Client and community involvement
The fourth core component of the HealthOne NSW Model of Care is client and commuity involvement in care and planning for care. This translates into client-centred care at an individual level, client-clinician-carer involvement in planning care pathways or patient journeys, and community involvement in planning for local health services to meet their needs.
In the development of HealthOne NSW services, community and consumer representatives should have the opportunity to collaborate in service planning and delivery. The local community should be engaged in a meaningful way to enable its views to be heard and for it to be kept informed about the service.
In addition to community involvement in HealthOne NSW services, it is also important that services ensure that the care that provided is client centred. Research has identified three key elements of client-centred care (Bauman et al 2003) that HealthOne NSW services should implement:
- Communication with patients, including explanation of health issues and exploration of feelings, beliefs and expectations
- Partnerships with patients so that they have the autonomy within the patient-
- clinician relationship to be involved in decision making
- A focus beyond specific conditions, on health promotion and healthy lifestyles
Strategic Direction 2 of the State Health Plan - Creat Better Experiences for People Using Health Services - speaks about patient journeys that provide good access to care, safe care and efficient services. Clinicans, consumers and carers should be involved in the development of good patient journeys.
References
Bauman, A.E., Fardy, H.J. & Harris, P.G. (2003). Getting it right: why bother with patient centred care? MJA, 179:253-256. Link to article
NSW Department of Health (2007). A New Direction for NSW. State Health Plan: Towards 2010. Link to article
This web page is managed and authorised by Inter-Government & Funding Strategies of the NSW Department of Health. Last updated: 4 March, 2009
