Improving the quality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care (PHC) sector has embraced continuous quality improvement (CQI) as a way of improving the overall quality of care delivered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, in order to improve health outcomes. This evidence brief presents an overview of findings from local and international research about barriers, enablers and strategies for using CQI to make improvements in PHC quality. Local research has reflected the diversity and complexity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander PHC delivery – geographic diversity, remote-ruralurban health care settings and community-controlled, government, non-government or private providers. Data have been gathered in settings in which political, cultural, social, educational, technological, emotional and ideological factors interact in complex ways. Despite this diversity and complexity, there are some common messages from the research findings, which are supported by international literature about CQI.