CURRENT PROJECTS

National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) - BreastScreen Cohort Demonstration Study
Tere Dawson
Health Issues Centre in collaboration with the Consumer Advisory Committee of BreastScreen Victoria and the NBCF is conducting a series of workshops with women to asses the documents that women will need to read and questionnaire they will need to fill in when become participants of this study. Consulting with women about the acceptability of the study and asking women about the legibility and user-friendliness of project documents and data collection tools is not common practice in research, thus, this is a valuable and innovative initiative. Hopefully, it is acknowledged and replicated by other researchers in Australia in the future.

Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA)
Health Issues Centre has entered in a partnership with Cancer Voices Victoria and the PCFA to deliver training sessions on advocacy and consumer participation to members of PCFA. The first sessions were delivered in Sydney in February 2010 to members of the National Support and Advocacy Committee and the second session in Melbourne in March 2010 to other PCFA members.

Northern Primary Mental Health Team /Youth Early Psychosis Program
Tere Dawson

Health Issues Centre has started a new and exiting project to support the participation of young people in mental health services in the northern region of Melbourne. The Northern Primary Mental Health Team /Youth Early Psychosis Program is funding the development a youth advisory model for mental health services in the cities of Darebin and Whittlesea. Health Issues Centre will work in collaboration with young people already involved in several of the mental health services, service providers and experts in the field of mental health to develop the model. This project will be finished in June 2010.

The priorities of rural consumers who travel for healthcare
Jackie Mansourian

In 2008, the Health Issues Centre prepared a Discussion Paper on ‘The needs of rural consumers who travel to Melbourne Hospitals’. Following the release of the discussion paper HIC coordinated two regional roundtables in Gippsland and Loddon Mallee, April 2009. Seven key areas of policy and practice change were consistently identified for a ‘whole-of-journey’ approach to rural consumers who travel for healthcare. These have arisen from the roundtables which affirmed and further strengthened the voices of consumers told in the Discussion Paper. These seven priorities have been written in A summary report of seven key priorities towards ‘whole-of-journey’ supportive and coordinated care

Dianella CH and Royal Childrens Hospital Community Asthma Program(CAP)Evaluation
Julia Byford

Health Issues Centre has been funded by Dianella Community Health to conduct an evaluation of this program. The CAP is a community-based early intervention program that aims to improve health outcomes for children with moderate to severe asthma in the northern suburbs, and to reduce unnecessary use of health services, especially the Emergency Department (ED) at the Royal Children’s Hospital. Rather than just focussing on disease management, the CAP considers the social circumstances of the clients and families, e.g. ethnicity, socioeconomic status, mental health or other issues. CAP coordinates a range of health and social services to support families, which in turn will assist them to manage their child’s asthma.This evaluation will focus on client outcomes, quality of life and impact on health services and also review of the program model to see whether the stakeholders consider it still the most appropriate and cost effective.

Was I still on the waiting list? A study about people waiting for public dental care
Nicola Bruce and Charin Naksook
This study involves people who have been on the waiting list for public dental treatment at Dianella Community Health, Broadmeadows, for two years or more. It explores the experiences and perceptions of public dental patients and includes those who do not end up using the service. The aim of the study is to investigate factors (including health literacy) influencing decisions made by people on public dental waiting lists to attend dental clinics and explore people’s perceptions of their oral health status and general health status, and associated behaviours, while waiting for public dental care.

Study on consumer perspectives on potential workforce changes
Panayiota Romios
This project intends to explore the experiences, preferences and acceptability of potential workforce changes in a number of health sectors among a diverse range of consumers, and to use this to broker some new consensus on core principles for future change.

• It will conduct a number of focus groups with consumers to gain a rich understanding of consumer’s views about four sets of potential workforce reforms, including the acceptability of and the necessary conditions for such changes, differences in views about such change in the public or private sectors, and potential challenges in implementing change
• At a later stage it will conduct a qualitative evaluation of Victorian workforce reform project in a health setting, in particular of consumer perspectives on the changes and broader implications
• Finally to share consumer perspectives with key health services, professionals and consumer organisations, and to create some mutually acceptable core principles for future reform, it will convene a Consensus Conference

The project will be finalised in June 2010

Consumer Nominee Program
Assunta Morrone
Through the Consumer Nominee Program, Health Issues Centre is working to ensure the views of consumers, carers, community members, patients and carers are heard in the design and delivery of health services and in the development of health policy in Victorian and Australia.

Consumers and community members have recently been nominated by Health Issues Centre to participate in Department of Human Service Committees for Outpatient Reforms, HealthConnect, Care in Your Community, Review of Cardiac Services and Conference Planning. Other consumers have participated in a National Oral Health Advocacy Day in Canberra, conferences in Victoria and professional development workshops for health professionals.

Additional information for consumers, carers and community members and governments and health services is available from our Consumer Nominee page.

Support to the Victorian Community Advisory Committees
Assunta Morrone
Health Issues Centre supports the on-going development of 19 Victorian Community Advisory Committees (CACs) in Metropolitan and Regional Health Services.
The key role of CACs is to promote and advocate for participation across all levels of their health service. Health Issues Centre is available to support individual CACs with their own specific priorities and the whole of CAC network as common themes and issues unfold. One significant contribution Health Issues Centre makes is to the orientation of new Resource Officers as they begin their journey of supporting CACs.