A quick project update about shaping better health services to reduce unplanned hospital admissions

The Plug-in, the University of Adelaide Nursing School and the Adelaide PHN are working to prevent and reduce unplanned admissions to hospital.

About the research

The Plug-in is conducting this research in partnership with the University of Adelaide Nursing School and the Adelaide PHN. Funded by the Hospital Research Foundation, the research will inform principles for person-centred integrated care to help design innovative care services in the future that help reduce unplanned hospital admissions.

Project update

In July 2018, The Plug-in facilitated two (2) workshops with consumers and health/community service providers. Both workshops were designed to explore experiences around unplanned hospital admissions of people 75 years and over, discovering what made those experiences good, and what factors impacted negatively, or made the situation more difficult or stressful.

While we discovered some differences between consumer and health + community service provider perspectives, common themes in the research so far centre around:

  1. Access to accurate information;
  2. Clear and positive communication between all parties; and
  3. Accessibility of information between different health providers at every stage of an unplanned health event. For example, information that can be accessed by community service providers, GPs/primary care, and health providers in acute (hospital) care.

Following the findings from the July workshops, we ran a final workshop in August 2018 to bring together consumers and health + community service providers. We are still working through the information and valuable insights gathered in this final workshop, which uncovered fundamental principles that will improve health care service design and centres around the needs of a consumer.

Next steps

The University of Adelaide Nursing School will take the research findings to will help form the foundation of future research and the planning of health services.

We greatly appreciate community involvement in the project so far and look forward to future outcomes.

If you are interested in more information about this project, please call The Plug-in on 8224 5582 or email us at connect@theplugin.com.au.