AHA was appointed by the Department of Health Victoria to develop a synthesis report of case studies produced by organisations that received funding under the Rural Workforce Innovation Grant Program.

The Program was developed to identify, explore and showcase innovations that improve the utility of the workforce while maintaining and improving quality of outcomes, efficiency and worker satisfaction. Specifically, the program aimed to identify solutions to existing and projected workforce challenges and to identify strategies that could effect positive change and support sustainable health services into the future.

A total of 13 workforce initiatives from the Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD), Mental Health Community Support Services (MHCSS) and Clinical Mental Health Services (CMH) sectors in Victoria were awarded grants under the Rural Workforce Innovation Grants Program to write up a case study of the innovations they developed and implemented.

AHA’s role in the development of this case study synthesis report involved:

• Supporting organisations to develop consistent, high quality case studies
• Analysing these case studies to identify innovative strategies and how they can be supported
• Synthesising this information into a report for the Department.

The case study synthesis report highlighted the achievements of the projects and the factors that were common to the success of these initiatives.  It also identified the implementation challenges associated with workforce change and how these challenges were addressed.

The final report is available on the Department’s website.