South West Queensland Project

Description
Establishment and evaluation of a service development initiative for people with ABI located in a rural and regional area

Rationale
For people with ABI, there are many gaps in the service system, especially between health and disability services

These gaps are wider in remote areas where there are fewer specialised treatment options and fewer disability services

Service need in these regions is heightened by the fact that there are significantly more people with brain injury per capita

Participants
Individuals with ABI and service providers located in regional/rural Queensland

Key Features
Service development initiative in response to key report indicating need for ABI services in the Charleville/Cunnamulla region

Developed on notions of individual, service sector and community capacity building with services showing flexibility and adaptability

Service that operates at multiple levels (Occupational Therapy position, brokerage fund and training fund) and complements rather than duplicates existing services

Funding
Jointly funded by Queensland Health and Disability Services Queensland

Research/Evaluation Strategies 
Early evaluation of inputs, activities and processes and continued evaluation focussed on quality improvement cycle

Data collected through variety of sources (service providers, people with ABI, families, relevant community stakeholders)

Data collection  included process data provided by local service providers (e.g. no of assessments, distribution of brokerage funds), interviews with stakeholders, community evaluation workshops

Inclusion of community stakeholders in development and delivery of evaluation strategy consistent with notion of participatory community capacity building

Outputs and Outcomes
Ongoing provision of multi-level services to people with ABI in the Charleville/Cunnamulla district

Identification of an appropriate service delivery model for regional and rural locations

Improved local community resources and capacity to assist people with ABI and their families

Publications
There are no publications related to this project

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