Projects-Completed
Review of the Melbourne East General Practice Network’s Consumer Engagement Strategy
Tere Dawson
The review will involve the assessment of written reports and documents produced within the context of the implementation of the Strategy, and approximately five face-to-face interviews with staff, Board members and stakeholders (GP and practice staff and others). The final report will include a series of recommendations, emerging from the review, to enhance the engagement strategy in the future.
Consumer participation in research project
Tere Dawson
In 2009, Health Issues Centre was successful in obtaining 12-month funding from the Victorian Cancer Agency to develop and deliver a program of training for consumer participation in research. The project includes consultations and workshops with consumers, carers and cancer researchers to develop a training program for consumer participation in cancer research. Once the program is developed, the training will be delivered in metropolitan and regional Victoria. The project will be completed in February 2010.
As a component of this project Health Issues Centre is conducting four sessions on consumer participation in research. The main aim of the project is to build the skills and knowledge of cancer consumers and carers to work in collaboration with cancer researchers in Victoria.
National Safety and Quality Healthcare Standards.
Assunta Morrone
Health Issues Centre was funded by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) to recruit consumers for a workshop consultation to provide feedback in relation to the draft National Safety and Quality Healthcare (NSQH) Standards. Twenty five consumer advocates attended the consultation which took place Victoria University in December 2009.
Participate in Health Conference- My Story Matters
This Conference was held from 21-22 September 2009 at Victoria University, City Campus 300 Flinders Street Melbourne.The event was a huge success with over 150 delegates registered. An exceptional program was developed covering a wide range of themes from patient safety, consumer participation, health reform and quality improvement. We hope you enjoyed the many highlights of the Conference, including the compelling presentations from speakers such Fran Baum and Beth Wilson as well as the interactive workshops, speakers market and entertainment
Participate in Health conference program 2009
A selection of presentations from the conference will be available shortly
Development of a comprehensive suite of consumer, carer and community performance indicators for Victorian Health Services
Tere Dawson
This first project aimed to develop a comprehensive suite of consumer, carer and community performance indicators for Victorian health services. The approach to develop the indicators will involve a consumer consultation, a literature review, a mapping exercise and a workshop with stakeholders to gain consensus on the final suite of indicators. The Lincoln Centre for Research and Ageing and the Centre for Quality Improvement Research and Practice collaborated with Health Issues Centre to implement the project. Funding was provided by the Statewide Quality Branch, Department of Human Services
DHS Indicators project E Newsletter updates October 2008
DHS Indicators project E Newsletter updates January 2009
DHS Indicators project E Newsletter updates March 2009
Audit of Health Service’s Quality of Care Reports
Tere Dawson,Julia Byford,Panayiota Romios and Jackie Mansourian
The aim of the audit was to inform the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the DHS Participation Advisory Committee on implementation of the strategic direction of the DHS Doing it with us not for us policy, as reported in 122 (2007–08) Quality of Care Reports received from Victorian health services.
Quality Health Care Conversation Consumer Consultation
Assunta Morrone
Health Issues Centre was funded by Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care to deliver a one day workshop with consumers on the new National Safety and Quality Framework for Australia. The framework is designed to guide action to improve safety and quality of care in all healthcare settings over the next decade.
Medical Practitioners Board Victoria
Tere Dawson
In 2005, Health Issues Centre assisted the Medical Practitioners Board Victoria to establish a Community Consultative Committee – the first in a health registration board in Australia. An excellent range of community members were nominated and the final committee reflects this. An orientation session was run initially but such was the calibre of the committee that the intended further training session have not yet been necessary. The Board reports that the committee is being highly valuable in proving advice from a community and consumer perspective to the Board n its operations and planning.
Consumer Participation Strategy for CanNET Victoria
Assunta Morrone
In 2008-2009 Health Issues Centre was funded by CanNET Victoria, NEMICS and Hume RICS to explore consumer’s experience of cancer services in the northern metropolitan, and Hume regional area. This project will inform CanNET Victoria's Consumer Particpation Strategy. Health Issues Centre consulted with 57 consumers, from a range of diverse backgrounds including Spanish, Italian, Turkish as well as Australian born consumers. Health Issues Centre also consulted with a number of Indigenous health workers and community workers regarding the Indigenous communities’ experience of cancer services and suggested strategies for engagement.The report makes a number of recommendations for CanNET Victoria, NEMICS and Hume RICS in regards to the needs of diverse consumers, engaging diverse consumers and professional development and support for staff.
Pathways of Cancer Care that Involve Public and Private Cancer Services: North Eastern Metropolitan Integrated Cancer Service
Panayiota Romios, Tony McBride, Lauren Cordwell, Charin Naksook and Nicola Bruce
This study aims to identify the care pathway (from diagnosis to treatment completion) experienced by forty consumers whose pathway involves both public and private cancer service providers within the North Eastern Metropolitan Integrated Cancer Service (NEMICS) catchment. A literature review, an analysis of the interviews with consumers and clinicians and a range of recommendations for future service coordination will be the key outcomes of the project.
Analysis of findings of a Consumer Usage Questionnaire for the Inner South East Mental Health Alliance
Tere Dawson and Lauren Cordwell
This project involved the analysis of data obtained from a consumer survey conducted by the Inner South East Mental Health Alliance. The analysis aimed to increase awareness of service usage, interagency referral processes and consumer needs. A report was prepared which included findings from the analysis and recommendations for enhancing current best practice.
Development of a Consumer and Carer Consultation Strategy for the Home and Community Care Program
Tony McBride, Tere Dawson, Lauren Cordwell
This project involves the development of a Consumer and Carer Consultation Strategy for the Home and Community Care Program (HACC) Active Service Model Project. The project will seek information from consumers and carers to input into the development of the implementation plan for the HACC Active Service Model initiative. It will also seek consumer and carer input to determine appropriate and feasible strategies for consumer and carer contribution for the ongoing development and implementation of the model. Funding is provided by the Department of Human Services.
Dental Costs Study
Dell Horey, Charin Naksook and Tony McBride
Health Issues Centre, Dental Health Services Victoria and Dianella Community Health jointly undertook the study on costs of delayed dental treatment of low-income consumers. The project was funded initially by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation and the Victorian Department of Human Services. Additional funding was provided by Dental Health Services Victoria.
The project aimed to estimate the costs incurred by the public health system and consumers associated with waiting lists for oral health treatment. We recruited two groups of consumers on the dental waiting list at Dianella Community Health, Broadmeadows. One group comprised people who were eligible for dental treatment after a waiting period of approximately two years and the other had joined the waiting list for two to four months. Both groups underwent a dental examination, had a dental treatment plan developed, and received the required dental treatment as part of usual care at the dental service. In addition, a questionnaire asking about impacts of delayed dental treatment on the consumers and their use of oral health services was administered in a face-to-face interview. Data were collected between September 2006 and February 2007.
The Dental Cost Study Report-Why is he not smiling? Final report is now available. An article on findings from qualitative data collected in the face-to-face interviews was published in Health Issues, No. 92, Spring 2007.
Cancer Australia: Consumer Orientation and Information Resource Project
Tony McBride, Tere Dawson, Vanessa Lynne and Nicola Bruce
This project forms part of the Strengthening Cancer Care Initiative and is funded by the Australian Government. The project aims to provide suitable and sustainable training and support mechanisms to both consumer members of national committees and cancer support networks around Australia.
The project delivered:
Resource development did not start from scratch. Existing relevant resources were reviewed and used in the development of the documents, especially resources and packages where consumers have been heavily involved in their development. The project finished in March 2008.
Development of Potential Consumer Participation Models for Care Connect
Tony McBride and Maria Wright
The aim of this project was to identify how Care Connect can embrace consumer representation to enhance the quality of its client services.
The specified objectives of this project were to:
Care Connect is a non-profit organisation specialising in assessment, care management and brokerage service. This project will be undertaken between April and June 2006.
Development of a Strategy for Consumer Participation-Mornington Peninsula Division of General Practice
Lauren Cordwell, Tony McBride and Tere Dawson
This project developed a consumer participation model for the Mornington Peninsula Division of General Practice. Through interviews with local stakeholders and a review of key lessons from the experience of other Victorian Divisions, this project identified the key rationales for engaging consumers in Division activities and proposed some models for consumer participation that took into account the views of stakeholders and the Division and were based on current consumer participation good practice.
Effective Engagement of Consumers and Community in the Development and Dissemination of Health Advice
Tony McBride, Panayiota Romios, Margaret Wohlers and Sandra Robinson, in conjunction with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
The project was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and focused on identifying and documenting current practice in consumer participation in health advice development (e.g. health information, clinical guidelines, health policy). The study explored how the good practice we discovered in other organisations could be applied to the Health Advisory Committee (HAC) of the NHMRC.
The project also examined ways to engage people whose participation has traditionally been disadvantaged, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people disadvantaged by illness, culture, socioeconomic situation, disability or location. The project involved a literature review and consultation. An analysis and synthesis of the findings was developed from both these sources.
Consultations involved interviews with HAC working committee members, developers and disseminators of health advice, consumer organisations, and other key individuals and organisations with knowledge and expertise on the engagement of consumers and the community in the development of health advice.
The project found that the most participatory approaches to consumer involvement were taken by consumer organisations or organisations using a community development or partnership method. These approaches typically depend on good collaborative relationships between the consumer and professional groups involved. Although there was common agreement on what were the key elements of good practice in consumer participation in developing health advice, participants could not point to many models of good practice actually being used in the field currently.
Informed Parental Consent for Newborn Screening in Victoria
Tony McBride, Kim Hider and Charin Naksook
In May 2005, the Department of Human Services funded Health Issues Centre to develop a report on informed consent by parents for newborn screening in Victoria. The project aimed to explore the factors that facilitate parental consent to newborn screening-and related issues such as secondary uses of the card-and to determine those factors that obstruct/hinder/impede such consent.
We consulted with 150 key stakeholders including interviews with 15 key informants with expertise in privacy, informed consent, consumer advocacy, maternity services, and genetic services. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with 67 health professionals including midwives, maternal and child health co-ordinators, shared care general practitioners, obstetricians, and paediatricians. Nine focus group interviews were held with a total of 60 mothers and eight fathers. These included two groups of mothers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (Vietnamese, Horn of Africa) using interpreters. Selected relevant literature was also appraised.
Key findings included limited parent and health professional knowledge of current storage, access and secondary uses of the newborn screening cards. There was strong parental support for the screening program, but significant concerns about not being informed about, and giving consent to, indefinite storage and the secondary uses. Recommended models for parent information and parental consent for newborn screening were developed and validated by key health professionals and consumers previously consulted.
The project has finished and the final report was submitted to the Victorian Department of Human Services' Newborn Screening Review Committee in December 2005. The most effective strategies for giving parent information to obtain informed consent and the most efficient methods of recording the consent were identified. Informed by this final report, the Newborn Screening Review Committee has produced their report and recommendations, signed off by the Department's Ministry in 2006. The final report on this project is now available.
Monash Division of General Practice - Developing Divisional Capacity for Undertaking a Community Health Needs Assessment
Lauren Cordwell
Health Issues Centre provided tailored support to the Community Advisory Panel at the Monash Division of General Practice. This Community Advisory Panel is implementing a project which aims to enhance the capacity of the Division to undertake a community health needs assessment and identify the unmet health needs of the catchment. Health Issues Centre supported the design and implementation of this project and specifically delivered a workshop to the Community Advisory Panel on implementing a community health needs assessment and utilising population health data.
Older People Living Alone without a Carer Project
Panayiota Romios, Ian Gardner and Laura Varanelli
The Health Issues Centre, in conjunction with the Council on the Ageing Victoria and the Lincoln Centre Ageing and Community Care Research, undertook the project on behalf of the Victorian Department of Human Services to improve understanding of what paid and unpaid care people living without a carer do access and of why and at what points in the health and care continuum older people living with and without a carer do not access care that would meet their needs. The project also from published and unpublished information, care needs and existing paid and unpaid care service models to support older people living alone at home without a carer.
Southern Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service (SMICS): Optimising Consumer Participation in Cancer Services
Tere Dawson, Lauren Cordwell and Tony McBride
In May 2005, Health Issues Centre was commissioned by SMICS to develop and implement a model for active consumer participation as a key strategy for improving cancer service delivery in southern Melbourne. This two-year collaborative project will involve the recruitment and education/training of consumers and carers who will be members of committees working with clinicians in the implementation of the Patient Management Frameworks (PMF) and other high level decision making committees within SMICs. Tailored training in consumer participation for clinicians involved in SMICS will also be developed and implemented. The project also aims to develop, trial, and evaluate diverse methods and tools for consumer and carer participation in cancer services delivery and quality improvement.
In 2006, the project completed several of the planned stages. These included the development of roles and terms of reference for consumers and carers participating in SMICS Tumour Groups and the SMICS Advisory Groups; development of a model for recruitment of consumers and carers to participate in SMICS committees; and development of a model for consumer participation in quality improvement.
In 2007, the project implemented a series of pilot projects with Tumour Groups to consult with consumers about aspects of their cancer care; developed two Information Sheet for clinicians about consumer participation; and started a process evaluation of the overall project.
