Primary health care and continuous quality improvement

An evidence-based guide

Alison Laycock, Ross Bailie, Lynette O'Donoghue

$80

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Sydney University Press
01 July 2025

Indigenous peoples; Public health & preventive medicine; Health systems & services

For most people, the main point of access to the health system is through primary health care (PHC). The fundamental premise of primary health care is that all people, everywhere, have the right to receive the appropriate care in their community. Primary health care attends to the majority of a person’s health needs throughout their lifetime, including physical, mental and social wellbeing. PHC is people-centred rather than disease-centred. It is a whole-of-society approach that includes health promotion, disease prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care.

Primary health care and continuous quality improvement: An evidence-based guide provides an accessible contemporary guide on implementing continuous quality improvement (CQI) in PHC settings. The authors draw together two decades of practical experience and established leadership in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health in Australia to provide guidance for health services and their staff, policymakers, researchers, funders and support organisations in an international context.

Primary health care and continuous quality improvement provides an in-depth understanding of how CQI can be used to strengthen health systems by:

identifying core concepts underpinning CQI in PHC and how CQI can improve health care quality, health equity and population health; explaining how CQI data is used in a comprehensive approach to PHC to measure quality, and how data is generated and used for improving care; describing CQI tools and techniques used by PHC teams; offering guidance in interpreting data and addressing variation in care quality; providing case studies in maternal health, children’s health, mental health and other areas, to describe the application of CQI to improve clinical care; guiding practitioners on how to collaborate and build data systems for CQI, and strengthen links between communities and PHC services.

Continuous quality improvement is everybody’s business, and Primary health care and continuous quality improvement explains the strategic use of CQI at different levels of the health system and across sectors to achieve and sustain large-scale health improvement.

By: Alison Laycock, Ross Bailie, Lynette O'Donoghue
Imprint: Sydney University Press
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 297mm, Width: 210mm,
ISBN: 9781743329269
ISBN 10: 1743329261
Pages: 422
Publication Date: 01 July 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Foreword About the authors Acknowledgements Use of terms How to use this book List of abbreviations Part I: Core concepts in primary health care and continuous quality improvement Chapter 1: Primary health care Chapter 2: Continuous quality improvement Chapter 3: Adapting continuous quality improvement for primary health care Part II: Continuous quality improvement data, tools and processes for primary health care Chapter 4: Evidence to guide and improve care Chapter 5: Practical tools for CQI in primary health care Chapter 6: Using CQI cycles, and understanding and presenting data Chapter 7: Facilitating CQI Chapter 8: Embedding a culture of CQI Part III: Using CQI to improve primary health care Chapter 9: The Audit and Best Practice for Chronic Disease CQI research program Chapter 10: Improving diabetes care Chapter 11: Improving preventive health care Chapter 12: Improving children’s health Chapter 13: Improving maternal health care Chapter 14: Developing an audit tool to improve youth health care Chapter 15: Improving mental health and wellbeing care Chapter 16: Improving cardiovascular health care Chapter 17: Improving care for acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease Chapter 18: Improving the quality of care for sexually transmissible infections Chapter 19: Improving eye health care Part IV: Strengthening systems for PHC equity Chapter 20: Multi-level systems approaches Chapter 21: Centralising respect, equity and justice in health research Chapter 22: Learning from two decades of CQI research in Indigenous PHC

Alison Laycock is a research fellow at the University Centre for Rural Health, University of Sydney. Alison has worked collaboratively with community, research and health service partners to develop quality improvement tools and training resources, and guides for health promotion practice and health research in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care settings. Ross Bailie is professor of rural health with the University of Sydney School of Public Health and the University Centre for Rural Health, based in Lismore, Northern NSW. Ross’s research has been centred on increasing availability of information for policy and service planning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and for rural and remote communities. Lynette O’Donoghue is a proud Yankunytjatjara and Warumungu-Warlpiri woman, and a research fellow at the University Centre for Rural Health, University of Sydney. She has contributed significantly to Indigenous leadership of the NHMRC-funded Centre for Research Excellence in Strengthening Systems for Indigenous Health Care Equity, advocating meaningful engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and services in the design, implementation and translation of research activities.