A new free eBook developed by James Cook University researchers will help deliver relevant and sustainable solutions to health and health service issues in rural, regional and remote North Queensland.
The Integrating Health Care Planning for Health and Prosperity in North Queensland project developed partnerships with local community and regional stakeholders to prioritise and address health needs specific to communities in the region.
An output of the project, the eBook provides practical information and guidance on participatory place-based health service planning in rural and remote locations in Australia and more globally. It is publicly available online through JCU Library's open eBook catalogue.
The eBook provides clear evidence-based guidelines, illustrations from practice and resources that have been tested in practice in NQ communities.
"The guidelines in the eBook are easily understandable, practical and help directly target health service issues people in north and regional Queensland face," principal investigator and JCU Dean of the College of Medicine and Dentistry Professor Sarah Larkins said.
"These guidelines will be useful for community members and advocates, health services and providers who are contemplating or planning local health service change, innovation or redesign."
The development of the guidelines has been shaped by real-life knowledge and experiences gathered throughout the project.
They provide practical information on participatory place-based health service planning, using a co-design approach, and incorporate key learnings from the project and from approaches that have been developed and tested in other rural and remote areas.
The eBook also stresses the importance of working with the local community and having a 'Local Connector' to inform and guide the planning work.
"The active participation of local people to advise, facilitate, implement, and evaluate the work offers two-way learning," co-author and JCU Senior Project Manager and Researcher Dr Deb Smith said.
"Members of local communities are best placed to understand the needs and practicalities of what will work in their context."
Through the project, participants reported increased knowledge of their community and region, contributed to health planning; and established or renewed local and regional relationships.
A presentation on the project will be taking place at the National Rural Health Alliance, 10th Rural and Remote Health Scientific Symposium in Alice Springs on October 8-9.
Funding for this project was received from the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia (CRCNA), which is part of the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centre Program, with a financial contribution from Tropical Australian Academic Health Centre (TAAHC) and in-kind contributions from project partners.
