title: Strengthening primary health care: building the capacity of rural communities to access health funding.
abstract: Present health funding models can place onerous pressures on rural health services. Staff may lack the time, resources, access to data, and the expertise needed to complete complex and lengthy funding submissions. This present study describes an innovative capacity-building approach to working with Victorian rural communities seeking to access health care funding through the Regional Health Services Program. This approach used several strategies: engaging stakeholders in targeted rural communities, developing an information kit and running a workshop on preparing submissions to the Regional Health Services Program, facilitating community consultations, and providing ongoing support with submissions. Six rural communities were supported in this way. Four have been funded to date, with a combined annual recurrent budget for new primary health care services of over $2.5 million. Each community has developed a service delivery model that meets the particular needs of their local area. This capacity-building approach is both effective and replicable to other health funding opportunities.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rural and Regional Health, University of Ballarat, Mount Helen Campus, Ballarat, Victoria 3353, Australia. j.mcdonald@ballarat.edu.au
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.forename: Leann
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D002017:Budgets / Q000458:organization & administration; D018672:Community Health Planning / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005380:Financing, Government / Q000458:organization & administration; D006289:Health Planning Support; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000458:organization & administration; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012041:Regional Medical Programs / Q000458:organization & administration; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014739:Victoria