Resources
Context
National
Nationally, the implementation of outcome measurement (OM) across all
States and Territories has taken place in the context of the 2nd National
Mental Health Plan. A range of related policy papers can be downloaded
from the website of the Commonwealth Department of Health & Ageing.
The two most relevant publications are listed below. Although very technical
in nature, both documents contain a wealth of information in relation
to OM. Care should be taken in relation to the generic ratings protocol,
which differs in minor aspects from State to State.
 National Outcomes and Casemix Collection: Overview
of Clinician-rated and Consumer Self-report Measures - Department of Health
and Ageing, Canberra, December 2003 (PDF file 710KB)
National Outcomes and Casemix Collection: Technical
Specification of State and Territory reporting requirements for the outcomes
and casemix components of ‘Agreed Data’ - Department of Health
and Ageing, Canberra, December 2003. (PDF file 801KB)
Victoria
In addition to the National protocol documents listed above, the Department
of Human Services has developed an outcome measurement program management
circular in consultation with mental health sector representatives. This
circular provides guidance to the clinical sector on DHS requirements
for outcome measurement.
The New Directions paper was launched in September 2002 and outlines
strategic priorities for mental health services in Victoria over the next
five years.
New Directions For Victoria's Mental
Health Services. The Next Five Years - September 2002 (PDF file 268KB)
New Directions For Victoria's Mental
Health Services. The Next Five Years. The Plain English Version - September
2002 (PDF file 35KB)
Two older documents are still relevant to the implementation of outcome
measurement in the State:
Health Status and Outcomes
in Victoria’s Mental Health Services (Department of Human Services,
1999) provides a rationale for the introduction of OM alongside existing
monitoring strategies. The emphasis upon quality improvement as the driver
for OM implementation is still valid, but care should be taken with the
proposed suite of measures and ratings protocol, as a number of modifications
have been made.
Eagar K, Buckingham W, Callaly T, Trauer T, Coombs T and Graham C (2001): The
Victorian Mental Health Outcome Measurement Strategy: Final report on
the Implementation of Outcome Measurement in Adult Area Mental Health
Services (PDF file 679KB) provides an informative account of the ‘Round
1’ of outcome measurement implementation in Victoria, which commenced
in mid-2000.
Consumer Consultation
The first is the full report of the DHS-funded project canvassing Consumer
Perspectives on Future Directions for Outcome Self-Assessment. The consultation
process was held in 2000; the report was published in 2001.
Consumer Perspectives on Future
Directions for Outcome Self-Assessment - Report of the Consumer Consultation
Project. March 2001 (PDF file 1.3MB)
In 2002-2003, Victoria received funding from the Australian Government
under the Information Development Plan (IDP) to support a number
of projects relating to the introduction of clinical outcome measurement
and the development of service demand and quality indicators.
One of these projects related to the Consumer Self-Rating of Health Outcomes.
The Mental Health Branch of the Victorian Department of Human Services
called for tenders to undertake a range of tasks relating to the self-rating
of health outcomes by consumers of mental health services and appointed
Siggins Miller Consultants in August 2002 to undertake this project.
The consultants' final report on Consumer self-rated outcome measures
in mental health was received and endorsed by the Mental Health Branch
of the Victorian Department of Human Services in October 2003.
While the report was funded by the Australian Government, the views
expressed in the report are not those of the Australian Government. The
report is being made available on this website with the permission of
the Australian Government because it contains a number of valuable resource
materials that will contribute to the ongoing development of approaches
to consumer self-rated measures.
Siggins Miller Consultants: final report on Consumer
self-rated outcome measures in mental health (PDF file1.15MB)
Mental Health Standing Committee reporting structure
(PDF file 303KB)
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Implementation
The consultants implementing the outcome measurement pilot in Victoria in 1999-2000 compiled a final report of the Victorian Health Outcomes Project.
The Victorian Mental Health Outcome Measurement Strategy: Final report on the Implementation of Outcome Measurement in Adult Area Mental Health Services (PDF file 679KB)
In January 2003 Associate Professor Tom Trauer finalised an Analysis of Outcome Measurement Data from the Four Victorian 'Round One' Agencies (PDF file 30KB). DHS Mental Health Branch commissioned the report.
The MHS 2006, "THE USE OF OUTCOME MEASURES IN CLINICAL MEETINGS: REPORT FROM A QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT", Glenda Pedwell, Tom Trauer, and Lisa Gill VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA (submitted for publication)
ABSTRACT
Routine outcome measurement (ROM) has now been introduced into all Australian public mental health services, but experience suggests that many clinical staff lack expertise in using them. There is a need to assist staff to make the measures useful at the clinical level.
In 2005, under the title of Quality Through Outcomes Network (QUATRO), the Victorian Department of Human Services set up three teams aimed at consolidating the use ROM and furthering sustainability through a variety of peer support activities. We report an initiative undertaken by the North East team in early 2006. Following a call for expressions of interest, four adult community teams (three metropolitan and one rural) were recruited.
QUATRO team members attended team meetings fortnightly over approximately three months, contributing to the discussion of consumers identified for review, using local and national OM data and tools, and their own expertise.
Qualitative findings consist of observations of factors that assist and hinder use of ROM. In addition, attitudes of clinicians toward ROM were assessed at the beginning and end of the period, and were compared to evaluate the impact of the intervention. The initiative identifies steps that staff can take to make ROM more useful in their work.
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