparing for the future: Starting a platform redevelopment project

An article written by Prof. Jennifer Tieman, Director, Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying

The CareSearch Project Team has started a project to reconceive and deliver the digital platform for the CareSearch website. This is not a website rebranding or rebuild but something more fundamental. We are looking at how changes in the digital ecosystem can help us create a platform on which we build our websites that will provide the type of functions and applications that can better meet the needs of our users.  For many years we have been trying to maximise the functions of our existing system while recognising that the technical environment in which we are operating is rapidly changing.

Over the coming months, we will be quietly examining and developing the framework for our system that will enable us to move confidently into the future. Central to our work will be security and effective functionalities,  applications that make it easier for visitors too find and use evidence that helps in decision making and care delivery, and data systems that can help us better understand how people seek, find and engage with knowledge.

While we are doing this work, nothing will change for users. Our current website will continue to provide access to trustworthy information, evidence resources, health professional specific resources and tools and education and learning opportunities. In the next few months, we may be asking for our website users to be involved in testing new functions and applications. We are excited to be working with our users, our industry partners, and our project partners to map how palliative care knowledge and the digital environment can help us meet the needs of our community and our sector.  

Author

Professor Jennifer Tieman BSc(Hons) MBA PhD FAICH

Matthew Flinders Professor

Director, Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying (RePaDD)