Introduction Meaningful involvement of people with lived experience is an invaluable approach to education that facilitates the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes for collaborative, compassionate and person-centred healthcare practice. The purpose of this evaluation was to gain health professional educators’ perspectives of an online learning resource that presents the lived experiences of people who have been consumers of the Australian mental health system. Methods A cross sectional study design was used to survey educators who had registered to use the online education resource. Data were collected using an online survey and follow-up interviews. Two lived experience researchers were involved [...]

Background Effective communication between health care clinicians and Aboriginal patients is critical to delivering high quality, accessible, culturally secure health care. Despite this, ineffective communication is a well-documented barrier, and few studies have reported interventions to improve communication. Clinical Yarning is a patient centred communication framework for Aboriginal health care. Building on this framework, this study reports the development and evaluation of a Clinical Yarning education program. Methods A Clinical Yarning education program was developed, underpinned by the principles of cultural security and adult learning, informed by a behavioural skills approach. The program was delivered in five health/education settings in [...]

Background Inadequate healthcare access and utilisation are implicated in the mental health burden experienced by those living in regional, rural, and remote Australia. Facilitators that better enable access and utilisation are also reported in the literature. To date, a synthesis on both the barriers and facilitators to accessing and utilising mental health services within the rural Australian context has not been undertaken. This scoping review aims to (1) synthesise the barriers and facilitators to accessing and utilising mental health services in regional, rural, and remote Australia, as identified using the Modified Monash Model; and (2) better understand the relationship between [...]

Background In Australia, the distribution of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and podiatrists density (per 10,000 population) by measure of location/rurality, usual resident population, and area-level socioeconomic status has not been described. Objective To describe the national as well as states-and territories-wide distribution of registered allied health workforce—occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and podiatrists—by measures of rurality and area-level socioeconomic position in Australia. Methods A linked data study that brings together (1) the location of health practitioners’ principal place of practice from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, (2) a measure of location/rurality—Modified Monash Model (MMM), and (3) an area-level measure of socioeconomic status—Index [...]

Background Nurse-led models of care are important for populations residing in regional, rural, and remote settings, who experience barriers to accessing health care. A previous review examining a subset of research undertaken in the Australian context through the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training program identified a paucity of literature around nurse-led models of care implemented in these settings. Given the maldistribution of the medical workforce in non-metropolitan settings, scoping the broader literature for evidence around nurse-led models of care in these settings is imperative for informing the future directions of the nursing workforce. Aim To identify available literature for evaluated nurse-led [...]