A cross-sectional study exploring equity of access to telehealth in culturally and linguistically diverse communities in a major health service.

Objectives The utilisation of telehealth among culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia remains unexplored. We aimed to describe telehealth (telephone and videoconference) utilisation within a major health service and identify sociodemographic factors that may contribute to limited telehealth access. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed using service activity data from four metropolitan hospitals in Queensland, Australia. Outpatient department data (January to December 2021) were examined. These data included patients (N = 153 427) of all ages who had an outpatient appointment within 10 speciality services (i.e. Hepatology, Gastroenterology, Immunology and Psychology) that were the most frequent videoconference users. This study measured telehealth utilisation across the four tertiary hospitals and its association with sociodemographic factors. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used. Multivariate regression models were adjusted by sex, socioeconomic level and language use. Results Overall, 39% of appointments were delivered through telehealth, with 65% of all reported telehealth services involving a telephone consultation. People who required interpreter services were 66% less likely to use telehealth services (OR adjusted 0.33, 95% CI 0.31-0.36, P P Conclusion There is a gap in Australian telehealth service use for people with culturally diverse backgrounds and limited English proficiency. This study highlights a critical need to determine how people from culturally diverse backgrounds would like to engage with digital care options such as telehealth and the necessary support to enable this.

Developing allied health professional support policy in Queensland: a case study.

INTRODUCTION: Evidence suggests that professional support for allied health professionals contributes to improved clinical practice, better client outcomes, enhanced workplace satisfaction, increased workplace morale and better clinical governance within organizations. Despite these benefits, the uptake of formal professional support is surprisingly low and implementation often ad hoc. Further, research investigating the development, evaluation and outcomes of implementing policy to establish such support is limited. CASE DESCRIPTION: Queensland Health has developed an organization-wide approach to supporting allied health professionals through a Professional Support Policy and guidelines. The processes of development, implementation and the evaluation framework of this State-wide Professional Support Policy are described. An evidence-based Professional Support Policy that is structured, collaborative and well evaluated will have benefits for allied health professions. However, policy introduction cannot occur in isolation. Current practice does not follow current evidence in the area of professional support implementation. This study describes a current practice baseline for participation prior to the mandating of such a policy. There is a need for improvements in participation rates, documentation and capacity building. CONCLUSIONS: A workforce policy with broad scope should increase the access to, and consistency of, professional support to allied health practitioners. Such policy should facilitate a higher quality clinical practice, better client outcomes, enhanced workplace satisfaction and morale. It may also maximize the recruitment and retention of allied health professionals. Mandating policy should see participation commensurate with that policy. A future step will be a Post Policy Implementation Review to determine the success and effectiveness of the Professional Support Framework within Queensland Health.