The team at Western District Health Service (WDHS) participated in the Consensus-Mapping and Co-design Workshops to develop a systems map of the factors that influence the uptake of services delivered at home for older adults in the WDHS catchment. A prioritised action that was identified as the most feasible and fitting was to co-design a new Community Outreach Model of Care. This builds on the learnings from WDHS’s Healthy Leg Club model and is guided by strong engagement with community members, service users, clinicians, and partners.
Our shared goal is clear: to bring healthcare closer to older adults in rural areas, enhance access, strengthen social connection, improve health outcomes, and support the growing use of virtual and digital health tools.
Co-design Approach: We are using a consumer-centred co-design method, combining the Agency for Clinical Innovation Redesign Framework with the British Design Council’s Double Diamond approach. This structured and collaborative process guides our seven key stages – from reviewing and recruiting, through facilitating ideas and testing solutions, to evaluating sustainability – to ensure the resulting model is practical, effective, and sustainable.
Evidence and Insights So Far
The following steps have been completed:
Step 1 – Reviewing the Evidence: A Rapid Evidence Summary prepared by DELIVER Research Translation Coordinators Michele Conlin and Emma West provided early insights into mobile health services nationally and internationally. This evidence helped shape the project’s early direction and highlighted common enablers of success, limitations, and lessons we can translate and apply locally.
Step 2 – Understanding Our Communities: We completed detailed mapping of postcodes across the Southern Grampians and neighbouring shires. We examined:
- Australian Bureau of Statistics health data on long-term conditions
- WDHS service utilisation data
- Comparisons with Victorian benchmarks
This foundation enabled us to develop unique Community Health Profiles for each region, reflecting real local needs and service use patterns.
Just as importantly, we heard directly from community members. Two of our WDHS Consumer Advisors completed training with Deakin’s Health Consumer Centre (now Health Voices Victoria), in the Kitchen Table Conversation method and then visited local communities to capture lived experience, stories, and priorities. This qualitative insight – paired with data analysis – has helped to identify gaps, understand what matters most to older adults living in those communities, and set clear priorities for service design.
Steps Ahead
The following steps will continue in 2026:
Step 3 – Recruit Co-design Workgroup: We have identified and commenced recruitment of the key people who will join our co-design group and shape the final model.
Step 4 & 5 – Generating and Developing Solutions: Once the group is assembled, members will work through the Double Diamond process— to Discover & Define the challenge and Develop & Deliver outcomes — supporting the selection and design of the most effective solutions. Together, every voice and perspective will contribute to shaping the service.
Step 6 – Pilot and Implementation: We will then take our co-designed Mobile Community Health Service into real-world settings to pilot and test feasibility.
Step 7 – Evaluation and Sustainability: Robust evaluation is essential. With guidance from Professor Suzanne Robinson and Mary Malakellis, we are building a comprehensive evaluation framework that includes:
- Costs and economic value
- Social return on investment
- Outcomes for patients, staff, and community
- A living logic model that will evolve with the project
Our aim is not just to launch a service – but to build a model that is scalable, sustainable, and meaningful for our rural communities.
What’s Next? The project is moving from foundational research into active co-design and solution development. We look forward to sharing updates as the workgroup progresses and as we move closer to piloting our Mobile Community Health Service across our region.