None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
RHD is a priority health issue for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and improving delivery of secondary prophylaxis is the major outstanding deficiency in our current attempts to control this disease. Surprisingly this topic has never been researched to any substantial extent. This project hypothesises that a package of interventions, primarily aimed at enhancing effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery for RHD at the primary health centre level, will increase the proportion of clients receiving 80% or more of their SP injections, which will translate to reduced recurrences of ARF, and reduced severity and, eventually, prevalence of RHD.
Interventions
The intervention will involve the incorporation/modification of service delivery activities aligned with the chronic care model at the health centre level, specifically relating to care for clients with acute rheumatic fever (ARF) or rheumatic heart disease (RHD). The research team will work with health centre staff, continuous quality improvement facilitators and the Northern Territory RHD program to review existing practices and data and develop activity plans to realign the health centre's
The intervention will involve the incorporation/modification of service delivery activities aligned with the chronic care model at the health centre level, specifically relating to care for clients with acute rheumatic fever (ARF) or rheumatic heart disease (RHD). The research team will work with health centre staff, continuous quality improvement facilitators and the Northern Territory RHD program to review existing practices and data and develop activity plans to realign the health centre's approach with the Chronic Care Model. This preparation has been allocated three months in the projects timeline. After this three month period, the modified processes should be implemented and this signifies the commencement of the intervention period. Possible activities include: the creation of an RHD working group at each health centre; the allocation and documentation of RHD service delivery responsibilities; streamlining triaging processes; strengthening self management initiatives and developing/strengthening links with community. During the first 15 months of the intervention health centres will receive intensive support from the project team; this will be followed by a maintenance phase with a reduced level of support. For the first sites to be randomised the maintenance phase will be 15 months.
Sponsors
University of Western Australia
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Primary purpose
Prevention
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
0 to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Health centres in the Northern Territory with at least 10 clients on secondary prophylaxis
Exclusion criteria
Health centres outside the Northern Territory Health centres with less than 10 clients on secondary prophylaxis
Outcome results
None listed