AHHA in the news

30 MAY 2024

Improving access to restorative and wellbeing care for older Australians

Restorative and wellbeing care is essential for enhancing independence and self-confidence in older Australians and improving their quality of life. In Australia, residential aged care (RAC) residents are not receiving the recommended quantities and types of allied health care to support restorative and wellbeing care.

A Policy Issues Brief released by AHHA’s Deeble Institute for Health Policy Research, examines the barriers to providing restorative and wellbeing care for our ageing population.

The Policy Brief, coauthored by Isabelle Meulenbroeks, recipient of the Deeble Institute’s 2024 Jeff Cheverton Memorial Scholarship, and PhD Candidate at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, recommends bringing Australia into line with world leading health systems in delivery of restorative and wellbeing care in RAC.

The Jeff Cheverton Scholarship is supported by North Western Melbourne and Brisbane North Primary Health Networks. The Issues Brief ‘Restorative and wellbeing care in Australian residential aged care facilities’ can be accessed via the AHHA website.

11 JUNE 2024

Publication of hospital acquired complications data must be timely

Hospital Acquired Complications (HACs) are a type of patient harm associated with increased morbidity and mortality, and while they can have devastating long-term effects on patients, with the right clinical care using risk mitigation strategies can largely be prevented.

Despite being preventable, HACs occurred in over 146,000 hospitalisations in Australia in the 2022 financial year and significantly increased hospital costs and length of stay for patients.

The Issues Brief, ‘Harnessing data to improve patient care and prevent hospital-acquired complications’, explores how by improving data collection and use, we could help reduce HACs and deliver better outcomes that matter to patients.

The Brief is co-authored by 2024 Deeble Scholar Dr Josephine Lovegrove, a Senior Research Fellow at Griffith University, and highlights several key policy recommendations. These recommendations target standardisation or reporting requirements, improving timeliness and streamlining publication by using fewer platforms, legislative reforms and developing co-designed approaches to publication with consumers. ha

11 JUNE 2024

AHHA Board Chair the Hon Jillian Skinner awarded Member of the Order of Australia

The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) congratulates our Board Chair, the Honourable Jillian Skinner, who was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the King’s Birthday 2024 Honours List.

Mrs Skinner was recognised for her significant service to the people and Parliament of New South Wales and to community health, having served as the state’s Minister for Health (2011-2014, and 20142017) and Minister for Medical Research (2011-2014, and 2014-2015).

Mrs Skinner responded to the accolade by saying, ‘Over my two decades in the NSW Parliament, I had the privilege of working with the vast array of skilled dedicated staff across NSW Health to upgrade and improve our 200+ hospitals, better linking them with community care and providing greater local control.’

We are privileged to have Jillian as AHHA Board Chair, where she continues to help guide in driving collective action across the healthcare system for reform that improves the health and wellbeing of Australians.

13 JUNE 2024

How hard can it be? Engaging stakeholders in healthcare innovation

Healthcare service innovations are a vital part of our constantly evolving healthcare system, but they depend on a wide range of stakeholders, all of whom hold differing interests.

In the Perspectives Brief, released by the Deeble Institute for Health Policy Research, researchers from the Queensland Department of Health and the University of Queensland explore lessons learnt from the implementation of three allied health led service innovations. The Brief also proposes a new, more deliberate, and strategic approach to stakeholder engagement to implement sustainable innovative practices in healthcare using a service logic.

This brief also outlines an informed framework for stakeholder engagement, with six key steps that include understanding the context, identifying the right stakeholders to engage, inviting them to participate, influencing and negotiating mutually beneficial outcomes, sustaining support and participation and monitoring and evaluating engagement.

20 JUNE 2024

Integrated primary health care key to oral health improvement in rural and remote Australia

Access to oral health care for rural and remote Australians is limited, particularly for underserved populations that rely on public dental services.

This includes First Nations Peoples. This is largely due to poor distribution of oral health services and a limited dental workforce supply in these areas.

The Issues Brief ‘Integrating oral health into primary healthcare for improved access to oral health care for rural and remote populations’ synthesises evidence about the extent of access challenges in rural and remote Australia. The Brief has been co-authored by 2024 Deeble Scholar Dr Prabhakar Veginadu, Research Fellow at the Menzies School of Health Research, Northern Territory.

Key recommendations of this Issues Brief include improving health training for rural and remote primary healthcare professionals, allowing primary healthcare professionals to include oral healthcare in their scope of practice, identifying oral health as a ‘core’ primary healthcare service, increasing interoperability and data sharing, and improving access to oral health care under Medicare for rural and remote populations.

The Deeble Scholarship is supported by HESTA.