Shared Care for Allergy Program
Aims and Objectives
Empowering consumers and improving access to quality allergy care.
Enable consumers to access the right care, at the right time, from the right health professional(s), in the right place.
Education and training to increase knowledge about allergies and anaphylaxis.
Empower and support patients and families and improve their health literacy.
Build workforce capacity through innovative training models and collaboration between primary and tertiary care.
Develop standards of care for allergy.
How are we working towards this?
Shared care involves the person with allergy at the centre of their care, and supported by their family, carers, healthcare professionals, patient support organisations and the community working together to give the best care. The shared care program involves:
Collaborations and partnerships:
Collaborate and engage with different healthcare providers and organisations, pilot new ways of delivering allergy care in regional, rural and remote professional organisations to align training and standards of care, and health services and government agencies to support system-level changes.
Consultation
Input and consultation with different healthcare providers, people living with allergies and their families, and professional interest holder organisations.
Looking at different ways to improve access:
Identify gaps and opportunities for shared care in current allergy care.
Develop models and pilots that include roles and responsibilities.
Develop education, training and resources to support healthcare providers and consumers.
Monitor and evaluate outcomes.
Target Audience
People with allergic conditions and their carers, healthcare professionals, health services and system level interest holders. This program has a specific focus on improving access for people living in rural, regional and remote areas of Australia.
What we have achieved so far
Conducted a national consultation of key interest holders including consumers.
Developed a program roadmap to communicate about the work we are progressing.
Established an overarching Shared Care Working Group and Subgroups comprised of key interest holders and expertise to help guide the program.
Established allergy assist, a national allergy advice and education platform to support general practitioners and rural generalists, to improve access to timely and consistent allergy care, reducing waiting times and unnecessary travel and support local care.
Developed the Associateship of Clinical Allergy course for general practitioners and paediatricians working in rural, regional and remote areas to build a regional workforce and network to support patients with allergies more locally, strengthen networks with clinical immunology/allergy specialists and tertiary services.
Work in progress
We are currently developing a process for healthcare providers who have undertaken additional allergy training to be recognised as allergy healthcare providers.
We are currently developing an allergy healthcare professional finder platform linked to the recognition program for healthcare professional referral as well as for consumers to find an allergy healthcare professional.
