The OCEAN Study:
Examining multidisciplinary team-based care
in general practice, Aboriginal Medical Services and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services
Background
In the 2022-23 budget, the Australian Government announced significant support to primary care through the ‘Strengthening Medicare’ Program. The resulting Strengthening Medicare Taskforce report highlighted the need for coordinated teams of health care professionals working to their full scope of practice to provide continuity of care, including prevention and early intervention. While research about general practice has predominantly focussed on the work of general practitioners, services in general practice are delivered by a range of health care professionals including GPNs, NPs and allied health professionals. Currently there is no mechanism to comprehensively capture reliable information about the clinical activity of GPNs, NPs and allied health professionals and their contribution to team-based care.About the study
This innovative three-year project, called OCEAN: examining team-based care in general practice, Aboriginal Medical Services and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services will use an electronic data collection platform called OCEAN. The study is led by the University of Sydney, in collaboration with the University of Wollongong and the National Association for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners (NAATSIHWP) and working closely with the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO).Study overview
The Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has contracted the study team to use OCEAN to collect and analyse data from targeted groups of health professionals working in Australian general practices, AMSs and ACCHSs.
This large-scale study will establish an important evidence base about the contributions of GPNs, NPs, physiotherapists and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Practitioners working in these settings. These health professionals will be surveyed to identify their characteristics, scope of practice, clinical and non-clinical activity, their needs within the current general practice model of care and ways to better support them in fully utilising their scope of practice.
The OCEAN study will produce valid, reliable information that will play an important role in informing the development of future government policies and programs, including implementation of the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce recommendations.
The study will run until 30 June 2027.
A visual overview of the project is provided below:
The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has funded the University of Sydney to undertake this work. This project is being conducted as a collaboration between the University of Sydney, the University of Wollongong, the National Association for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners, and working closely with the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation. While the University of Sydney is working in collaboration with these organisations, the University of Sydney maintains full contractual obligations and the ownership of the OCEAN tool.
