RuralHealthConnect: A network for evidence, innovation and action

Abstract

Federal and state governments invest millions of dollars to support the rural health sector to address the myriad of challenges not adequately addressed by the usual funding mechanisms, tools and levers. Rural clinicians, communities, researchers and entities that deliver care in rural Australia currently do not have access to what can learned, trends that are identified and what could be adapted in other communities.

The National Rural Health Alliance (the Alliance) and the Australian Journal of Rural Health (AJRH), with input from the National Rural Health Commissioner, have developed a proposal to address the challenge of inadequate evidence and information sharing and to promote capacity building, adaptation and innovation in rural health care and investment in education and training. The proposal combines the expertise and reach of all three entities and will draw together key rural health stakeholders in a steering committee.

With investment, the proposal aims to address the lack of information shared and learning from government funded research and programs that addresses declining medical and health workforce shortages, models of care, health care access discrepancies and health outcomes in rural areas compared with urban centres. Many initiatives have been implemented over past decade or are currently being trialled to achieve these goals, such as Innovative Models of Care (IMOC), Primary care Rural Integrated Multidisciplinary Models (PRIMM), as well as initiatives funded through the Medical Research Futures Fund (MRFF), the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and other bodies. These projects include rural research initiatives, multidisciplinary models of care, various workforce or distribution programs, community-led initiatives, actions by specific professions, quality improvement activities and innovative models of delivery and care.

Although funding may impact a particular community or individual, there is currently a lack of sharing information about what is being learned, what works, why and what challenges have arisen. Indeed, often individuals or communities are not aware of the array of projects that have been or are funded or where these communities or fund holders are located. This lack of communication means that other rural communities, who may be experiencing similar problems, often do not have access to the findings, lessons and emerging trends. There is insufficient cross-pollination of ideas to build capacity, increase adoption and ensure scale-up for maximum utility and impact on health outcomes.

Up to now, isolated researchers, policy-makers in government, managers, service users, service providers, not-for-profits, local governments, primary health networks (PHNs), workforce agencies, community members and entities that support communities have not been able to benefit from high-quality, multidimensional synthesise and analysis of what has been learned. This has hampered efforts to amend and develop policy and guidelines, to adapt models and approaches, and influence funding priorities to reflect emerging trends for optimal impact. This challenge is limiting the effectiveness and efficiency of innovative rural health care and education/training investment in Australia and beyond. Information exchange to foster cross-pollination of ideas, adaptation and capacity building in other communities is severely lacking.

Communities, not-for-profits, researchers and other stakeholders, including PHNs, workforce agencies, and local government, are not aware of the potential lessons of many previous projects.

The exchange of ideas, practices, resources, frameworks and outcomes fosters evidence-based learning and is fundamental to translational efforts, including scaling projects, especially as initiatives become increasingly community-driven, place-based and participatory.

However, valuable lessons from service and education initiatives are not being adequately translated, published in a suitable timeframe or applied beyond specific contexts to improve future rural health practice and education.

There is a pressing need to maximise the value of investment in rural health care for government, community and rural health stakeholders, sharing what is learnt, synthesising and identifying evidence for policy and practice, and identifying trends and learning opportunities, which also raise capacity and awareness in the regions. This will allow for adaptation and adoption across rural, remote and Indigenous Australia and ensures the translation of findings for policy, management, funding and delivery in real time.

RuralHealthConnect aims to improve access, connectivity, relevance and impact of multiple information sources to build evidence for action by rural health care providers, funders, workforce agencies, government departments, NGOs, universities and community members. It is designed to maximise government investment in rural programs, innovative models and workforce strategies, translating the outcomes of innovative rural health initiatives in Australia. Based on a close and ongoing collaboration with the inclusive community of practice, the RuralHealthConnect team will collate, collaboratively synthesise and generate evidence-based resources. RuralHealthConnect will ensure that ALL rural Australian communities and health care stakeholders learn from each other, benefit from high-quality and up-to-date evidence and gain maximum benefit from previous and current government investment and research.

The RuralHealthConnect will collate relevant contact information, reports, resources, evaluations, research and materials across rural and remote health, workforce and education initiatives. However, the primary value-adding function will be to conduct collaborative syntheses of the stored information and other resources, in an accessible and searchable manner.

The Hub will make available accessible evidence-based resources in various contemporary formats, in alignment with the needs of key stakeholders and in a practical, timely fashion. These resources will be drawn from collated information and collaborative syntheses and incorporate focused follow-up with stakeholders. The objective is to produce relevant contextual data that can inform models of healthcare delivery and workforce approaches in rural and remote areas of Australia, thus maximising the utility of government funding in this area. In addition, the Hub will have a training and mentoring dimension to make optimal use of the stored data and its unique skill base.

Susi Tegen: Writing – original draft.