Infection Control Collaborative
IF was an active partner in the consortium that delivered the Infection Control Collaborative in Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs).
The purpose of this program, led by PivotWest, a Division of General Practice based in the western suburbs of Melbourne, was to translate best practice guidelines for infection control in RACFs into current practice by using the highly successful Collaborative methodology.
The aim of the program for the seven RACFs involved was to reduce the number of infections by 30 percent within 18 months, from April 2009 to September 2010.
This collaborative was funded by the Australian Government of Health and Ageing under the Encouraging Best Practice in Residential Aged Care Facilities (EBPRAC) Program from December 2008 to October 2010.
For more information about the Infection Control Collaborative visit www.pivotwest.org.au.
Last Updated 29 August 2011
What is the Model for Improvement?
The Model for Improvement provides a framework for developing, testing and implementing changes. It helps to break down a change effort into small, manageable chunks which are then tested to ensure that things are improving and that no effort is wasted. It is always worth remembering that while every improvement is certainly a change, every change is not an improvement.
The Model for Improvement consists of two equal parts; the first part, the “thinking part”, consists of three fundamental questions to guide improvement work:
- What are we trying to accomplish?
- How will we know that a change is an improvement?
- What changes can we make that will result in an improvement?
For more information about the Model for Improvement visit: http://apcc.org.au/about_the_APCC/the_model_for_improvement/
What is the Collaborative Methodology?
Adapted from the Institute of Healthcare Improvement’s Breakthrough Series Collaborative methodology, in the Australian context, the Collaborative methodology is used as a framework for the APCC Program. This methodology has been applied to a wide range of management challenges. Originally applied to healthcare systems in the USA, it has since been adopted in other countries, including the UK, Scotland, Canada and New Zealand.
The Collaborative methodology is proven to be highly effective in achieving large scale systems change and demonstrating measurable outcomes. It provides a generic quality improvement model that can be applied to achieve incremental, rapid and locally relevant improvements across a broad range of clinical and practice business issues.