Case Study of service delivery in a rural or remote primary health care context in Australia

Order Description

Description/Focus:
Case Study of service delivery in a rural or remote primary health care context in Australia

Topic:

Professional practice( doctors and Nurses ) and health service delivery in rural and remote contexts in Australia

Task:
1. Find one or two articles on remote or rural health case studies in a particular area of interest, (for example allied health professionals, community interventions, health promotion, nurses).Click on to the link for information about what a case study can be
2. Read the material you have located; and identify the relevant factors within the Wakerman definition below:

HSC318 REMOTE HEALTH – Assignment 3

1

HSC318 – Case study on a rural or remote health service delivery issue
What is a case study?
Case studies are particularly useful in capturing experiences, processes and outcomes related to an issue or situation. Case studies are often used to collect the complex details about a case and then analyse it to look for patterns and themes that might emerge. For example, to evaluate the effectiveness of a health service and the way in which it was delivered. In a case study you will need to identify the key features of the case and compare it to how other similar cases were delivered to determine possible critical success factors and impacts that it might have had on the issue outcomes. This is known as a comparison case study.
One way of viewing a case study is that it is a puzzle or problem that has to be solved or addressed in some way. The case should have enough information in it that readers can understand what the problem is and, after thinking about it and analysing the information; the readers should be able to come up with a proposed solution or way forward.
Some resources to start:
I. ANTaR; A better way – success stories in Aboriginal community control in the NT (http://healthbulletin.org.au/articles/a-better-way-success-stories-in-aboriginal-community-control-in-the-northern-territory/ ). This is a series of 13 case studies.
II. Birks et al (2010) ‘Models of health service delivery in remote or isolated areas of Queensland: a multiple case study’ in AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING Volume 28 Number 1 http://www.ajan.com.au/Vol28/28-1_Birks.pdf
III. O’Meara et al (2012) ‘Extending the paramedic role in rural Australia: a story of flexibility and innovation’ in the Rural and remote Health Journal http://www.rrh.org.au/articles/subviewnew.asp?ArticleID=1978
IV. Kainz T, Schmallegger D, Carson D (2012) ‘Temporary Indigenous mobility in remote South Australia: understanding the challenges for urban based health and social service delivery’ in Journal of Rural and Community Development; 7: (16-35) http://www.jrcd.ca/viewarticle.php?id=614&layout=abstract
V. McAuliffe & Barnett (2009) ‘Factors influencing occupational therapy students’ perceptions of rural and remote practice’ in the Rural and Remote Health Journal http://www.rrh.org.au/publishedarticles/article_print_1078.pdf
VI. Wakerman, Curry, McEldowney (2012) ‘Editorial Fly in/fly out health services: the panacea or the problem?’ in Rural and Remote Health Journal http://www.rrh.org.au/articles/subviewaust.asp?ArticleID=2268
VII. Vaughn (2009) ‘Pharmacists where there is no pharmacy’ http://9thnrhc.ruralhealth.org.au/program/docs/papers/vaughan_C5.pdf

If you use this suggested material, you will need to search further for more detailed information on the issue or area you select.

Remote Health is an emerging discipline with distinct sociological, historical and practice characteristics. Its practice in Australia is characterised by geographical, professional and, often, social isolation of practitioners; a strong multidisciplinary approach; overlapping and changing roles of team members; a relatively high degree of GP substitution; and practitioners requiring public health, emergency and extended clinical skills. These skills and remote health systems, need to be suited to working in a cross-cultural context; serving small, dispersed and often highly mobile populations; serving populations with relatively high health needs; a physical environment of climatic extremes; and a communications environment of rapid technological change (Wakerman 2004; Defining remote health; Aust. J. Rural Health (2004) 12, 210–214)
The above mentioned definition describes many of the characteristics of remote health in Australia and outlines the health practice necessary for the delivery of the service in the rural and remote context. When analysing the case study, you need to identify both the characteristics (geographical, professional) and the context (working cross-culturally, small dispersed and often highly mobile populations with relatively high health needs, and physical).

You can also use this Case Study Matrix to identify the relevant factors within the Wakerman definition and write up where they fit in the matrix. This should help you to analyse and write up the case study.

CONTEXT
? A. Working cross culturally B. Small, dispersed & often highly mobile population C. Population with relatively high health needs D. Physical environment of climatic extremes E. Communications environment of rapid technological change
CHARACTERISTICS ?
Case Study
1. Geographical
2. Professional
3. GP substitution
4. Practitioner skill set:
• Public health
• Emergency
• Extended practice

3. How you can set out your case study report:
1. Introduction: Introduces the purpose of the assignment and the overall argument of the case study or studies. Include the title and full reference of your case study at the beginning of the assignment;
2. Describe the main issue (mentioned above) that will be examined and outline the actual situation that will be discussed by looking at a particular case study or case studies;
3. How does this relate or match Wakerman’s definition of remote health?
4. Explore and analyse the details of the case(s) and identify the issue(s)
5. Identify potential solutions
6. Conclusion and recommendations
7. Reflections