Delivery of preventive health services to Indigenous adults: response to a systems-oriented primary care quality improvement intervention.
OBJECTIVE
To describe changes in delivery of preventive services among adults in Aboriginal communities that occurred in association with a systems-oriented intervention.


METHODS
A quality improvement intervention with a 2-year follow-up was undertaken at 12 Aboriginal community health centres in the Northern Territory between January 2002 and December 2005. The study involved 360 well adults aged 16-49 years who had no known diagnosis of chronic disease.


METHODS
Two annual cycles of assessment, feedback workshops, action planning, and implementation of system changes. Assessment included a structured review of health service systems and an audit of clinical records.


METHODS
Adherence to guideline-scheduled preventive services including taking basic measurements, laboratory investigations, lifestyle counselling and pneumococcal vaccination.


RESULTS
Of 12 preventive services measured, delivery of four services showed improvement over the study period: counselling on diet increased from 3% to 8% (P = 0.018); counselling on physical activity from 2% to 8% (P = 0.006); counselling on smoking from 2% to 11% (P = 0.003); and counselling on alcohol from 2% to 10% (P = 0.007). There was no improvement in important measures such as monitoring of waist circumference, blood pressure and blood glucose level, and delivery of pneumococcal vaccination.


CONCLUSIONS
Our systems-oriented intervention was associated with some improvement in counselling activities, but no significant improvement in delivery of other preventive services. The main reason may be that implementation focused more on chronic illness management than preventive services for generally well adults.
Si
Damin
D
Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, Australia. damin.si@menzies.edu.au
Bailie
Ross S
RS
Dowden
Michelle
M
O'Donoghue
Lynette
L
Connors
Christine
C
Robinson
Gary W
GW
Cunningham
Joan
J
Condon
John R
JR
Weeramanthri
Tarun S
TS
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006303:Health Services, Indigenous / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008485:Medical Audit; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D015876:Northern Territory; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013597:Systems Analysis