Dr Eloise Cowie1, Ms Jo Theodoros1
1Queensland Children's Hospital, Australia
Biography:
Dr Eloise Cowie is a Senior Clinical Psychologist working in a paediatric interdisciplinary persistent pain service, and with a background of working in child and youth mental health. Eloise has project managed a Queensland Department of Health, Office of the Chief Allied Health Officer (OCAHO) funded model of care project focussed on partnering with services to improve paediatric persistent pain care in regional Queensland. Jo Theodoros is a Psychologist and Allied Health Team Leader of the Queensland Interdisciplinary Paediatric Persistent Pain Service. As the project lead for the OCAHO MoC project, Jo is passionate about equitable and attuned patient care.
Abstract:
Paediatric persistent pain is a highly prevalent health crisis, affecting 1 in 5 children globally (Chambers et al., 2024), yet remains under-researched and under-funded in Australia. Our geographical landscape adds unique challenges to healthcare equity, meaning that value-based healthcare (VBHC) has much to offer in the service of innovative healthcare redesign. In this presentation, we will share our clinical experience of leading the application of a VBHC quality improvement project to address the challenge of equitable service delivery for paediatric persistent pain care in Queensland.
In our presentation we will explore how we applied VBHC through a codesign approach to develop a needs-informed implementation plan for regional care collaboration focussed on clinician engagement. We will present qualitative and quantitative data that speaks to constructs of interprofessional collaboration and psychological safety, as we partnered services for improved patient access and outcomes in regional Queensland. Our qualitative data, in particular, highlights the challenges and rewards described by clinicians at the coalface of building an authentic partnership, through strategies of peer supervision and co-consultations, that spanned across thousands of kilometres, and socio-demographic contexts. These powerful messages provide insight into the required ingredients to enhance perceived "quality of care" – a downstream outcome that requires significant, nuanced investment into psychological safety and interprofessional collaboration.
While we continue on our journey of learning and discovery, we are excited to share our process of codesigning high value healthcare as we address the health crisis of paediatric persistent pain in Australia.