Shared Care for Allergy Bulletin August 2023 - Edition 5
Welcome to the 5th Edition of the Shared Care for Allergy Bulletin. We are excited to keep you informed about the latest developments with the Shared Care for Allergy project. Our goal is to improve access to care for people living with an allergy, especially for people who live in rural and remote Australia. Here are the latest updates.
Thank you for helping us to improve access to care
Thank you to everyone who attended one of the consultation sessions we held between May and August. We asked attendees about the challenges being faced in accessing allergy care, and for their ideas and solutions for improving things. Those who attended a session, made it clear that improving access to allergy services was important to them and the people they care for. In addition to the information sharing, the consultation sessions also helped to connect us with those who attended, and also connected those who attended with each other.
What we found out
We collected a lot of information and our project team has been working hard to pull it together so we can move forward with the project. These are the key themes that have emerged from the input we received at the sessions:
- Increasing knowledge about allergies and anaphylaxis among healthcare professionals, people with an allergy and their carers, and the community. Making sure that healthcare professionals recognise the signs and symptoms of allergy, and provide the correct emergency treatment, management and advice.
- Looking at how healthcare professionals working in the community can be supported to play a greater role in helping people with allergies. This includes working together, learning from each other and sharing information with each other.
- Supporting patients and referrers to understand the hospital appointment system. Having clear care pathways so that patients know what to expect and can get the help and support they need, sooner.
- Patients who are on a waiting list to see a clinical immunology/allergy specialist being helped by other healthcare professionals and support organisations while they wait.
- Thinking differently about how allergy services are set up, as well as different ways to deliver allergy care in rural and remote areas.
- Working on ways that patient health information is shared so that the patient and their healthcare providers stay informed. When there are lots of different healthcare professionals involved in a person’s allergy care, it is important that information about tests, treatment, management advice and education provided is shared with all their healthcare providers and the patient or carer as well.
- Making sure patients are not paying too much for their care and that patients and healthcare professionals get adequate rebates from the Medicare system.
- Using virtual care to provide allergy management and allergy education when the person is not able to be seen in person.
In the consultations we also heard from people about what was already working well, including local solutions to improving access. We look forward to learning more about those initiatives.
How we are progressing
Shared Care for Allergy Working Group
The Shared Care for Allergy Working Group met in person for the first time this month. We had a productive full-day meeting discussing the outcomes of the national consultations and the next steps of the project. We are lucky to have a group of passionate people with different backgrounds and experiences working together to contribute to this project’s success.
There are two smaller groups that have been set up to work on specific parts of the project:
- What education and training about allergy will look like in the future for healthcare professionals.
- What the best allergy care looks like (standards of care).
These working groups will start working on these parts of the project using information gathered in the engagement meetings, and in close consultation with education providers and peak professional bodies.
Future consultations
The National Allergy Council will be conducting meetings and consultations alongside the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) and Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia (A&AA) to continue to progress discussions to improve access to quality allergy care. Some consultations will be open like our recent consultations, while others will be targeted. Continue to check these bulletins to find out how we are progressing and how you can contribute to future consultations.
Updates from our partners
The National Allergy Council is continuing to work alongside ASCIA and A&AA to progress the many different parts of the Shared Care for Allergy project. The National Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE) is providing research support.
The ASCIA Annual Conference is being held from 5-8 September in Sydney. If you are attending the conference we hope you will attend the National Allergy Council sponsored session on Friday 8 September. In this session, the National Allergy Council, ASCIA and A&AA will be presenting an update on the Shared Care for Allergy project.
Education and training update from ASCIA
ASCIA’s involvement in the project includes mentorship, education and training of healthcare professionals to improve knowledge and experience in managing allergic disease. ASCIA is conducting surveys to find out how allergy/anaphylaxis training is being provided in university courses for healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses and allied health. They have surveyed graduates to find out what allergy training is included in undergraduate courses and how it is taught. The next survey will be directed towards universities.
Results from these surveys will be compiled into reports, and used to make recommendations about what allergy/anaphylaxis training should be included in courses and the best way to teach it. A report on feedback from ASCIA e-training courses for healthcare professionals has already been developed. More information is available on the ASCIA website: ASCIA Progress Report - NAC Shared Care for Allergy project.
Patient and carer support update from A&AA
A&AA’s role involves supporting and empowering individuals and their carers to understand their allergy care, make informed decisions and find the right healthcare professional. They provide support to the community through their trained health educators as well as offering virtual support groups and webinars. They will be developing resources and programs to help people from different cultural backgrounds and people with limited English, that will be informed by the consultations we have undertaken.
Research update from the NACE
The NACE are working on a Shared Care scoping review to look at what has been published on shared care in Australia and other countries. The review will be finalised by the end of 2023.
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