Keeping Consumers at the Heart - A Consumer Centred Approach to Health and Social care Policy Analysis in Australia

It is understood that as social determinants of health improve for consumers, so does their health. Australia has been working towards better systems of integrated care for over twenty years with efforts limited to local models and innovator sites. A system wide framework of health and social care integration has not been implemented despite our understanding of the importance of a joined-up system. Internationally, the concept has gained more momentum with reforms such as the UK adult social care reform "People at the Heart of Care" which aims to make integrated health and social care a reality for all adults in the UK. This abstract provides early learnings from a PhD research project in Policy analysis of health and social care in Australia and an international comparison of more mature systems. This will be achieved through a series of international case studies informed by interviews with international experts within each health care system. Including policy makers, managers, clinicians, and consumers and carers who use the system. It is important to remember that policy is designed to ultimately deliver services to the citizens of a particular community. A truly patient centred approach ensures that consumers and their voices are kept at the heart of the research. A series of vignettes will be developed as a part of the interview process that personify consumers who would benefit from a joined-up health and social care system. These will then be used as a tool to help the participants describe the typical consumer journey through each healthcare system to better understand whether policy directives translate into a more integrated system. By undertaking an international comparative analysis, lessons can be learnt from countries with more mature models. It is important to draw on the knowledge from other systems to help understand how future policy could look and enable policy reform at scale and pace. This presentation should appeal to a broad range of attendees including policy makers, clinicians, and consumers. The methodology used in the research may also appeal to other researchers trying to undertake similar work and keep a focus on consumers through the process. Consumers with experience in utilising health and social care services in Australia will have input into the development of realistic vignettes and will provide interview data on their own experiences of accessing and navigating the system in Australia adding valuable insight and richness to this study. It is important to keep consumers at the heart of the research as this work is about policy but is ultimately striving to improve the system for those who use it. This presentation will outline the development of vignettes as a novel method of undertaking interviews. This should appeal to an international audience as a comparison of international systems and potential for translation of the learnings internationally. This research will provide a roadmap for Australia with valuable lessons for other countries with poorly integrated systems, to consider better health and social care integration could look through policy reform and at scale and pace.