The M-CHooSe pilot: the acceptability and utilisation of the nurse-led, general practice clinic co-located ‘Mater CALD Healthcare Coordinator Service’ for patients from multicultural backgrounds
David Chua
A B C * , Donata Sackey D , Meryl Jones D , Michelle Smith D , Lauren Ball A B and Tracey Johnson C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Centre for Community Health and Wellbeing, University of Queensland, Springfield, Qld 4300, Australia.
B Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Nathan, Qld 4111, Australia.
C Inala Primary Care Ltd, Inala, Qld 4077, Australia.
D Mater Misericordiae Brisbane Ltd, Mater Refugee Health Service, South Brisbane, Qld 4101, Australia.
* Correspondence to: d.chua@uq.edu.au
Australian Journal of Primary Health 29(2) 175-185 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY22147
Submitted: 13 July 2022 Accepted: 24 November 2022 Published: 19 December 2022
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of La Trobe University. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Background: Patients from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds often have unmet healthcare coordination needs. We aimed to evaluate the acceptability, utilisation and perceived benefits of the Mater CALD Health Coordinator Service (M-CHooSe), a pilot, nurse-led, general practice co-located, healthcare coordination service for patients from CALD backgrounds.
Methods: M-CHooSe began in March 2020 at five Brisbane (Queensland) sites. Process and service user data were collected over 12 months at one site. A survey evaluated primary healthcare professionals’ perceived benefits of the service. Another survey of M-CHooSe nurses examined indicators of service complexity.
Results: In total, 206 individuals accessed M-CHooSe over the 12-month period. Commonly delivered services included health service advocacy, chart reviews and health system navigation, including addressing social determinants. M-CHooSe nurses reported frequently performing tasks such as following up with external health services and performing health and social care system coordination. M-CHooSe benefits reported by primary healthcare professionals included better patient access to external health services and improved patient understanding of their conditions and treatments.
Conclusion: Patients were accepting of referrals to M-CHooSE. Primary healthcare professionals also reported a variety of benefits to themselves and their patients because of M-CHooSe. M-ChooSe highlights the potential of a healthcare coordination service for multicultural patients to improve healthcare equity, accessibility, and system efficiency. This project demonstrates the potential value of coordination services to increase patient access and uptake of existing health and social care services for modern Australian communities, thus improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our health system. Further investigations, including user experience, opinions and cost analyses, will be required to confirm the promising benefits of embedding M-CHooSe into usual care.
Keyword: care coordination, cultural and linguistic diversity, health service delivery, multicultural health, patient navigation, practice nurse, primary care, refugee health.
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