Development of Aged Health Service Plan - Term Paper Example

Running Head: Development of aged health Service Plan Name: University: Course: Tutor: Date of Submission: Contents Contents 2 1.0Introduction 2 3.1. Scope 6 3.5. Setting of objectives 8 Appendices 12 References 15 1.0 Introduction Due to the establishment of a new state Cook, a local health network, border regions have been formed cutting across a wider geographical area and population. To effectively provide health services across the new geographical regions as well as population, all the health service plans currently in use need to be rewritten to meet the health demands of the new population. One of the health service plans which need to be rewritten is an aged health care service plan .This health care plan is going to describe the development process of a new aged care health service plan for the border regions to address the health demand needs of the population as well as the community. The plan will address various optimal service models including inpatient, outpatient as well as ambulatory services. The plan will endeavor to provide effective health services as well as improve basic medical needs across all aged individuals living in urban and rural areas with conditions associated with ageing, mental and physical disabilities, chronic illness among others (Green, 2007). Since the project is concerned with the development of a new health service plan it will comprise of three parts as follows: Stage 1- Project team for planning Stage 2- Implementation of the activities Stage 3- Setting a timeline for the tasks The tables and charts used in this plan will act as examples that can be emulated by the project team members during the planning process. 2.0 Project team for planning 2.1. Stage one: Formation of a Project Team Success of any project depends on the team project selected to handle the activities related to the project. The first step in project planning will be selection of project team members. A project team will be required to be formed to oversee all the activities involved in the planning process (Hyman, 2002). The teams which are required to be formed should include Planning Project development Committee, Consultation Committee, Health Services Development Committee and the Steering Committee each with a specific defined role (Australian institute of Health and Welfare, 2010). Teams are usually successful when all the members of the team clearly understand the basic concepts required for an effective planning process (Hyman,2002). Before assigning team and committee members responsibilities and tasks, a quick check of their capabilities will be performed in relation to their skills and experience given the mere fact that they are individuals from different fields (Appendix one ). As identified earlier, four teams will be formed which will comprise of; Planning Project Development Committee, Health Services Development Committee, Consultation Committee and the Steering Committee. The Planning Project Development Committee will comprise of health service planners, Area Aged Care Coordinators and Performance assessment officers. Their roles will comprise of; Formulation, development as well as implementation of project ideas and solutions Collect data as well as assess the health needs of the aged people in order to identify and evaluate palliative or home programs which will suit them Analyze collected data and develop recommendations and reports required for the plan. Moreover, they will be required to oversee the consultation process as well as ensure that each stage of the project is well run. The other important team which should be included in the planning committee part from the three mentioned above are the palliative care nurses and other care givers who will be required to assist in the planning process, offer suggestions, ideas in relation to the project to the project team members (Goldman & Mukherjee, 2003).The steering committee should consists of project leader, members from advisory council five aged border region coordinators, three members from palliative care and elderly home care nursing programs, two service providers and six people from other government and other non-government agencies. The Steering Committee will be required to ensure that; The new aged health service plan meets the current health needs of the population Planning procedures and rules are adhered to by all the project team members Additionally, they will be required to provide the direction for the development of plan ensuring project activities and processes have been appropriately developed and in a timely manner. They will be required to oversee the implementation process of the plan The consultation committee will be required to carry out various consultations at various stages during the planning process and provide feedback to the team members. A project leader will be required to be appointed who will supervise and monitor the overall project, its processes and implementation processes (Australian General Practice Network -AGPN, 2009). Stage 2 3.0 Planning activities Under this stage, The Queensland Health guideline identifies seven components involved in the planning process. The plan has identified the following components which will be used in development of the Local Health Network Border Regions Aged Service Plan (Queensland Health, 2009). 3.1. Scope Since the new aged health service plan is intended to cover a wider geographical area and larger population, the scope identified should have its focus on aged health services across the Boarder Regions (Friend, Power & Yewlett, 2003).Various parameters which will be involved in the planning process such as the barriers and risks that could hinder successful implementation of the project. Barriers such as state policies and legal documentations should be considered as well as other significant factors that could hinder the success of project implementation process (Friend, Power & Yewlett, 2003). It is important to select one representative from each unit to aid in the project planning as well as the project team will be required to consult the community members regularly to gather information on areas that need improvement. Since the plan is an aged health care plan the project team members should ensure that it addresses the needs of elderly people in various categories such as; elderly people of age 70 years of Australian origin as well as Aboriginal suffering from various chronic illness and other illness, elderly people of age 60-70 suffering from age related conditions and other functional conditions as well as Carers and families of the above groups should be included in the plan.. 3.2. Population and service environment At this stage of the planning process, there is need to carry out a comprehensive research on the current aged patient care services being provided within the regions and how it can be improved. To effectively achieve, this it is necessary to undertake a survey of the population and their health needs. To gather data more effectively it is necessary to use various statistical methods. Using these methods will give accurate data as the group targeted is older people (Friend, Power & Yewlett, 2003). Information which could be gathered could include; Border region aged population by gender, by area (Appendix 2), receive treatment at home and what are their health needs, their financial status, health status, how many people have been aged care programs in previous years (Appendix 3), how many, the projected number of older people who require special treatment programs and how their needs can be addressed (Friend, Power & Yewlett, 2003). The data collected should be sufficient enough as this will help in the analysis as well as identification of the health service demands of the population. Additionally, it will be important to analyze the current aged patient services in order to improve them. Project tam members will be required to identify various factors that hinder effective health service delivery such as lack of effective home care as well as palliative programs (Appendix 4), poor aged patient services, inadequate staff and bed capacity among others in order to identify ways of improving them. This stage is very significant in the entire planning process given the mere fact that information gathered here will be used in the next planning components as well as effective development of the plan (New South Wales Health, 2006). 3.3. Prioritization of health service needs This is step which is usually done once the data has been collected and the needs of the target population have been identified too by consulting the literature as well as major stakeholders (see appendix 5). Once the needs have been identified, project teams will be required to formulate various strategies on how the needs will be prioritized to meet the up criteria demand, as well as the expectations of the community and stakeholder. At stage the planning principles of COOK outlined in the scope should be used to prioritize the target population needs as well as Consultation with concerned stakeholders. Other factors should be considered too such as area planning principles, policies, urgency need of the target population. 3.4. Problems and challenges: In any project there are usually challenges, one of them effectively meeting community demands and expectation. To overcome this challenge it is important to involve them in the entire planning process. This may create a conflict of interest between the stakeholders and community members hence it’s important that team members ensure that there is a mutual agreement between the two groups by bring solutions to their problems whenever they arises. Some problems can be solved while other will prove to difficulty such as financial problems and political issues. Team members should deal with them diligently by ensuring that they don’t affect the overall planning process (Friend, Power & Yewlett, 2003) 3.5. Setting of objectives This stage will focus on the development of the plan objectives. At this stage the team members will be required to formulate goal oriented and strategic goals according to the service model selected. The objectives being formulated should be SMART thus (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound) and strategically defined. For every objective developed, there should be relevant strategy against it which guides its operational activities. While developing the objectives it is necessary that the team members consider resources available (Eagar, Garret, & Lin, 2001). The team members should formulate objectives such as; improving coordination in planning aged coordination, quality of life and independence of older people, sustaining workforce sufficient to meet demand, increase the bed capacity of the hospitals among other services. Strategies which could be formulated could include; building a health and aged care policy, developing support and strategic alliances among others. Performance indicators should be put in place by the team members to ensure that the formulated objectives have been successful achieved (Eagar, Garret, & Lin, 2001). 3.6. Service Options to meet demand At this stage, the project team will identify the service model for the aged service plan that significantly meet the needs of the target population based on the scope of the plan and overall assessed health needs of the population. The project team should include the five planning principles thus accessibility, effectiveness, equity and quality as well as various service options in the service model created(Eagar, Garret, & Lin, 2001).Additionally, from the service model selected the project team members should identify various options such as; reduce the number of sites which services are being provided in order to reduce costs and achieve effectiveness, change the model of care by introducing new programs home palliative home care programs and new resources required for the programs, improving bed capacity and other services which will be required to be incorporated in the planning process.. 3.7. Consultation Consultation with various stakeholders is an important process when it comes to the development and planning of an aged health care service plan. The entire planning process should incorporate input from various community stakeholders to obtain priority issues related to the provision of health services to aged people (Thomas, 2003).Ideally, consultation process is important in identifying solutions to the issues being raised as well as determining key health needs of the population in question and the community in general. All stakeholders should be consulted for ideas on how the plan should be formulated, developed and implemented in order to meet the demands of the community. Additionally, it is important that they are consulted on other significant issues such as; importance of the project to the community, its impact, anticipated benefits among other issues. This part is significant when it comes to the final implementation of the health plan, because it clears any conflicts and misunderstandings which could hinder effective project implementation process (Wolper, 2004). 4.0. Writing and rollout of the aged health service plan Since the aged health service plan covers various individuals and covers a wider geographical area, each team member will be given a task to write one section after which all the sections will be complied into one document. Various plans such as coordination plan, workforce plan and evaluation plan will be put together before implementation. The completed aged service plan will be required to include all avenues as well as strategies which will aide successful completion of the project including its development as well as implementation. Stage 3 5.0. Setting Timeline Time as well as its management is considered to be a significant resource in any project planning process. The project leader team will be required to outline a timeline in which the tasks are required to be completed. The goal of the aged service plan is to provide proper needs for elderly people hence, a timeline for each task will be developed to ensure that each task is completed and implemented as scheduled to avoid prolonging the planning process (Friend, Power & Yewlett, 2003). 6.0. Conclusion Developing the Border region aged health service plan will compel the project teams to implement the health planning process. The four committees formed will play a significant role in the planning process by ensuring that the project plan is successful planned and implemented. Additionally, they will ensure that formulated project objectives are successful achieved by putting in place effective strategies. . In addition, the success of the aged health service plan will depend on a range and in-depth stakeholder and community involvement (Wolper, 2004).Apart from stakeholder involvement, money and time will be important in the entire process. . Appendices Appendix 1 Name of the committee member Skills he or she possesses Capabilities Experience acquired Roles and responsibilities Appendix 2: Aged border region population by area by area (illustrative) Rural Urban Aged Males 100,000 278,000 Aged Females 230,000 150,000 Total 330,000 428,000 Appendice 3: Number of people both male and female involved in aged care programs in the previous years (illustrative only) Appendices 4: Statistics showing various programs offered in percentages (illustrative only) Appendix 5: Frequency of admission of aged people in the hospital due to various health needs (illustrative only) References Australian General Practice Network -AGPN. (2009). Connecting Care: A Blueprint for improving health and wellbeing of the Australian population- the role and function of primary Health Care Organizations Australian institute of Health and Welfare 2010, Australia’s health 2010. Australia’s health series no. 12. Cat. no. AUS 122. Canberra: AIHW.www.aihw.com.au Aged care Services Plan to 2011, Wentworth Area Health Service - 13/02/2004 Cook, J (2011). Workforce Planning Presentation to Health Planning, University of Technology Sydney Department of Health and Ageing. (2010). Procurement Guide for Health Services. McGrow Hill. Eagar, K., Garret, P., & Lin, V. (2001). Health Planning: Australian perspectives. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. Friend, J. K., Power, J. M., & Yewlett, J. L. (2003 ). Public Planning. Routledge. Goldman, R., & Mukherjee, S. K. (2003). Managed service restructuring in health care: a strategic approach. Routledge. Green, A (2007). An introduction to health planning for developing health systems.3rd ed. New York: Oxford Press Hyman, H. H. (2002). Health planning: a systematic approach. Jones & Bartlett Learning. McKenzie, J. F., Pinger, R. R., & Kotecki, J. E. (2008). An introduction to community health. Jones & Bartlett Learning. Queensland Health. (2009). Guide to Health Service Planning. McGrow Hill. Thomas, R. K. (2003). Health Services Planning, 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill. Wolper, L. F. (2004). Health care administration: planning, implementing, and managing organized Delivery Systems. Jones & Bartlett Learning. Read More