The Bridging Study: Evaluating the Navicare service on mental health service access in regional Australia

This study will evaluate the access, uptake and outcomes of the implementation of the Navicare service in the Greater Whitsundays Region of Queensland Australia. In the Navicare service, a Care Navigator links help seekers with supports they may need to improve their mental wellbeing. The Care Navigator assists with referrals, makes appointments with mental health care professionals, and provides a private space in which to access online mental health support from online psychology and other service providers. Help seekers can receive Navicare services regardless of their involvement in this study. The Navicare service is currently being delivered in Moranbah, Queensland. Additional sites will be added in regional towns across the Greater Whitsunday Region. New sites will be determined through community consultation and context mapping. The current site and additional sites will be evaluated through pre-implementation, implementation and post-implementation phases until the end of the study (December 2026). With informed consent, participants in this study will participate in interviews with research staff and/or complete a questionnaire on service user satisfaction using the Navigation Satisfaction Tool (NAVSAT). Interviews will last for approximately 30-60 minutes, and the NAVSAT survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Interviews and the NAVSAT will be completed up to 6 months after Navicare intake or 3-months after last contact with Navicare. Interviews and focus groups will also be completed with community stakeholders, service providers and Navicare staff. Aggregated Navicare service level data will be analysed, including referral type, occasions of service, care pathways and sociodemographic details. Aggregated hospital level data will be obtained including length of stay, care type, readmission status, and diagnosis code. No identifiable service user information will be shared with the research team. For the pre-post implementation comparison component of the study, quantitative data including hospital admissions data and emergency department data will be collected 24-months pre-implementation and up to 12 months after the implementation period. Navicare service level data will commence from each site's first client intake for the implementation period of up to 18 months, and up to 12-months for post-implementation.