Eli Ristevski

1.   Cancer care
2.   Supportive care in cancer
3.   Chronic disease management
4.   Health service policy and practice
5.   Qualitative research methods

Eli has a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) which she completed at the School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Latrobe University in 2001. Her PhD investigated the role of voluntary organisations in the care of people with a chronic illness. Her current research work investigates the care, treatment, psychosocial and supportive care needs of people diagnosed with cancer and pathways for health professionals to incorporate evidence based practice into routine cancer care. Over the last 10 years has been involved in teaching and curriculum development and taught extensively in postgraduate and undergraduate education programs to students in medicine, nursing and health sciences. Eli has also provided research supervision to PhD candidates and Masters students and is working as the chief investigator on a number of research projects. She has also been involved in postgraduate course coordination.

Ristevski, E., Breen, S., & Regan, M. (in press). 'Incorporating supportive care into routine cancer care: The benefits and challenges to clinicians’ practice.' Oncology Nursing Forum.

Ristevski, E and Burkett, C. (2008). 'Too Intelligent for Ones Own Good: Social Inclusion for Young People with Asperger Syndrome.' The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Volume 2, Issue 5, pp.57-66.

Gillham, S & Ristevski, E. (2007).  'Where do I go from here – we’ve got enough seniors? 'Australian Journal of Rural Health, 15(5), 313-320.

Ristevski, E. (2003). 'Expanding visions in the voluntary sector.'  In C. Walker, C. Peterson, N. Millen and C.Martin (Eds). Chronic illness: New perspectives and new directions (pp 120-135).  Croydon: Tertiary Press.

Ristevski, E., Tacticos, T., and Gardner, H. (2003). 'Altruism or entrepreneurialism: Competing ideologies in the voluntary sector.'  In P. Liamputtong and H. Gardner (Eds).  Health, social policy and communities (pp 54-73).  Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

‘Implementing supportive care screening and referral in a rural area: Training health professionals in the use of the Supportive Care Resource Kit.’ 
Aim: The aim of this study is to examine the impact of training and education on the knowledge, attitudes and clinical practice of health professionals in implementing supportive care screening and referral with cancer patients in a rural setting. The specific objectives are to: (1) Enhance health professionals’ knowledge and understanding of the role of supportive care in the treatment and management of cancer patients. (2) Foster health professionals’ participation in supportive care screening of cancer patients across a variety of rural health services/settings. (3) Enable clinicians to use evidence based referral protocols to make appropriate referrals and take actions for cancer patients. (4) Examine variations in practical application of the Supportive Care Resource Kit to generate recommendations for wider implementation.

‘Multi-site Testing of the Supportive Care Resource Kit: A model to improve supportive care provision for cancer patients.’  
While it is recognised that the early identification of patients with unmet supportive care needs, accompanied by subsequent referral and support, results in improved patient outcomes there is little discussion in the literature on how to effectively undertake and/or implement this process. This study investigates the implementation of supportive care screening and referral across eight treatment facilities. Aim: The aim of this study is to gather acceptability data about the use of the Supportive Care Resource Kit across different health care settings. The specific objectives are: (1) to assess the ease of use of the SCRK from a patient and health care practitioner perspective; (2) to asses the acceptability of implementation of the SCRK across a range of clinical settings and geographical locations from a patient and health care practitioner perspective; and (3) to determine the ability of health care practitioners to use the SCRK in line with the training and guidelines provided in the study.

‘Choosing Mastectomy Or Breast Conservation Therapy: Factors Which Influence The Treatment Choices Of Rural Women With Early Breast Cancer.’
Although incidence and mortality of breast cancer in rural and metropolitan areas is similar, five year survival and the rate of mastectomy, however, is significantly higher in rural areas. This research explores the factors that influence the treatment choices of women with early stage breast cancer living in a rural area, particularly, the choice between mastectomy and breast conservation therapy. Seventy women living in Gippsland, Victoria who have undergone either mastectomy or breast conservation surgery (BCS) will be invited to participate in semi-structured interviews.