| Health-related
quality of life
|
Health
outcomes and health-related quality of life measurement Sydney NSW Australia
Making
better decisions in healthcare and human services
Rod
O’Connor & Associates or ROA is a Sydney-based consulting company
specialising in developing new and better healthcare
programs
and decision-making methods, and training and mentoring others in the
same.
Rod
O'Connor has been a
Technical adviser in
health service quality improvement to the World Bank, consultant
in Outcomes Research
and Situational Analysis for Policy for the WHO,
invited rapporteur on
Quality of Life Measurement for the UK Economic & Social Research
Council, and
invited referee for the U.K. National Co-ordinating Centre for
Research Capacity Development.
Rod has a PhD in cognitive science (Monash University) and training in
health economics (Monash University & University of Melbourne), health
outcomes measurement (Harvard School of Public Health), and modern
measurement methods (University of Illinois at Chicago).
Rod is also Conjoint
Associate Professor at the School of Public
Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales,
Sydney.
His book ‘Measuring Quality of
Life in Health’ was published by Elsevier/
Churchill Livingstone U.K. in 2004.
ROA's
focus is
improving healthcare and human service systems. We believe this proceeds from
clear objectives and a detailed understanding of the evidence followed
by a clear 'logic of action', good decision methods, error-reducing
system design,
accurate measures of process and outcome, and respectful interaction among staff and clients irrespective of position.
Cognitive
science plays a critical role in our work. We apply
the methods and insights of cognitive and behavioural science to
innovate and develop improved programs and decision
systems.
Workshops
are conducted by ROA, in areas
critical to healthcare improvement. These are provided both directly and in association with the
Australian College of Health Service Executives
(ACHSE).
Current workshops offer training in
patient-centred outcomes measurement, evaluation and planning of programs,
questionnaire design,
naturalistic decision methods, and system-orientated quality and safety improvement.
An advisory service
is
offered to project managers, researchers and quality professionals who
feel they might benefit from 'a second opinion' or some guidance
in improvement and/or development projects.
Please contact Rod O'Connor if you are interested in this possibility.
In
conclusion, over 80 projects in
healthcare development,
evaluation and planning have been completed by
ROA.
Agencies assisted and examples of projects include the World Health
Organisation (outcomes measurement; policy analysis), The World Bank (quality improvement of healthcare), GlaxoSmithKline
(strategic planning of clinical research),
Commonwealth of Australia (disability
assessment, mental health needs forecasting),
Malaysian Ministry of Health (acute hospital planning),
the Australian Bureau of Statistics
(assessing healthcare needs),
and Canteen (evaluation of psycho-social support needs for adolescents
with cancer).
Performance measures have been constructed in areas as diverse as disability assessment (the
Disability Support Pension for DSS Australia), Aboriginal health
infrastructure funding (for ATSIC and the Commonwealth of Australia),
medication compliance (GSK), and
home-carer burden (SA domicilary care)
ROA
have been active in Australia since 1988,
S.E.Asia 1991, East Asia 1998, South America 2000, the Pacific 2001,
and P.R.China 2006
Activity areas
Click 'Site Contents'
for details
Program Improvement
Cognitive Task Analysis
Team behaviour
Decision Systems
Evidence-based Medicine
Client-valued outcomes
Program Evaluation
Client QoL and Satisfaction
Health Psychometrics
Program Development
Program
planning
Needs analysis
Demand
forecasting
Mentoring
in project improvement
and development
Research
in socio-behavioural
factors
and decision making
Training
Outcomes
measurement
Program Evaluation, Planning
Naturalistic decision making
Questionnaire Design
Program Improvement
General
Policy development
Data base development
Model building
Experimental design
Data analysis
Contact Details
Sydney Australia
Tel: +61-2-9555 9916
roa@RodOConnorAssoc.com
Copyright ©
2003 Rod O'Connor &
Associates Pty Ltd.
All rights reserved.
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Measuring Quality of
Life
Social, Behavioural,
Environmental Research
Assessing Need, Demand
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