RESEARCH CENTRE FOR PRIMARY HEALTH CARE AND EQUITY

Research that makes a difference

We have more than fifteen years’ experience in primary health care research and development. We are keen to use this to support the development of Primary Health Networks and Local Health Districts.

What are we offering?

You have the challenging task of ensuring comprehensive primary health care for your community. We can assist with training, consultancy, advice and other support in our areas of expertise (see centre pages). We can work with individual organisations or groups of organisations, including Primary Health Networks/Local Health District partnerships.

Supporting primary and community health care is a part of our mission to create ‘better fairer health in the community’. Our work will need to be funded through the organisations that we work with and/or through external grants or funding programs.

We can work with interested organisations to identify possible sources of funding.

Who are we?

We are a research centre of the University of NSW. We have been studying and supporting primary health care development since 1996, focusing on:

We have an extensive track record of successful projects and established partnerships including three jointly funded research and development hubs in Local Health Districts;

We are the academic partner for the national evaluation of Primary Health Networks and work closely with the NSW Department of Health.

For further details go to www.cphce.unsw.edu.au

WHAT WE CAN OFFER

Contacts for further information and discussion of your needs

Leading and Developing Primary and Community Health

We continue to develop our successful leadership program to support implementation of primary health care reforms; service and model development to build the capacity of primary health care and organisational development.

Contact: Julie McDonald

E: j.mcdonald@unsw.edu.au T: 9385 1547

Equity

We have developed resources and training materials to help primary health care organisations and local health districts to build equity into the way they work. We are looking for opportunities to take this work further.

Contact: Jane Lloyd and Elizabeth Harris

E: j.lloyd@unsw.edu.au T: 9385 1547 and e.harris@unsw.edu.au T: 9515 1234

Informatics and e Health

We can advise and assist with developing systems for data extraction, linkage, and data quality management in primary and integrated care contexts with primary care, community health and hospital services. This includes electronic decision support systems.

Contact: Teng Liaw

E: siaw@unsw.edu.au T:9616 8520

Building research capacity

We can advise on approaches to developing research capacity of practitioners, services and organisations.

Contact: Nick Zwar

E: n.zwar@unsw.edu.au T: 9385 2515

Population based health planning and commissioning

We can assist PHNs and Local Health Districts to assess health needs and set priorities, plan, commission, distribute and deliver services with a strong population and equity focus.

Contact: Julie McDonald and Elizabeth Harris

E: j.mcdonald@unsw.edu.au T: 9385 1547 and e.harris@unsw.edu.au T: 9515 1234

Evaluation

We can work with PHNs and Local Health Districts to evaluate services and programs.

Contact: Julie McDonald

E: j.mcdonald@unsw.edu.au T: 9385 1547

Health Impact Assessments (HIA)

As a global leader in the conduct of HIA, we can work with service development teams, policy makers, service providers and communities to increase the likely success of their health care and public health programs.

Contact: Fiona Haigh

E: f.haigh@unsw.edu.au T: 8738 9310

Education and training

We can provide access to education and training through our Masters programs and short courses and links to other parts of the university.

Contact: Nick Zwar

E: n.zwar@unsw.edu.au T: 9385 2515

Policy and governance analysis

Based on decades of research in Healthy Cities and local government policy processes we have the capacity to provide strategic advice on policies and governance arrangements (e.g., in community engagement) for healthy urban planning.

E: e.deleeuw@unsw.edu.au T:8738 9310

Contact us: See overleaf for particular areas, or contact Terry Findlay at t.findlay@unsw.edu.au

Effective partnerships
  • Extensive collaborations with Divisions/Medicare Locals and Local Health Districts
  • Supporting the development and evaluation of partnership programs
  • Engaging service providers and local communities Involving consumers, general practices, community health, local government, non-government organisations in our research and service development
    Developing organisational capability and change management
  • Leadership development programs
  • Developing decision support tools and determining priorities
  • Workforce capacity building in areas such as chronic disease care and health promotion
  • Commissioning models in the Australian context
  • Evidenced based service development and evaluation
  • Evaluation of care coordination programs (NSW CDMP)
  • South Western Sydney Medicare Local’s Healthy Eating Activity and Lifestyle (HEAL) Program.
  • Respecting the Difference Program - Aboriginal cultural awareness program for SWSLHD
  • National evaluation of Primary Health Networks
  • Developing a population health and health equity focus
  • Increasing health equity policy development, strategic planning, program evaluations and capacity building
  • Equity focused Health Impact Assessments (HIA)
  • Developing population based prevention and community development programs in disadvantaged communities
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
  • Health and development of Aboriginal infants and children (Gudaga studies)
  • Aboriginal prisoners continuity of primary health care on release.
  • Quality improvement and cultural appropriateness of general practice care
  • Health literacy
  • Systematic reviews of evidence of lifestyle interventions for patients with low health literacy
  • Preventive care for patients with low health literacy in general practice
  • Coordination and multi-disciplinary care
  • Systematic reviews of integration and coordination of care, chronic disease management, self-management support
  • Trials of GP teamwork within practices/with allied health providers
  • Research on inter-professional collaboration across organisational and sector boundaries
  • Developing co-location models that support integration
  • Informatics and eHealth
  • eHealth interventions to improve access to primary health care and chronic disease management
  • Development of electronic practice based research networks Data linkage, electronic decision support