University of Adelaide researchers have started a two-year project to develop the nation’s first clinical care guideline for motor neurone disease (MND).
Health Evidence, Synthesis, Recommendations and Impact (HESRI) Unit Director, Professor Zachary Munn, and his team, took the first steps towards a nationally consistent, evidence-based approach by bringing together key interest holders this week.
The project has been funded and supported by FightMND; the charity established by 2025 Australian of the Year Neale Daniher AO after his own diagnosis with the disease in 2013, Patrick Cunningham, whose wife was also diagnosed with MND in 2013 and the late Dr Ian Davis OAM who was diagnosed with MND at the age of 33.
With no cure for MND, best-practice care is essential for improving quality of life and symptom management. The Australian MND Guideline will provide standardised recommendations to support healthcare professionals, people living with MND, carers, and policymakers, ensuring a consistent, high-quality approach to care across Australia.
The Guideline Development Panel, comprised of clinicians, researchers and lived experience members from around Australia who will review, craft and vote on the recommendations, will also meet for the first time this week.
According to Professor Munn, “For the first time, Australia will have a nationally developed, evidence-based guideline for MND care. This initiative is critical to ensuring that all Australians living with MND receive the highest standard of care, no matter where they live.”
