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CONSUMER AND COMMUNITY

ENGAGEMENT FORUMSHARING INSIGHTS AND LEARNINGS

WentWest: Western Sydney Primary Health Network

www.wentwest.com.au

1. What are we trying to achieve

1. As a system

2. As a PHN

3. In partnership

2. Development of “toolkit”

3. Observations

Consumer engagement forum

Integrated care – an alignment

Care, which imposes the patient’s as the

organising principle of service delivery and

makes redundant old supply-driven models of

care provision. Integrated care enables health

and social care provision that is flexible,

personalised, and seamless(Lloyd & Wait 2005)

The structure of achieving this should ideally reflect strategy and

be based on the principle of equity; an integrated health system

should be for all not just some

Primary health – effective 1st contact

Health systems with strong primary health care

are more efficient, have lower rates of

hospitalisation, fewer health inequalities and

better health outcomes including lower

mortality, than those that do not(WHO 2008)

A strong primary health care system should mean that we are able to

care for people appropriately. This means primary health care teams

working effectively on behalf of their clients, patients and families

Meeting the challenges means

changing the trajectory

• …if left to their own devices, health systems do not gravitate naturally towards the goals of health for all through primary health care ...

• …if left to their own devices, health systems develop in directions that contribute little to equity and social justice and fail to get the best health outcomes for their money

(WHO 2008 p15)

• Team member (sometimes, team leader)

• Specialist for my panel

• Innovator, improver, systems-thinker

• Partner to my patients in their health

• Educator for frontline staff on my team, as well as

for medical trainees

Brand new roles

How do we define good quality general practice and the roles that

support it

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Consumer engagement forum

1. What are we trying to achieve

1. As a system

2. As a PHN

3. In partnership

2. Development of “toolkit”

3. Observations

PHNs – Improving a community voice

Dept of Health on Community Advisory Committees:

Will report to the PHN Board and collaborate with Clinical Councils

Ensure local accountability and relevance of PHN activities

Promote patient centred decision making and needs identification

Representation reflects the diversity and needs of the local

population

Alignment with Clinical Councils to be determined by PHNs, based

on regional needs

PHN Boards are accountable for the overall performance of each

PHN including responsibility to oversee the development and

implementation of a consumer and community engagement

strategy.

Challenge of engaging effectively

PHN engagement objectivesThe question of how the PHN role can assist in achieving better outcomes for consumers and the community through:

• A more transparent health and human services system for consumers, their families and carers.

• The ability to begin to actively engage as partners with clinicians in their healthcare.

• Empowerment of local communities so they can have a greater say and influence in the planning, design, delivery of healthcare

• Feedback from evaluation of health services, as a basis for continuous improvement of the healthcare system.

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Consumer engagement forum

1. What are we trying to achieve

1. As a system

2. As a PHN

3. In partnership

2. Development of “toolkit”

3. Observations

www.wentwest.com.au

Optimising the solution for consumers

will mean disregarding boundaries

Shaping partnerships/collaborations

• Core capabilities in developing synergies: ≡ Negotiating and advocating for primary care≡ Commissioning and brokering≡ Investing in innovative solutions

• Leveraging off regional and functional expertise of others

• Addressing health inequities

• Understanding outcomes and measuring change

• Integrating the role of teaching, training, research and evaluation

Investments influenced by

community engagement

• Leading better integration of care –patient centred care≡ Keeping people well and out of hospital

• Assess, understand and systematically document needs

• Consciousness about diversity and how to “reach into”

communities≡ Population and sub population health

• Respond to identified health inequalities and the social

determinants of health

• Assess changes/outcomes at local levels

Community and consumer

engagement process

• Known health needs

• Improving existing services

Topdown

• Understanding what will better meet needs

• Indentify and fill gaps

Ground up

A model for community and

consumer engagement

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Consumer engagement forum

1. What are we trying to achieve

1. As a system

2. As a PHN

3. In partnership

2. Development of “toolkit”

3. Observations

Partnerships

WentWest in partnership with

Health Consumers New South Wales (HCNSW)

has produced

Developing a consumer and community

engagement strategy: toolkit (the Toolkit)

to support the development of effective consumer

and community engagement strategies by Primary

Care Organisations and services.

A toolkit• The Toolkit is a companion document to the WW Consumer and Community

Engagement Framework (the Framework).

• Supports the practical application of WW Framework and contains

information, tools and tip sheets to support the stages and steps

organisations may undertake to develop effective engagement strategies.

• Recognising that there is no one size fits all approach, the Toolkit and

Framework promote collaborative and integrated approaches to engagement

by Primary Care with consumers, clinicians and the community.

• Assists organisations to work towards more seamless and efficient

healthcare delivery with Primary Health Care Networks, local councils, state

and Commonwealth departments, and health and community sector

organisations.

Consumer and Community - Engagement • The Toolkit supports the development of strategies tailored to meet the

purpose of the engagement, and the needs of the consumers and

communities within the local area.

• While it has been developed to specifically support WSPHN, the Toolkit

also has application across public and private health service

organisations delivering health promotion, prevention, primary, acute,

subacute and community health services.

• The Toolkit outlines four stages – scope, plan, engage and review, and

steps in developing an effective consumer and community engagement

strategy.

• The Toolkit can be used to review current consumer and community

engagement initiatives, so that organisations can build upon what is

working well and identify gaps and opportunities for engagement at the

individual, service, network and system levels.

Engagement Framework

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Consumer engagement forum

1. What are we trying to achieve

1. As a system

2. As a PHN

3. In partnership

2. Development of “toolkit”

3. Observations

When commencing strategy development,

some overarching issues to consider include:

• organisational strategy

• governance and leadership

• capacity and resources

• communication with the PHN workforce and

external stakeholders

• accountability and transparency

Consumer & Ccommunity engagement

journey

At the operational level, consideration should be given to:

• the involvement and engagement of consumers and the community throughout the four stages of strategy development.

• how to facilitate consumer and community-driven engagement that is embedded in organisational culture and practice in an ongoing way.

• opportunities to work in partnership with on shared consumer and community engagement mechanisms and approaches.

• opportunities for partnerships with consumer and community organisations, and other government agencies with common client groups.

For example:

≡ Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

≡ Local Government authorities

≡ private hospitals

≡ community service networks.

Consumer & Ccommunity engagement journey

1. Define your purpose and objectivesScoping the purpose and objectives with reference to legislation,

regulation, reporting frameworks, and strategic and operational

planning will provide you with clear direction on how the

consumer and community engagement strategy will contribute to

improved health services and outcomes.

2. Understand local consumer and community profile

Understanding who your consumers and communities are,

including those who experience barriers accessing services

within the local area to allow identification to deliver more locally

responsive services that better meet patient needs.

Key learnings

3. Identify potential partners and stakeholders

Understanding the stakeholders who operate and deliver services within your region is an important step. The mapping of groups, organisations, services and networks can provide opportunities to tap into the local connections and networks. This helps to identify engagement activities and uncovers community knowledge about what already exists, what is working and what opportunities there are to work in partnership with other organisations.

4. Map current engagement activities

It is important to have an understanding of current consumer and community engagement activities in order to identify what is in place, what is working well, gaps and opportunities to build upon effective engagement mechanisms and activities.

Key learnings

5. Develop priorities

The following will assist you to integrate consumer and community

engagement priorities and direction with organisational priorities.

6. Identify mechanisms for engagement

Develop mechanisms for engagement which are responsive to

local needs and the local community. There is no one size fits all

approach and it is important that mechanisms are tailored

appropriately to engage engaging with the target group, the

degree of influence that consumers/community will have on

outcomes, and whether it is a one-off or ongoing initiative.

Key learnings

7. Develop outcome and performance measures

Ensure your Boards will work with Chief Executives and key staff

to develop strategic outcomes and performance measures for the

specific priorities and mechanisms that are included in your

consumer and community engagement strategy. Historically

engagement outcomes have been focused on measuring outputs

such as how many people were engaged and how much media

coverage was generated. While this information is important to

capture, the framework should also focus on measuring outcomes

based upon the effectiveness of the engagement.

8. Operational planning

You will need to operationalise the consumer and community

engagement strategy as part of business and/or service level

planning frameworks.

Key learnings

9. Implement

Identify and establish systems to record and capture information

on the implementation of the consumer and community

engagement at individual, service and operational levels, against

key performance indicators.

10. Monitor, review and evaluate

The Board, supported by the executive committee, oversees the

consumer and community engagement strategy (development,

implementation, monitoring and review). This also includes

addressing issues that arise in implementation.

Key learnings

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Thank You