Highly Commended
Category: Access
Justice Health
“Capturing Perceptions – Preventing the Great Escape by Breaking
Down Barriers to Healthcare”
Contact: Rhonda Halpin
Phone: 9289 2216
(also presented with a Minister’s Encouragement Award)
Justice Health (formally known as Corrections Health Service) carried out the first
Inmate Access Survey in 2001 to access inmates’ perceptions of healthcare
provision in the correctional environment. That survey provided Justice Health
with quantitative and qualitative measures of access and health service provision.
The Capturing Perceptions Project (CCP) was designed as a follow-up to identify
whether the changes implemented as a result of the 2001 survey had improved
access and service satisfaction. Both surveys used the same questionnaire and
sample methodology, thus allowing comparisons.
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Category: Access
Mid North Coast
Area Health Service
“MoodSwell”
Contact:
Bronwyn Chalker
Phone: 6562 0325
The MoodSwell is
a multimedia resource for young people to promote mental
health, improve resilience to depression and promote suicide
prevention. In the form of a CD-ROM The MoodSwell is an interactive
environment where young people can explore their feelings,
develop stress management and life skills, be inspired by
others and identify avenues for support. It is designed to
educate, entertain and inform. The information and collected
resources are put together in an interactive format designed
for young people to browse with the overall aim of enhancing
help-seeking behaviour and giving young people tools to identify
when they themselves or someone they know needs to get help.
The MoodSwell addresses triggers such as: conflict,
feelings, drugs, mental health, sexuality, stress, body issues,
self-esteem, coping skills, and grief. The MoodSwell also
helps young people explore their relationships with friends,
family, partners, the broader community and themselves.
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Category: Access
South East Sydney
Area Health Service
“Service Provision
/ Referral For Marginalised Clients”
Contact:
Jo Piper
Phone: 9522 1011
The aim of the project
is to improve access to public dental and other relevant
health or welfare services to people experiencing homelessness,
have drug and/or alcohol or mental health issues. Identified
barriers to access highlight the need for the development of
a tailored model of service delivery which is holistic and
uses an intersectoral approach that is responsive to the clients
needs. The planning process included an evaluation of current
services. A major factor preventing access for the targeted
group was the inflexibility
of the existing model. The project committee developed strategies
to address the identified service limitations and client
needs. These included co-location of a dental clinic with
Mission Australia, employment of a welfare officer,
availability of comprehensive care and a flexible
appointment system. Evaluation of the project has proven
that this model of service delivery has resulted in an
increase in access dental and welfare services for the
targeted group. This model is consistent with health directions
and could replicated in other services wanting to address
inequities in marginalised groups.
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Category:
Education & Training
Central Sydney Area Health Service
“Effective
methods of teaching using Excel templates”
Contact:
Wendy Jamieson
Phone: 9515 9339
An education
program (workshop) was instituted to train staff in the
tools of quality (Q Tools). Historically staff under-utilised
Q Tools in Quality Improvement (QI) projects. Automated
software templates were developed using MS Excel for a
variety of Q Tools. This approach has proven invaluable
for many staff whom have limited computer literacy. Several
methods were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the
workshops where the theory of the Q Tools and demonstration
of the automated templates were taught. Such as:
- A workshop Evaluation Questionnaire indicated that
participants were very satisfied with elements of
the program. This compared favourably to a benchmark and
our stretch goal was achieved.
- A Pre-Post workshop Knowledge
Questionnaire indicated that after the workshop the participants
had more understanding of the Q Tools.
- A Post-workshop usefulness
survey sent out several months after the workshop indicated
that 46% of participants had used at least one Q Tool.
- The
Annual QI Poster competition showed an increased use of
the Q Tools over the years.
- The stretch goal of >150
staff was exceeded in staff attending the workshops annually.
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Category:
Education & Training
Northern
Sydney Area Health Service
“Enabling
Clinicians to Become the Quality Leaders”
Contact:
Nick O’Connor
Phone: 9887 5591
In the absence of
an existing quality program NSH AMHS took on the challenge
of implementing a quality improvement program whereby staff
at the coalface would become the leaders in “quality” guided
by the Quality Unit. This approach is supported by evidence
that suggests that clinicians need to “own” quality
improvement initiatives and embed it into everyday practice
rather than see it as the role of an individual person/s. Within
12 months the service has trained 80 clinicians in Clinical
Practice Improvement methodology and currently has 20 CPI projects
with an identified
measurable outcome; provided over 200 staff with inservices
on quality improvement; and trained 45 staff in root cause
analysis. Training of 8 clinicians in the use of the Minitab
statistical package has allowed all services to generate
charts at a local level to identify opportunities for improvement.
The handing of “quality” back to clinicians
of the AMHS has provided a framework for improved outcomes
for consumers and carers.
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Category: Safety
Wentworth Area
Health Service
“Community Evac Database”
Contact:
Kath Harrison
Phone: 4759 8700
In October 2001,
the emerging gaps in procedures allowing the timely identification
of vulnerable community members within their homes who are at real risk of
harm or adverse events in times of natural disaster (bushfire, floods)
were identified and tabled by field staff of the Wentworth Area
Health Service (WAHS) Stream of Chronic & Complex Care. Stream management
then tabled their concerns to the Area Disaster Committee. This identification
resulted in the development of the WAHS Evacuation Database and the subsequent
procedures related to its implementation and use in the event of natural disaster.
The breadth of application included all relevant Area services, Home & Community
Care (HACC) services, and Non-Government Organisations. The purpose was to
ensure that there was a robust mechanism able to identify community dwelling
vulnerable clients, who may require co-ordinated pre-emptive evacuation in
times of high risk and threat. The data base currently contains 323 identified
residents across WAHS, who would be unable to respond to crisis requests by
Police or Emergency Service staff, to evacuate their homes if they were under
threat. To date over 50 at risk residents (isolated frail aged, dementia clients,
palliative care clients, residents with mental health conditions), have been
pre-emptively evacuated through co-ordinated efforts, by Central District Ambulance
to WAHS facilities, until the threat had passed. The Evac data base allows
residents to be identified by suburb and street, and records details
that enable appropriate assistance in the most timely fashion eg; client oxygen
dependent, two person transfer. The database enables the Community Controller
to identify those clients in the immediate line of the natural disaster and
co-ordinate an appropriate response within minutes of notification of
the suburbs and streets under threat.
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