Implementing PCOC: A guide for services

The purpose of this guide is to assist services in the implementation of the Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC) program. Implementing the PCOC program is a three stage process requiring action in the following areas: leadership and governance, routine assessment, orientation and ongoing education, data management and quality improvement

Quality Improvement: A guide for services

This guide provides information for clinicians from organisations and services participating in PCOC to use their reports and the suite of PCOC quality improvement tools for continuous improvement, and to demonstrate improvement in patient and family/carer outcomes

Embedding health literacy into health systems: A case study of a regional health service

Objective: The aim of the present study was to describe how one regional health service the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District embedded health literacy principles into health systems over a 3-year period. Methods: Using a case study approach, this article describes the development of key programs and the manner in which clinical incidents were used to create a health environment that allows consumers the right to equitably access quality health services and to participate in their own health care. Results: The key outcomes demonstrating successful embedding of health literacy into health systems in this regional health service include the creation of a governance structure and web-based platform for developing and testing plain English consumer health information, a clearly defined process to engage with consumers, development of the health literacy ambassador training program and integrating health literacy into clinical quality improvement processes via a formal program with consumers to guide processes such as improvements to access and navigation around hospital sites. Conclusions: The Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District has developed an evidence-based health literacy framework, guided by the core principles of universal precaution and organisational responsibility. Health literacy was also viewed as both an outcome and a process. The approach taken by the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District to address poor health literacy in a coordinated way has been recognised by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care as an exemplar of a coordinated approach to embed health literacy into health systems