Study overview

The OCEAN study, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, comprises three ‘waves’ of data collection across four health professional ‘streams’ (for general practice nurses, nurse practitioners, physiotherapists and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Practitioners).

In the first stage of the study, called Wave 1, the study team will invite all general practices, AMSs and ACCHSs across Australia to complete the first OCEAN questionnaire, called the Practice Profile.

What is collected?

The Practice Profile aims to identify characteristics about general practices, AMSs and ACCHSs throughout Australia. Questions asked include details about the location, size of practice and services co-located within the practice. There are also questions about the types of health professionals employed or engaged by the practice.
After the questions about the characteristics of the practice have been answered, the person answering the survey will be asked to provide contact details for the health professionals working within their practice who will be invited to take part in Waves 2 and 3. These contact details are placed inside a digital ‘locked box’, from which an automated email is sent asking the health professional for consent for their contact information to be released to the study team.