The effectiveness and efficiency of primary care delivery is a constant focus of health care sustainability and reform. The purpose of this project is to provide systematic evidence on Community Health Centres (CHCs), a community-based primary care model thought to have good potential to improve the delivery of primary care, particularly for vulnerable or marginalized groups.
This project consists of three parts: Part 1 is a systematic review of peer-reviewed and grey literature to document various forms of delivery of community health care and the strenghts and weaknesses of key components of each approach.
Part 2 is an environmental scan of all CHCs in BC and selected Canadian CHCs, using structured telephone interviews with key informants at each CHC. In 2006, 24 organizations self-identified as CHCs in British Columbia. Part 3 consists of in-depth case studies of key CHCs identified by the environmental scan. We will select at least 10 cases that represent a range of key characteristics and also vary with respect to location (urban, rural, and remote areas as well as within and outside of BC). Data collection in this part primarily will consist of semi-structured, in person interviews with multiple key informants at each included CHC.
Analysis will consist of comparing and contrasting themes across key informant interviews and cases. We will also include best practices for funding, governance, care organization and delivery, and highlight issues needing consideration under any expansion of the CHC approach across the health care system.
