A/Prof. Kelly Weir1,2, Dr Jane Willox1, Dr Heather Gilbertson1, Asumi Dailey1, Ms Caroline Ondracek1,2, Mr Doug McCaskie1
1Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Australia, 2The University of Melbourne, Carlton, Australia
Biography:
Associate Professor Kelly Weir is a Joint Director of Allied Health Research at The Royal Children’s Hospital and The University of Melbourne. She is a certified practicing speech pathologist with over 35 years clinical and research experience, predominantly in tertiary state-wide paediatric hospitals in Australia. Kelly researches and teaches in the assessment and management of infants and children with paediatric dysphagia and feeding disorders in neonatal intensive care, tertiary paediatric acute/critical care, children with disability and paediatric palliative care. She currently leads the Allied Health Research Capacity and Development Program at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.
Abstract:
Allied Health (AH) Primary Contact and Advanced Practice models of care have been shown to decrease hospital outpatient waiting times and costs, provide quality care, have low representation rates, and high patient and staff satisfaction. However, research on these models suggest they are predominantly in adult hospital services (or across the age span), with little evidence available about models in tertiary paediatric care. We undertook a scoping review of health databases (Medline, CINAHL, Embase, Emcare, PsychINFO) to look at AH primary/first contact, role substitution and advanced practice/scope models of care (exposure) for children (birth-18 years) (population) in a hospital/health system in high and middle income countries (context). Items of interest included service descriptions, professions involved, mode of delivery, triage pathway, customer journey, service outcomes, consumer and staff satisfaction, cost effectiveness, credentialling/accreditation, and safety (outcomes). We used the Joanna Briggs Methodology for scoping reviews. Our librarian conducted the searches with 2551 references imported into Covidence. The scoping review is currently in progress. Each reference will be screened by two team members, with conflicts resolved by a third for firstly title/abstract, and then full text review. Data extraction will be conducted by two team members and reported using narrative description on outcomes of interest. Conclusion: This scoping review will provide much needed information around AH led/primary contact and advanced practice models suitable for integration into a tertiary hospital setting. This will guide future business case development and research for our tertiary paediatric hospital and health service.