Dr Sarah Hosking joins the CRE Frailty & Healthy Ageing

Dr Sarah Hosking, Research Fellow , Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, Monash University.

"I have recently started work with Associate Professor Simon Bell as a Research Fellow within the Centre for Medication Use and Safety (CMUS) at Monash University and the Centre for Research Excellence in Frailty and Healthy Ageing.

I became interested in ageing and health as a PhD student at the Epi-Centre for Healthy Ageing at Deakin University. My recently submitted PhD thesis investigated associations between health literacy (the abilities and supports which enable an individual to manage their health) and uptake of lifestyle related osteoporosis prevention behaviours.

Older adults, who are more likely to be managing comorbidities with often complex treatment plans, are also more likely to have poorer health literacy than their younger counterparts. It’s clear that there are many opportunities to ensure we are health literacy responsive in the way we provide health information and healthcare for this age group. My passion for highlighting the importance of health literacy in health communication and healthcare has lead me to present workshops and lectures on health literacy for clinicians and consumers as well as become an active member of Barwon Health’s Health Literacy Strategic Reference Group.

I have also had the privilege of presenting my research at conferences, both local and international, resulting in a number of awards including a Young Investigator Award at the International Osteoporosis Foundation Asia Pacific Regional conference in 2016 and an IOF-ESCEO UCB Fellowships presented at the World Congress on Osteoporosis in 2017.

In my role as Research Fellow at CMUS and the CRE in Frailty and Healthy Ageing I have recently started work on projects related to preventable hospitalisations from residential aged care and am looking forward to working on frailty related projects in the near future."