Health System Integration and Primary Health Care Development
Description and aims
This stream is focused on the role of primary health care in improving health and social care integration. Integration is approached at a number of levels and perspectives with the ultimate objectives of improving health and well being, service user experience and system efficiency/effectiveness.
Key current research areas
Primary Health Care System Development
PHC System Development is concerned with the development of organisations, systems, capacity and frameworks needed for a strong Primary Health Care system. This includes the organisational structures including LHDs, PHNs, and emerging Australian models of Patient Centred Medical Homes and Neighbourhood
Improving integration of services and continuity of care
Improving Integration is concerned with the way that different parts of health and related systems work together to provide comprehensive and well-coordinated primary health care. This includes integration within primary health care and with other sectors, including hospitals.
Access to Primary Health Care
Access to PHC is concerned with patterns of access to quality Primary Health Care. This work includes studies of access to primary health care for people with diabetes, using data from population health surveys and linking records from hospital and other data sets.
Key partners
Partnerships and working together at individual and organisational levels are central to improved integration. Our key partners are consumer and health professional representative organisations, PHNs, LHDs, community organisations and related sectors such as local government, education, employment etc.
Stream lead
Margo Barr leads this stream.
Completed
Projects
Evaluation Plan for South Eastern Sydney Local Health District Integrated Care Strategy
This project involves developing an evaluation plan for the SESLHD Integrated Care Strategy that addresses key evaluation questions related to the strategy’s aims, describes the program logics and details the overall evaluation approach and methods.
Feasibility study on the use of the patient activation measure (PAM) to improve quality of care for patients with chronic conditions in South Eastern Sydney Local Health District
This project will undertake a feasibility study on the use of the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) in South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD) to improve the quality of care for patients with chronic conditions.
GP Online Training Evaluation (GOTE)
UNSW Medicine (CPHCE and SPHCM) were commissioned by GP Synergy to develop online training modules for GP Registrars on research methods. This project is an evaluation of those modules.
GP-hospital integration: what have we learnt?
This project was established to summarise what had been learnt about GP-hospital integration since the initial national forum in 1997, and develop a foundation for better informed and coordinated policy and funding approaches to the systematising of integration activities within Australian health care systems