Evaluation of WARATAH, a rural allied health outreach program for Murrumbidgee PHN
Status:
Completed February 2025
Client:
Background
People living in regional, rural and remote communities often experience inequities in service access and health outcomes. While allied health services in the primary care setting are a vital component of comprehensive and coordinated care, a range of funding and other system issues often limit the reach and effectiveness of these services, particularly in more rural areas.
We were engaged by Murrumbidgee PHN to evaluate the WARATAH (Wellness and Resilience Achieved Through Allied Health) program — a PHN-funded initiative that aimed to uplift the capacity of local alllied health services in the Murrumbidgee region of NSW to improve access to allied health services such as diabetes education, physiotherapy, dietetics and podiatry for people experiencing one or more factors impacting on their wellbeing. The program was delivered by Lead Contractor Marathon Health through subcontracted providers co-locating in local general practices as well as a ‘Health Linker’ function to support navigation and non-clinical support.
Murrumbidgee PHN engaged Beacon Strategies to undertake an external evaluation of the WARATAH Program as part of its commitment to refining and improving its commissioned services, by assessing the program’s outcomes and identifying learnings.
Approach
Our team used a mixed methods evaluation approach to consider the program’s design, implementation, effectiveness and sustainability. This incoprorated data and insight gained from analysis of program data (e.g. referrals, clients, activities), pre/post outcome measures of health-related functioning, feedback from providers and servic eusers, and a scan of contemporary health policies and evidence. We provided a comprehensive report back to Murrumbidgee PHN and the program’s provider to inform future service design and delivery.
Outcome
Our evaluation provided valuable insights for Murrumbidgee PHN in showing how the program was filling a considerable gap in access to allied health services for people living in rural and remote communities in the region, and supporting local general practices with referrals options that were otherwise not readily available. The findings also identified opportunities to continue to adopt holistic models of multidisciplinary care to support people’s wellbeing, and develop and support the region’s allied health workforce to ensure future sustainability of these critical services in future.
How this project links to our vision of ‘a more impactful social purpose sector’
This project supports our vision of a more impactful social purpose sector by contributing evidence for regional commissioning of allied health-led service models by PHNs that respond to inequity and service gaps in regional, rural and remote communities across Australia. It highlights opportunities for other PHNs to consider to strengthen service access and health workforce development in their own regions.
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