CHP Seminar - Evaluating after hours primary care reforms – using a realist evaluation perspective to inform policy and practice
Centre for Health Policy Seminar: Evaluating after hours primary care reforms – using a realist evaluation perspective to inform policy and practice
Date: Tuesday 30th July 12.30pm–1.30pm, Seminar Room 515, Level 5, 207 Bouverie Street, Carlton.
Cost: Free, all welcome.
Presenter: Associate Professor Rosemary McKenzie
Abstract: The provision of after hours primary care is a challenging policy area. Telephone triage and advice services have been introduced in many countries to help to improve patient access and better manage demand for both in hours and after hours health services. This seminar reports on an evaluation that sought to gather evidence that could inform policy decisions. The evaluation aimed to identify the critical characteristics and contextual factors required to successfully implement the policy and embed a GP telephone advice service in an integrated after hours healthcare system. A realist evaluation approach was blended with a policy analysis perspective that identifies policy as a hypothesis or a theory of the way the world works. Theories of action were developed, presented as Context-Mechanism-Outcome configurations, with each Context-Mechanism-Outcome configuration representing a hypothesised theory of action for the policy. The evaluation identified contextual factors and causal mechanisms at multiple levels of the health system that could be modified by policy makers to strengthen the impact and integration of the policy initiative.
Presenter Biography: Associate Professor Rosemary McKenzie, (BA, PG Dip Hlth Prom, MPH, PhD) is Director of Teaching and Learning in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health and Deputy Director of the Centre for Health Policy. Rosemary is an evaluator and health services researcher focused on health service quality and outcomes. She is a member of the Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner Advisory Council and the Board of Directors of the Peter Mac Cancer Centre.