Evaluation of Outreach Programs
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Description
Access to health care is a hallmark of Medicare, irrespective of where a person lives. Ensuring access to care in rural and remote areas of Australia and smaller communities remains a policy priority and ongoing challenge for governments. Outreach is one of the key strategies used to provide access to these communities.
Various levels of government invest in outreach. The Commonwealth government administers a range of outreach programs aimed at boosting primary health care and specialist care through fundholder arrangements. State and territory governments invest in outreach to ensure the safe operation of small country hospitals in addition to filling gaps in service provision. The disability and aged care sectors are also providing outreach services that often call on similar workforce groups as the health sector.
This report sets out the objectives, methods and findings from an evaluation of selected Commonwealth government outreach programs and puts forward recommendations for program improvement, along a range of observations for possible broader system change.
The evaluated programs include the Medical Outreach Indigenous Chronic Disease Program (MOICDP), which supports increased access to healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with chronic disease. The scope of this program includes all Indigenous people with chronic disease regardless of geographical location.
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Regions in scopeQueensland, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Tasmania and Western Australia
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Funding entityDepartment of Health and Aged Care
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Research/evaluation entityHealth Policy Analysis
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StatusCompleted
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Start date2021
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End date2021
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Released to publicYes
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Report available
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CategoriesMental health