Abstract

Author(s)

Dr Kate Jackson, A/Prof Rod McKay, John Stevens

Affiliations

NSW Ministry of Health, HETI

Introduction

The NSW Older People’s Mental Health (OPMH) Physical Health Practice Improvement Project is a positive step towards addressing the ‘implementation gap’ in providing effective physical health interventions for older people with mental illness across NSW. The project sought to improve poor physical health outcomes for older people with mental illness by fostering local practice improvements within OPMH services through a collaborative, statewide approach.

The project involved collaboration between the NSW Ministry of Health, 11 Local Health Districts (LHDs), two community-managed organizations (CMOs), and a university partner. It adopted a “start where you can” approach, building on existing statewide collaboration mechanisms without additional state funding. The methodology incorporated an adaptation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) implementation framework, supporting local project champions to develop and implement varied local projects.

Discussion

Eight distinct projects were successfully implemented across 11 LHDs and 1 CMO, focusing on empowering consumers, physical health screening, and physical activity. These projects, now largely embedded in practice, covered all three domains of the WHO implementation framework. Key enablers included the distributed leadership model and a flexible approach that proved resilient to challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic. Key challenges included the significant disruption caused by the pandemic and effectively streamlining academic collaboration with the LHD teams. A number of the projects have been published or are progressing to publication.

The project demonstrates a successful low-resource model for statewide practice improvement in a complex health system. The “start where you can” approach, combined with a distributed leadership structure and strong partnerships, was instrumental in overcoming implementation barriers and sustaining momentum. The findings have been widely shared and provide a valuable template for future statewide initiatives aimed at improving the physical health of people with mental illness, addressing the “implementation gap” and contributing to the collective impact goals of the Equally Well initiative.