Identification of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Patients in the Primary Health Care Setting
BackgroundAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have poorer cancer outcomes and experience 30% higher mortality rates compared to non-Indigenous Australians. Primary health care (PHC) services are increasingly being recognized as pivotal in improving Indigenous cancer patient outcomes. I...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-08-01
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Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00199/full |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Audra de Witt Audra de Witt Audra de Witt Frances C. Cunningham Frances C. Cunningham Ross Bailie Christina M. Bernardes Christina M. Bernardes Christina M. Bernardes Veronica Matthews Brian Arley Brian Arley Brian Arley Judith A. Meiklejohn Gail Garvey Gail Garvey Jon Adams Jennifer H. Martin Jennifer H. Martin Euan T. Walpole Euan T. Walpole Euan T. Walpole Daniel Williamson Patricia C. Valery Patricia C. Valery Patricia C. Valery |
spellingShingle |
Audra de Witt Audra de Witt Audra de Witt Frances C. Cunningham Frances C. Cunningham Ross Bailie Christina M. Bernardes Christina M. Bernardes Christina M. Bernardes Veronica Matthews Brian Arley Brian Arley Brian Arley Judith A. Meiklejohn Gail Garvey Gail Garvey Jon Adams Jennifer H. Martin Jennifer H. Martin Euan T. Walpole Euan T. Walpole Euan T. Walpole Daniel Williamson Patricia C. Valery Patricia C. Valery Patricia C. Valery Identification of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Patients in the Primary Health Care Setting Frontiers in Public Health aboriginal health identification of Indigenous cancer patients primary health care cancer electronic patient records |
author_facet |
Audra de Witt Audra de Witt Audra de Witt Frances C. Cunningham Frances C. Cunningham Ross Bailie Christina M. Bernardes Christina M. Bernardes Christina M. Bernardes Veronica Matthews Brian Arley Brian Arley Brian Arley Judith A. Meiklejohn Gail Garvey Gail Garvey Jon Adams Jennifer H. Martin Jennifer H. Martin Euan T. Walpole Euan T. Walpole Euan T. Walpole Daniel Williamson Patricia C. Valery Patricia C. Valery Patricia C. Valery |
author_sort |
Audra de Witt |
title |
Identification of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Patients in the Primary Health Care Setting |
title_short |
Identification of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Patients in the Primary Health Care Setting |
title_full |
Identification of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Patients in the Primary Health Care Setting |
title_fullStr |
Identification of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Patients in the Primary Health Care Setting |
title_full_unstemmed |
Identification of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Patients in the Primary Health Care Setting |
title_sort |
identification of australian aboriginal and torres strait islander cancer patients in the primary health care setting |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Public Health |
issn |
2296-2565 |
publishDate |
2017-08-01 |
description |
BackgroundAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have poorer cancer outcomes and experience 30% higher mortality rates compared to non-Indigenous Australians. Primary health care (PHC) services are increasingly being recognized as pivotal in improving Indigenous cancer patient outcomes. It is currently unknown whether patient information systems and practices in PHC settings accurately record Indigenous and cancer status. Being able to identify Indigenous cancer patients accessing services in PHC settings is the first step in improving outcomes.MethodsAboriginal Medical Centres, mainstream (non-Indigenous specific), and government-operated centers in Queensland were contacted and data were collected by telephone during the period from 2014 to 2016. Participants were asked to (i) identify the number of patients diagnosed with cancer attending the service in the previous year; (ii) identify the Indigenous status of these patients and if this information was available; and (iii) advise how this information was obtained.ResultsTen primary health care centers (PHCCs) across Queensland participated in this study. Four centers were located in regional areas, three in remote areas and three in major cities. All participating centers reported ability to identify Indigenous cancer patients attending their service and utilizing electronic Patient Care Information Systems (PCIS) to manage their records; however, not all centers were able to identify Indigenous cancer patients in this way. Indigenous cancer patients were identified by PHCCs using PCIS (n = 8), searching paper records (n = 1), and combination of PCIS and staff recall (n = 1). Six different types of PCIS were being utilized by participating centers. There was no standardized way to identify Indigenous cancer patients across centers. Health service information systems, search functions and capacities of systems, and staff skill in extracting data using PCIS varied between centers.ConclusionIt is crucial to be able to easily identify Indigenous cancer patients accessing health services in the PHC setting to monitor progress, improve and evaluate care, and ultimately improve Indigenous cancer outcomes. It is also important for PHC staff to receive adequate training and support to utilize PCISs efficiently and effectively. |
topic |
aboriginal health identification of Indigenous cancer patients primary health care cancer electronic patient records |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00199/full |
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doaj-d2e4c37811ea4e0696fde2a269003ea42020-11-24T22:54:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652017-08-01510.3389/fpubh.2017.00199276867Identification of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Patients in the Primary Health Care SettingAudra de Witt0Audra de Witt1Audra de Witt2Frances C. Cunningham3Frances C. Cunningham4Ross Bailie5Christina M. Bernardes6Christina M. Bernardes7Christina M. Bernardes8Veronica Matthews9Brian Arley10Brian Arley11Brian Arley12Judith A. Meiklejohn13Gail Garvey14Gail Garvey15Jon Adams16Jennifer H. Martin17Jennifer H. Martin18Euan T. Walpole19Euan T. Walpole20Euan T. Walpole21Daniel Williamson22Patricia C. Valery23Patricia C. Valery24Patricia C. Valery25Menzies School of Health Research, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaCharles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, AustraliaQIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaMenzies School of Health Research, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaCharles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, AustraliaUniversity Centre for Rural Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaMenzies School of Health Research, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaCharles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, AustraliaQIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaUniversity Centre for Rural Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaMenzies School of Health Research, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaCharles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, AustraliaQIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaQIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaMenzies School of Health Research, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaCharles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, AustraliaFaculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaSchool of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, AustraliaSouthside Clinical School, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaPrincess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaMetro South Health Hospital and Health Service, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia0University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia1Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Unit, Queensland Health, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaMenzies School of Health Research, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaCharles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, AustraliaQIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaBackgroundAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have poorer cancer outcomes and experience 30% higher mortality rates compared to non-Indigenous Australians. Primary health care (PHC) services are increasingly being recognized as pivotal in improving Indigenous cancer patient outcomes. It is currently unknown whether patient information systems and practices in PHC settings accurately record Indigenous and cancer status. Being able to identify Indigenous cancer patients accessing services in PHC settings is the first step in improving outcomes.MethodsAboriginal Medical Centres, mainstream (non-Indigenous specific), and government-operated centers in Queensland were contacted and data were collected by telephone during the period from 2014 to 2016. Participants were asked to (i) identify the number of patients diagnosed with cancer attending the service in the previous year; (ii) identify the Indigenous status of these patients and if this information was available; and (iii) advise how this information was obtained.ResultsTen primary health care centers (PHCCs) across Queensland participated in this study. Four centers were located in regional areas, three in remote areas and three in major cities. All participating centers reported ability to identify Indigenous cancer patients attending their service and utilizing electronic Patient Care Information Systems (PCIS) to manage their records; however, not all centers were able to identify Indigenous cancer patients in this way. Indigenous cancer patients were identified by PHCCs using PCIS (n = 8), searching paper records (n = 1), and combination of PCIS and staff recall (n = 1). Six different types of PCIS were being utilized by participating centers. There was no standardized way to identify Indigenous cancer patients across centers. Health service information systems, search functions and capacities of systems, and staff skill in extracting data using PCIS varied between centers.ConclusionIt is crucial to be able to easily identify Indigenous cancer patients accessing health services in the PHC setting to monitor progress, improve and evaluate care, and ultimately improve Indigenous cancer outcomes. It is also important for PHC staff to receive adequate training and support to utilize PCISs efficiently and effectively.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00199/fullaboriginal healthidentification of Indigenous cancer patientsprimary health carecancerelectronic patient records |