Indigenous Chronic Disease Package in 2010-11 - Annual Progress Report
Progress Against Benchmarks and Deliverables
Table of contents
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Measures in the Implementation Plan | Performance benchmark & measurements | Deliverables for 2010-11 | Progress |
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| Reduce the Indigenous smoking rate and the burden of tobacco related chronic disease for Indigenous communities (A1) | Number and key results of culturally secure community education/health promotion/social marketing activities to promote quitting and smoke-free environments (S1) Number of service delivery staff trained to deliver the interventions (S4) Measurement (S1): - Number of tobacco action coordinators. - Number of Indigenous participants in smoking cessation and support activities. Measurement (S4):
| Strategic campaign framework and resources delivered to state and territory governments. | The Strategic campaign is being implemented by the Australian Government. The ‘Break the Chain’ advertising campaign commenced in March 2011, including Australia’s first Indigenous-focused, anti-smoking advertising using national television, radio and print media. |
 | | Regional tobacco action coordinators recruited to cover an additional 20 sites. Funding provided for enhanced culturally sensitive services delivered by Quitline. | These measures are being delivered together in the form of Regional Tackling Smoking and Healthy Lifestyle Teams. This approach is in response to consultation and is designed to ensure good support for all workers and to provide complementary health promotion activities in communities. A tackling smoking workforce has been established in 21 regions and the ACT. 72% of the 21 Regional Tobacco Coordinators and 22 Tobacco Action Workers funded were recruited by 30 June 2011. Organisations employing Tobacco Action Workers and Healthy Lifestyle Workers are funded to support those workers through Certificate III training in identified courses as well as other training specific to their role of promoting activity, food nutrition and other healthy lifestyle approaches in Indigenous communities. Programs and activities ranged from small groups of 10-20 people to multi activity events with 300 - 500 participants. Funding was provided for the enhancement of Quitlines servicing all states and territories. Six Indigenous Quit workers have been engaged as part of this initiative and cultural training has also been provided. |
| | Up to 200 workers trained. | Nationally, over 200 workers were trained in smoking cessation in 2010-11. |
| | National Workshop conducted. | A ‘Welcome Workshop’ for Regional Tackling Smoking and Healthy Lifestyle Teams was held in December 2010. |
| | Regional campaign grants and sponsorship awarded. | 13 organisations were funded to deliver social marketing activities through their Regional Tackling Smoking and Healthy Lifestyle Teams. These included the comprehensive ‘Deadly Choices’ program in South East Queensland and the Djurali program in Campbelltown. |
| Assist Indigenous Australians to reduce their risk of chronic disease and better manage their conditions and lifestyle risk factors through the adoption of healthy lifestyle choices (A2) | Number of service delivery staff trained to deliver the interventions (S4) Measurement (S4): - Number of healthy lifestyle workers funded and trained. - Number of healthy lifestyle sessions and activities conducted. - Number of participants in healthy lifestyle sessions and activities. | Up to 42 positions funded and trained. | 43 Healthy Lifestyle Workers have been funded, 30 Healthy Lifestyle Workers have been recruited and received training in 2010-11. Healthy Lifestyle Workers are undertaking formal VET training (Cert III unless Individual Training Plan indicates otherwise). Healthy Lifestyle Workers participated in the ‘National Welcome Workshop’ for Regional Tackling Smoking and Healthy Lifestyle Teams in December 2010 and in the Live Longer Training in March 2011. They also participated in external training such as the ‘Living Strong’ and ‘Good Quick Tukka’ programs and linked in with organisations such as the Heart Foundation and the NRL to ensure they are resourced to identify opportunities for healthy activities. |
| | 2,500 sessions/activities delivered. | Healthy Lifestyle workers provide a range of local nutrition and physical activity programs including in schools and organising healthy community days offering a broad range of information and exercise experiences. Healthy Lifestyle Workers report good participation in healthy living activities including physical activity such as walking groups, Zumba and touch football and nutrition activities such as healthy cooking groups and community gardening. Healthy Lifestyle Workers have been involved with the ‘Live Longer!’ Healthy Community Day events. Healthy Lifestyle Workers actively promoted health checks contributing to a significant increase in participation. Programs and activities range from small groups of 10-20 people to multi activity events with 300 - 500 participants. |
| Improve Indigenous Australians’ awareness of, and access to, health measures to better promote their health and wellbeing (A3) | Number and key results of culturally secure community education/health promotion/social marketing activities to promote quitting and smoke-free environments (S1) Measurement (S1): - Number and type of targeted activities undertaken. - Number and type of culturally appropriate information resources developed. - Description of dissemination of information undertaken. | Community partnership programs undertaken. | The Live Longer! Campaign commenced in April 2011, and provided 25 ‘Live Longer!’ Healthy Community Day events across Australia in 2010-11. These are locally-driven community events that celebrate all that is healthy in the community and reinforce the ‘Live Longer’ campaign messages. The Live Longer website (www.livelonger.health.gov.au) was launched to provide information about grants, healthy community days and other supporting activities to grants recipients and other health workers and community members. Over 60 Tackling Smoking Workers, Healthy Lifestyle Workers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers attended the ‘Live Longer!’ Health Promotion workshop for familiarising workers with the ‘Live Longer!’ Community Health Action Pack. This provides community health workers with useful resources, ideas and case studies for developing social marketing and preventative health promotion activities about chronic disease. 38 Local Community Campaign projects were funded in a mix of urban, regional and remote communities across Australia. |
| | Interim evaluation. | The Evaluation will take place as part of the broader analysis of the ICDP in conjunction with the B6 – Monitoring and Evaluation measure. KPMG Australia was engaged through an open tender process to undertake the ICDP National Monitoring and Evaluation Project (June 2011 – June 2013). |
| Improve access to and quality use of Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule (PBS) medicines for Indigenous Australians living with or are at risk of chronic disease who attend a participating general practice or Indigenous health service in a non-remote area (B1) | No specific benchmark Measurement: - Numbers and locations of people accessing medicines through the program. - Number of practices, Indigenous health services and community pharmacies participating in the program. | Co-payment assistance commences. | This measure commenced on 1 July 2010 and provided more affordable PBS medicines to 79,076 patients nationally. More than 2,100 general practices and Indigenous Health Services were registered to participate in the measure in 2010-11. 3,694 pharmacies participated in the measure nationally. |
| Provide increased funding to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to meet higher utilisation costs by Indigenous Australians accessing complementary programs in this Plan (B2) | Number of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people receiving a MBS Adult Health Check (P2) Measurement (P2): - Take up rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander MBS health checks. - Number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients accessing the CDMP. - Additional Practice Nurse/AHW services, including item 10987. | Ongoing program implementation. | 48,954 health assessments were provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over in 2010-11. This is an increase of 64% over 2009-10. 13,413 Indigenous specific follow up services were provided by Aboriginal Health Workers and Practice Nurses in 2010‑11, this is an increase of 10,246 from 2009-10. |
| Encourage general practices to provide better health care for Indigenous Australians and improve the continuity of care for those with chronic health conditions (B3) | Number of Indigenous specific health services meeting national minimum standards (P1) Improved patient referral and recall for more effective health care, and in particular, chronic disease management (P5) Measurement (P1): - Number of PIP practices signed on to the incentive. - Number of practices receiving payments for registering patients. Measurement (P5): - Number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients registered with a PIP practice for chronic disease management. - Number of care coordination services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients. | Ongoing program implementation. | As at 30 April 2011, 2,100 practices and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health services had signed on to the Practice Incentives Program (PIP) Indigenous Health Incentive. Of these, around 1,150 received payments for registering patients. Around 26,000 patients were registered for the PIP Indigenous Health Incentive in 2010. 25.1 FTE Care Coordinators were recruited in 2010-11, and 125 Care Coordination services were provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients in WA, ACT and the NT. |
| Support Indigenous Australians to better manage or self manage their chronic disease (B4) | Improved patient referral and recall for more effective health care, and in particular, chronic disease management (P5) Measurement (P5): -Number of workers provided with chronic disease self management support training. -Number of participants in chronic disease self management sessions or activities. | Up to 100 workers trained. | Flinders University developed and piloted a specialist chronic disease self management (CDSM) support training program. 130 health professionals participated in the training (B4). |
| | 5,000 lifestyle sessions or activities delivered. | In the first year this program has focussed on developing, piloting and delivering accredited CDSM training. Once accredited individual workers are expected to develop self-management plans with 5-10 patients and to provide up to10 support sessions. Depending on circumstances this will vary. A remote CDSM project, which includes evaluation, is being established in the Kimberley and the Pilbara. |
| Increase access to specialist and multidisciplinary team follow-up care for Indigenous Australians (B5) | No specific benchmark Measurement: -Number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients receiving specialist and allied health care in urban areas through this measure. -Number of services provided by multidisciplinary health professional outreach teams in rural and remote Indigenous communities. | Ongoing program implementation. | The Urban Specialist Outreach Assistance Program (USOAP) commenced in New South Wales in 2009-10 and was expanded to Queensland and Victoria in 2010-11. At least 541 services have been provided by multidisciplinary health professional outreach teams in rural and remote Indigenous communities. |
| Monitor and evaluate the Closing the Gap Chronic Disease initiative (B6) | Improved quality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification in key vitals and administrative datasets (F7) Measurement: -Monitor progress in improving Indigenous health data. | Appointment of a national evaluator for the ICDP. | The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework was published on the department’s website on 16 December 2011 and a National Evaluator was appointed in June 2011. |
| | Ongoing implementation. | 23 of the 24 Sentinel Sites established to provide place-based, formative evaluation. |
| Build the Indigenous health workforce through education and training initiatives (C1) | No specific benchmark Measurement: -Number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Outreach Workers (ATSIOWs) trained per year. -Number of nursing scholarships provided each year. -Number of nursing clinical placements per annum. -Number of GP registrar placements each year. | 1st ATSIOW workshop/ conference held. | The first ATSIOW workshop was held on 21 & 22 June 2011. |
| | Continuation of ATSIOW training and support. | Funding provided to the Qld, WA, NT, SA, Vic and NSW NACCHO affiliates to deliver orientation to ATSIOWs. 84 ATSIOWs received formal orientation training and 34 ATSIOWs are undertaking formal VET training. |
| | Annual allocation of nursing scholarships. | 39 clinical placement scholarships were awarded to nurses to work in an AMS, and 21 Continuing Professional Development Scholarships were awarded for nurses working in an AMS. |
| | 38 registrar training posts funded. | An additional 46 GP registrar Indigenous Health Training Posts were established. This is eight more than the target and has contributed to even greater numbers of registrars training in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health settings. In 2010, 30% of registrars undertook one or more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health training activities. |
| Increase the capacity of Indigenous and mainstream health organisations to provide better continuity of care for Indigenous people with chronic and complex health conditions (C2 & C3) | Number of new case managers/Indigenous liaison officers (referred to as Indigenous Outreach Workers and practice managers in the Commonwealth Implementation Plan) recruited and operational (F1) Measurement (F1): -Number of ATSIOWs, Practice Managers, and other health professionals funded. -Divisions network project officers funded. | 83 additional positions recruited ATSIOWs, practice managers, and health professionals). | 95% (152 FTE) of ATSIOWs, practice managers and health professionals funded were recruited as at 30 June 2011. Specifically:
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| | Capital works projects to accommodate additional positions funded. | Capital works projects have been funded in Wiluna (WA), Mooroopna (Vic), Bamaga (Qld), Grafton (NSW) and Tamworth (NSW). Construction of a staff house at Galiwinku (NT) was completed in 3 May 2011. |
| Encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander secondary school students to pursue a career in health. Generate interest and encourage more health professionals to work in Indigenous health (C4) | No specific benchmark | Public relations program established. | Boxing Clever Pty Ltd was appointed in March 2011 and developed a public relations strategy to support the advertising campaign targeting secondary school students. This will be implemented in 2011-12. Boxing Clever also developed a strategy to encourage existing health professionals and students to consider working in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, including developing case studies of people making a contribution in this area. This will be implemented in 2011-12. |
| | Campaign strategy finalised. | The campaign communication strategy was finalised and reviewed by the Independent Communications Committee (ICC) on 22 October 2010. |
| | Recruitment campaign commences. | The ‘Health Heroes’ campaign advertising materials (television, radio and print) were developed to encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander secondary students to pursue a job in health. These will be launched in early 2011-12 and will direct the audience to the Health Heroes campaign website – www.australia.gov.au/healthheroes |
| | Distribution of information products. | A resource kit for school career advisors is in development and scheduled for delivery to schools in August 2011. |
| Ensure health service providers have access to relevant and culturally appropriate information to improve decision making processes and inform management options for Indigenous Australians (C5) | No specific benchmark | Indigenous specific clinical practice and decision support web based resource developed and disseminated. | A web-based primary health care resource was developed for piloting and initial testing took place throughout 2010-11. The production phase will start in late 2011 and the final resource will be available in 2011-12. |