About CHSD...
The primary purpose of the CHSD
The CHSD was established in 1993 ‘to undertake a
continuing program of active research into methods to
improve the management and provision of health services
with the goal of making a significant contribution to
improving the funding and delivery of health services
in Australia’. Our ideas of improvement include
achieving greater equity in the distribution of resources,
promoting fairer access to services, better continuity
within and across the health and community care sectors,
and basing management decisions on evidence.
To date, the CHSD has undertaken approximately 200 health
service research, development and evaluation projects,
ranging in size from under $10,000 to $1.5 million. This
body of work supports a core team of CHSD staff plus additional
researchers who contribute specific skills required for
each project. Project funds are supplemented by a NSW
Health capacity building infrastructure grant to support
health research and an in-kind infrastructure contribution
from the University of Wollongong. In addition to producing
standard academic output, our work results in a range
of practical advice to a variety of government and non-government
agencies and interest groups. We design research and
information-based strategies for program coordination
to help allocate resources on the basis of need, as
well as tools to support decision-making and to help
managers develop funding models. Our Centre has three
attached units that focus on health outcomes research
and resources and clinical services benchmarking using
consumer outcome measures in rehabilitation and palliative
care, Integral to our work is background research involving
critical reviews of issues and policy analysis.
The objectives and research
direction of the CHSD
At its beginning in 1993, the CHSD focused its efforts
in the areas of sub-acute and non-acute casemix classification
and its implications for hospital and community care
financing, resource distribution and service delivery.
The focus has expanded since that time but the core
of our work remains on practical and rigorous approaches
to addressing questions of health equity, effectiveness
and efficiency, and evaluation tools based on consumer
outcomes.
We have been able to build these questions into our
various evaluation frameworks and research and development
projects – in emergency departments, mental health,
community aged care and disability services, palliative
care - to better understand strategies for capacity
building and getting a fairer balance of care for different
levels of individual need.
Over time, the research undertaken by the CHSD has
consolidated into six integrated themes driven by our
commitment to ‘Combine Realism with Rigour’:
- Casemix classification across settings;
- Health and community care financing;
- Care coordination and integration;
- Health care outcomes;
- Health service delivery and organisation; and
- Management decision-making.
Twelve years after its establishment, these themes
remain a good summary of our core business and the CHSD
has expanded its funding and outputs and consolidated
its team of researchers. The CHSD is now a recognised
centre of excellence in health services research and
development with three well developed sub-centres –
the Australian Health Outcomes Collaboration (AHOC),
the Australasian Rehabilitation Outcomes Centre (AROC),
and the Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC),
and CHSD has assumed responsibility for managing the
Centre for Health and Productivity Research (CHPR) and
the Australian New Zealand Health Assessment Methods
Network (ANZ-HAMN).
The CHSD Team
The CHSD has developed into a stable and skilled multidisciplinary
team. CHSD staff and fellows have qualifications and
expertise in psychology, statistics, economics, public
health, management, health planning, health informatics,
education, pharmacy, human geography, medical epidemiology,
medicine, occupational therapy, developmental disability,
nutrition, nursing and communications.
The members of our team can draw on experience in management,
planning and research in health services, community
services, social welfare and consumer organisations
and experience as members and chairpersons of intra-government
and inter-government committees and organisations and
quasi-judicial bodies. The team’s stability, experience
and expertise provide a sound base for addressing the
funding, managing and evaluation of services.
Links and affiliations
Within the University of Wollongong
The CHSD’s relationship with the Graduate School
of Business and Professional Development reflects the
way the Centre’s links have strengthened across
faculties in areas such as management, information systems
and health economics. At the same time, the Centre has
working relationships with the Faculty of Health and
Behavioural Sciences, and the School of Mathematics
and Applied Statistics.
With other Australian Universities
CHSD has collaborations with other health service research
organisations. We have strong links with researchers
at Newcastle, UNSW, Queensland and Melbourne Universities,
Queensland University of Technology, Flinders and Edith
Cowan University. The Queensland-based Australian Mental
Health Outcomes Collaboration is a partner that shares
the CHSD interest in data and classification issues,
and the use of nationally agreed mental health outcome
measures.
With the health industry
We continue to have strong connections to influential
industry partners, particularly government authorities
and area health services, but also with non-government
organisations (ACOSS), local government and industry
groups like the Australian Healthcare Association, the
NSW and ACT Aged and Community Services Association,
private provider and health insurance groups.
International links
The CHSD has a growing international reputation. Its
staff are regularly invited to present papers at international
conferences, eg: the OECD (on measuring health system
performance), the Canadian Health Services Research
Foundation , consultancies and development projects
on health financing for the World Health Organisation
and AusAID, and Oxford Outcomes (UK) to undertake the
Australian revision of a number of health outcomes assessment
instruments. AHOC has a collaboration with the Mapi
Institut in France and the International Society for
Quality of Life Research (Isoqol).
CHSD Organisation and Management
The CHSD is a self-funded health services R&D centre.
It had its origins in an agreement between the Illawarra
Area Health Service and the University of Wollongong
to establish a health services research and development
centre. The UoW established the CHSD in 1993 at the
request of, and in full cooperation with, the (then)
Illawarra Area Health Service whose local planning unit
(now part of the South East Sydney and Illawarra Health
Service) has moved on campus.
The CHSD has a Board of Management that is responsible
for its governance. The Terms of Reference of the CHSD
Board of Management are to:
- To determine, in conjunction with the CHSD Director
and CHSD staff, CHSD research and development strategic
directions, priorities and policies;
- To represent the views of the broader health and
health service research sectors;
- To examine and evaluate health service research
and development opportunities and strategies;
- To receive and consider reports on:
- the range of activities undertaken by the CHSD;
and
- financial management and expenditure;
- To provide advice on policy issues related to health
service research and development that emerge from
the concerns of industry or government, or that may
be referred to it; and
- To provide advice on health service research policies,
strategies and activities to assist the CHSD to remain
relevant and useful to its industry partners and the
wider community.
The Board consists of two nominees of the University
of Wollongong, South east Sydney and Illawarra Health;
the CHSD Director; a staff elected representative; a
representative of CHSD visiting fellows and up to 6
individuals who are invited of their own account. Such
individuals have experience and expertise in one or
more of the following areas: clinical practice and clinical
research; public health; social health and social justice
issues; health policy and health services research;
Aboriginal health; community health; aged care; the
management of health services; the private health sector;
consumer perspectives; rural health; and the university/higher
education sector.
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