St. John of God Health Care Collaboration (Pilbara SWSBSC Evaluation)

Under the St. John of God Health Care Collaboration, Kulunga was engaged to evaluate the Strong Women, Strong Babies, Strong Culture (SWSBSC) program in four sites in the Pilbara. The SWSBSC program aims to increase infant birth weights and improve maternal weight status through earlier attendance for antenatal care.

This collaboration is sponsored by St John of God Health Care Inc. It is part of an ongoing relationship anticipated to run over a five year period.

 

Kulunga undertook all aspects of this evaluation including the development of the evaluation survey tool, conduct of a literature review, undertaking site visits and consultations and production of a report.

Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected and analysed to determine to what extent and how the SWSBSC program has impacted on the health status of pregnant Indigenous women and the ensuing impact of this on a number of neonatal
health outcomes. The evaluation also sought to investigate the antenatal, postnatal and child health care experiences of those women linked to the program.

 

The evaluation found that there is widespread support for the SWSBSC program and
that the continuity of care and commitment of staff involved in the delivery of the program is significant.

In evaluating system-level issues that impact on the program, a number of opportunities to improve the program and build the capacity of staff were found, including:

• Increased training for all staff on a range of topics including data collection and management, antenatal screening, targeted antenatal health promotion;

• Implementing consistent data collection and reporting requirements across the program;

• Increased communication and collaboration between the SWSBSC program staff across the Pilbara region and with other community health providers; and

• Increased resources.