Can a continuous quality improvement program create culturally safe emergency departments for Aboriginal people in Australia? A multiple baseline study.

BACKGROUND: Providing culturally safe health care can contribute to improved health among Aboriginal people. However, little is known about how to make hospitals culturally safe for Aboriginal people. This study assessed the impact of an emergency department (ED)-based continuous quality improvement program on: the accuracy of recording of Aboriginal status in ED information systems; incomplete ED visits among Aboriginal patients; and the cultural appropriateness of ED systems and environments. METHODS: Between 2012 and 2014, the Aboriginal Identification in Hospitals Quality Improvement Program (AIHQIP) was implemented in eight EDs in NSW, Australia. A multiple baseline design and analysis of linked administrative data were used to assess program impact on the proportion of Aboriginal patients correctly identified as Aboriginal in ED information systems and incomplete ED visits in Aboriginal patients. Key informant interviews and document review were used to explore organisational changes. RESULTS: In all EDs combined, the AIHQIP was not associated with a reduction in incomplete ED visits in Aboriginal people, nor did it influence the proportion of ED visits made by Aboriginal people that had an accurate recording of Aboriginal status. However, in two EDs it was associated with an increase in the trend of accurate recording of Aboriginality from baseline to the intervention period (odds ratio (OR) 1.31, p < 0.001 in ED 4 and OR 1.15, p = 0.020 in ED 5). In other words, the accuracy of recording of Aboriginality increased from 61.4 to 70% in ED 4 and from 72.6 to 73.9% in ED 5. If the program were not implemented, only a marginal increase would have occurred in ED 4 (from 61.4 to 64%) and, in ED 5, the accuracy of reporting would have decreased (from 72.6 to 71.1%). Organisational changes were achieved across EDs, including modifications to waiting areas and improved processes for identifying Aboriginal patients and managing incomplete visits. CONCLUSIONS: The AIHQIP did not have an overall effect on the accuracy of recording of Aboriginal status or on levels of incomplete ED visits in Aboriginal patients. However, important organisational changes were achieved. Further research investigating the effectiveness of interventions to improve Aboriginal cultural safety is warranted.

Micro macro integration: reframing primary healthcare practice and community development in health

The idea of micro macro integration (MMI) provides a useful framework for thinking about primary healthcare (PHC) and community development in health (CD). PHC and CD are important strategies for addressing the structural determinants of health. They are each based on a powerful logic and have significant body of support. However, while exemplary, even inspiring, instances of practice are common, attempts to replicate models of good practice (or 'scale up') often flounder. As frameworks for analysing this paradox, both PHC and CD have limitations, partly because they are overburdened with different and conflicting meanings. This paper explores an alternative framework based on a common aspiration of both PHC and CD: to effect change at both the micro level (meeting the immediate health needs of individuals, families and communities) and also at the macro level (of political, economic and social structures). The MMI framework assumes that health issues can be analysed at different levels of scale and of term (from the micro to the macro); that objectives and strategies can be conceived at these different levels; and that a coherent programme of activities can be conceived and implemented which addresses both the immediate and local problems and the larger scale and longer term phenomena that reproduce those patterns of need. The idea of MMI is less ambitious than either PHC or CD but (partly because of this) has value as a framework for analysing barriers to good practice (AU)

'Alukura ... for my daughters and their daughters and their daughters'. A review of Congress Alukura.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the process, findings and limitations of a review of Congress Alukura commissioned in 1998. METHODS: Analysis of documents and reports, service use and perinatal data from Alukura and the Northern Territory Midwives Collection; interviews with staff of Congress Alukura, of Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, of Aboriginal community organisations in Alice Springs and remote communities, of health care providers and other key informants in Alice Springs; community consultations through women's meetings or group discussions in local and remote communities. Interviews were coded for thematic and content analysis. RESULTS: Client visits increased by 42% from 1995/96 (2130) to 1997/98. The proportion of women having a first trimester antenatal visit increased from 23% (1986-88) to 38% (1993-95). Mean birthweight of Aboriginal infants in the Alice Springs urban area was 3168 g in 1986-90, 3271 g in 1991-95, and 3268 g in 1996-99. Other primary and maternity care providers perceived the quality of care to be high and saw Alukura playing a key role through transport, liaison, screening and follow-up. Alukura was much less successful in its role as a place for birth. Expectations of additional outreach by local and remote communities were high. DISCUSSION: The review's limitations included: a lack of direct input from young women, the main users of Alukura; a timeframe that precluded the detailed discussion necessary for seeking access to medical records, and the need for interpreters in community settings. Current and former staff who participated in the review often had other important community roles. Developments since the review are discussed briefly.

Report of the mid-term review of Victoria's Maternity Services Program.

Substantial State Government funding has been committed in Victoria for the enhancement of maternity services. The funding is intended to improve the quality of care for women and meet consumer expectations for choice and continuity of care in maternity services. This paper reports on a mid-term review (the 'Review') of the Victorian Maternity Services Program, which was conducted by the authors on behalf of the Victorian Department of Human Services. Documentary analysis was conducted for the review, and workshops and key informant interviews were held throughout Victoria with midwives, medical staff and Department of Human Services staff. The Review found that there had been many gains as a result of the Maternity Services Program and identified directions for further development. Issues of change and facilitators of change processes in maternity services are highlighted in this article.