scholarly journals Performance measurement for community health services: opportunities and challenges

2003 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwyn Jolley
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Community Health Services ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Policy And Strategy ◽  
Performance Domains

This paper presents findings from a study that investigated performance measurement for primary health care servicesdelivered by the community health sector, and assessed the effectiveness and value of a performance measurementapproach in the evaluation of these services. Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholdersin South Australia. The findings indicate that three major steps are needed to move forward in the use of performancemeasurement in the community health sector. These steps are i) development of a policy and strategy statement forcommunity health, ii) identification of performance domains and indicators, and iii) development of appropriatedata systems.

Best Practice and Allied Health

1996 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
Jill Thoroughgood
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Models Of Care ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Primary Health

In this paper, issues are discussed relating to the provision of quality allied health advice, and the focus of the allied health program in primary health care and community health settings in the Peninsula and Torres Strait Region of Queensland, since Regionalisation in 1991. It was apparent to allied health professionals working in community health, that the change process presented an opportunity to influence not only the Regional Health Authority, but also to act as a united voice for the professions and to be advocates for best practice models of care for the community. Why do allied health professionals need to be utilised in an advisory role in community based health settings? What are the impacts on policy, planning, and on the services provided by community health care workers? How can allied health advisers enhance the quality of outcomes of best practice for the consumers of community health programs? Allied health advisers are important for the whole health sector by ensuring that effective and appropriate allied health services are delivered, that there are increases in allied health resources, that there are improvements in health outcomes for clients, that primary health care models of care are implemented, and, finally, that best practice is implemented by the allied health professional.

scholarly journals Editorial

1995 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Heather Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Continuity Of Care ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Community Health Services ◽  
Continuing Care ◽  
Australian Health ◽  
Primary Health

The advent of the Australian Journal of Primary Health - Interchange reflects the changes which are taking place in the Australian health sector and the increased and increasing importance of primary health care and community health services. The significant role of primary care in maintaining health and enhancing wellbeing is at last being recognised, and the relationships between primary care, continuing care, and acute care are being redefined and the connections made, so that improvement in continuity of care can be achieved.

Obtaining and Using Client Feedback in Community Health Services

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 105
Author(s):  
Gwyneth Jolley ◽  
Libby Kalucy ◽  
Joanne McNamara
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Organisational Change ◽  
Community Health Services ◽  
Service Planning ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Client Feedback

Client feedback is an important component of two primary health care strategies: participation and evaluation. Workers need feedback from clients to ensure that their practice meets the criterion of providing affordable, accessible and appropriate services to enhance the health of their communities. Telephone interviews were conducted with thirty staff and thirty clients from women's and community health services in South Australia, to identify current practice in obtaining and using feedback from users of one-to-one services and group health promotion and community development activities. Factors which encourage feedback to be given and used include: trust and effective communications between all stakeholders; and supportive organisational philosophies, culture and practices. Client feedback is more likely to be used when given in written form. Collection and use of feedback are discouraged by inappropriate methods and timing, rapid organisational change, and clients' lack of awareness of, or confidence in, giving feedback about the services they receive. Verbal feedback, although preferred by many clients, is less likely to be recorded and used in service planning and evaluation. Client feedback is a valuable tool to reinforce the notion of partnership and power sharing between clients and health care workers. Staff at all levels should be engaged in obtaining feedback and the information gained should be disseminated throughout the agency in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of services. The challenge is now for service providers and users to adopt new, and support currently successful, ways of obtaining and using feedback so that service providers and users are engaged in working in partnership to ensure the needs of the community are best met.

A Square Peg in a Round Hole? Approaches to Incorporating Lifestyle Counselling into Routine Primary Health Care

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Laws ◽  
Anna Williams ◽  
Gawaine Powell Davies ◽  
on behalf of the Community Health SNAP Project Team ◽  
Cheryl Amoroso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
General Practice ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Routine Practice ◽  
Round Hole ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Risk Factor Management ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Lifestyle Counselling

Few studies have explored how lifestyle counselling can be integrated into routine practice for primary health care (PHC) clinicians working outside general practice. This paper describes the feasibility of models of lifestyle counselling developed for PHC clinicians working in community health services and the congruence with routine practice. Action research methods were used to develop and implement models of lifestyle counselling in three community health teams. Following a six-month implementation period, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of participants (n = 30) to explore the appropriateness of implementing risk factor management models in practice. Models were considered appropriate if they fitted the clinician?s philosophy of practice, were relevant to existing work tasks, could easily be integrated into workflow and were perceived as being acceptable to the client. The approach to service delivery and team priorities were also important in influencing which models suited particular teams. Models of lifestyle counselling for PHC clinicians outside general practice should be tailored to the clinicians? and teams? way of working and thus may need to be discipline-specific. Engaging PHC clinicians and teams is important in developing models that are acceptable and feasible in everyday practice.

Interorganisational and interprofessional partnership approaches to achieve more coordinated and integrated primary and community health services: the Australian experience

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie McDonald ◽  
Gawaine Powell Davies ◽  
Mark Fort Harris
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Interprofessional Collaboration ◽  
Community Health Services ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Hub And Spoke ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Comprehensive Primary Health Care

Improving collaboration and coordination in primary and community health is a national priority. Two major approaches have been taken: strengthening interorganisational and interprofessional collaboration. This paper reviews current and emerging models of partnerships: divisions of general practice and primary care partnerships (organisational models); and collaboration between general practitioners with practice nurses and with allied health professionals (interprofessional models). The models are reviewed in terms of the governance and formalisation of the partnership arrangements and the level of collaboration they achieve. The organisational models have had different purposes and taken different forms, the ‘hub and spoke’ model of divisions and decentralised ‘network’ relationships of primary care partnerships, both of which have broadly achieved their aims. Interprofessional collaboration involves a complex mix of allegiances and interests that influences the level of collaboration that is achieved. A combination of approaches is needed to achieve more coordinated and integrated primary health care. The implications for several current policy debates are discussed: the establishment of local integrated and comprehensive primary health care centres, regional level primary care organisations and alternative payment mechanisms.

scholarly journals Factors Influencing on Utilization of Primary Health Care for Internal Elderly Migrants in China: The Role of Social Contacts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanwei Lin ◽  
Chengjing Chu ◽  
Qin Chen ◽  
Junhui Xiao ◽  
Chonghua Wan
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Binary Logistic Regression ◽  
Community Health Services ◽  
Exercise Time ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Elderly Migrants

Abstract Objective: To explore the influencing factors of the utilization of primary health care from the perspective of social contact among internal elderly migrants in China to provide further insights that might promote their utilization of primary health care. Methods: 1544 internal elderly migrants in eight cities participated in the survey. Whether to participate in the free health checkup organized by community health service institutions in the past year was adopted as an indicator of the utilization of primary health care, number of local friends and exercise time per day were measured for social contact. Multivariate binary logistic regression was used to understand the association of the variables with the likelihood of using community health services. Results: Internal elderly migrants who had more social contact were more inclined to use primary health care. Conclusion: The role of the community should be expanded, such as creating community-based promotions targeting internal elderly migrants or designing social or sports activities tailored to increase the opportunity for contact between local elders and internal elderly migrants.

scholarly journals Patient experience surveys for children’s community health services: A scoping review

2021 ◽  
pp. 136749352110058
Author(s):  
Helen J Nelson ◽  
Catherine Pienaar ◽  
Anne M Williams ◽  
Ailsa Munns ◽  
Katie McKenzie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Patient Experience ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Community Health Services ◽  
Experience Of Care ◽  
Healthcare Experience

Patient experience surveys have a user focus and measure the quality of person-centered health care for hospital inpatients and consumers of community health services, providing a governance process to evaluate the quality of care and to action improvement. Experience of care has been described as effective communication, respect and dignity, and emotional support. Measurement criteria for these domains are not standardized, leading to inconsistent reporting of patient experience. The objective of this scoping review was to synthesize evidence for measuring experience of care in children’s community health services using the Joanna Briggs Institute framework for scoping review method. Three parent-reported surveys met the inclusion criteria, and 50 survey items were assessed by expert reviewers for fit to domains of healthcare experience. Conceptual domains of parent experience in children’s community health services included respect and dignity, effective communication, and emotional support. A gap was identified, in that few items in identified surveys measured emotional support. This contribution will promote consistent reporting of healthcare experience, informing policy and practice for person-centered health care.

scholarly journals Violence against children and adolescents: the perspective of Primary Health Care

2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 511-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diene Monique Carlos ◽  
Elisabete Matallo Marchesini de Pádua ◽  
Maria das Graças Carvalho Ferriani
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
Violence Against Children ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Agents Of Change ◽  
The Look ◽  
Basic Health Units

ABSTRACT Objective: To analyze the care provided by Basic Health Units (BHU) to families involved in domestic intrafamily violence against children and adolescents. Method: Qualitative research, based on the Paradigm of Complexity. Data collection was performed with 41 professionals through focus groups and semi-structured interviews. Results: The following categories emerged from data analysis: 'Everything comes here', which reflects the legitimate place of BHUs for the population and the actions taken to build care for families; and 'We only do what is really necessary', which brings the look to violence still based on the positivist and biomedical paradigm. Final considerations: The model of understanding and construction of work processes in the BHU is structured in the aforementioned paradigm. Nurses have the possibility to become agents of change, both in professionals' training and in the care thought and provided to communities.

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