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
Systematic literature review of models of comprehensive primary health care
Addresses approaches being taken in PHC settings in Australia and other countries to organise planning and service delivery within a local area and the structural, organisational, funding and governance elements of these models, and the different “interface” issues encountered.
The UNSW electronic Practice Based Research Network
Routinely collected electronic health care data, aggregated into large databases, are increasingly being mined, linked and used for audit, continuous quality improvement in clinical care, health service planning, epidemiological study and evaluation research.
What is the place of Generalism in Mental Health Care in Australia: A systematic review
This narrative synthesis addressses the role of generalism in mental health care in promary health care settings and identifies the impications for the Australiam health care system.
