Approximately one in every 240 people in South Australia are experiencing homelessness. People experiencing homelessness in Adelaide exhibit a high prevalence of poor health outcomes, aligning with global trends reporting elevated rates of physical and mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and dental problems. They face heightened risks of chronic health conditions, infectious diseases, poor oral health, resulting in complex comorbidities and reduced life expectancy. For these people there are significant barriers to accessing health care.
The Needs Assessment intended to support the Adelaide PHN to assess need and identify opportunities and priorities to improve primary care access for people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness by undertaking a detailed and systematic assessment of the population’s health needs across the Adelaide PHN catchment areas.
The process considered a range of data and literature to present risk and health needs of the population. The Needs Assessment's comprehensive and broad stakeholder engagement enabled the needs assessment to identify challenges at a system-level and develop priorities and recommendations that had both high levels of stakeholder support, but also likely to result in sustainable improvements to health care services.
The Needs Assessment has identified geographic, population, health, and service need priorities to address specific service needs and improve primary health care access for people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. 14 opportunities to improve the health outcomes for this population were prioritised across three areas:
The opportunities were prioritised considering the impact and feasibility of the options in the context of the current market landscape. In combination, these opportunities represented a systemic approach to supporting improved health outcomes for this population.
Thanks so much for this report. Really appreciate the time and effort to present the information in a logical flow that helps the audience move through the content and the methodology in a seamless way. Have really appreciated your approach and expertise in this process! It was an absolute delight to work with you.
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