Improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients through an integrated Indigenous Hospital in the Home (I-HITH) service.

The I-HITH project aims to integrate care between the secondary care sector and the primary care sector (Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS)) to improve care outcomes and overall health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The study will evaluate an integrated care model of HITH that provides clinical and culturally safe, inpatient level care within (or closer) to a patient’s home. This is done to improve health outcomes, provide better access and more timely care, reduce discharge against medical advice and avoid potentially preventable hospitalisations for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Brisbane North.and uses advanced technology to help First Nations-led care models be developed and used in clinical practice in the Birth in Our Community (BiOC) program. Different approaches will be used for this project- 1) Figure out what information is collected about First Nations pregnancies in the BiOC program, in primary care (ATSICHS/IUIH) and secondary care (Mater). Note that no patient data is accessed in this step; 2) Undertake community engagement research to inform the approach to consent required to share and access data for clinical care and research purposes; 3) Create secure data streams that can work with each other and be used on a large scale; 4) Community directed data and analytics; and 5) First Nations-led new models of care.

A seed grant from University of Queensland Poche Centre for Indigenous Health (UQ) to Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH) in 2021 has enabled the commencement on development of the Hospital in the Home (HITH) service delivery evaluation framework. Service arrangements between IUIH and Metro North Hospital and Health Service (Metro North Health) are in place.

January 2024- May 2026.

Project Lead

• Prof Anthony Shakeshaft, Coordinating Principal Investigator, UQ Poche
  
  

Investigators/Team

Institute for Urban Indigenous Health:

• Associate Professor Carmel Nelson, Clinical Director, IUIH & Adjunct A/Prof, UQ, Carmel.Nelson@iuih.org.au

• Dr Halina Clare, I-HITH Clinical Lead, IUIH & Clinical Director, Moreton Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service (MATSICHS), Halina.Clare@iuih.org.au

• Dr Lyle Turner, Manager – Data and Research, IUIH, Lyle.Turner@iuih.org.au

• Sam Pope, Senior Service Development Project Manager, IUIH, Samantha.Pope@iuih.org.au

• Ms. Stephanie Moriarty, Research Manager, IUIH, Stephanie.Moriarty@iuih.org.au

• Clare Mangoyana, Project Manager (Research), IUIH, Clare.Mangoyana@iuih.org.au

• Jenny Setchell, Senior Researcher, IUIH, Jenny.Setchell@iuih.org.au

• Keighley Pascua, Research Assistant, IUIH, Keighley.Pascua@iuih.org.au

University of Queensland Poche Centre for Indigenous Health:

• Prof Anthony Shakeshaft, Coordinating Principal Investigator, UQ Poche

• Prof James Ward, UQ Poche

• Dr Federica Barzi, UQ Poche

• Dr Saira Sanjida, UQ Poche

• Dr Victor Oguoma, UQ Poche

• Associate Professor Judith Dean, UQ Poche

Metro North Health:

• Ms Katherine Schultz, Acting Director Allied Health, Community and Oral Health, Metro North Health, katherine.schultz@health.qld.gov.au

• Dr Nicole Gavin, Research Director, Community and Oral Health, Metro North Health, Nicole Gavin Nicole.Gavin@health.qld.gov.au

Brisbane North Primary Health Network:

• Kiarah Cuthbert, Project Lead, Brisbane North Primary Health Network,  Kiarah.Cuthbert@brisbanenorthphn.org.au

UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health

Institute for Urban Indigenous Health

Metro North Hospital and Health Service

Ms Katherine Schultz, Acting Director Allied Health, Community and Oral Health, Metro North Health, katherine.schultz@health.qld.gov.au

Clare Mangoyana, Project Manager (Research), IUIH, Clare.Mangoyana@iuih.org.au