Our vision for CRE-STRIDE is equitable health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through quality improvement (QI) and collaborative implementation research to strengthen primary health care (PHC) systems. Specific strategies towards achieving this vision include: i) Indigenous research leadership and recipricol mentorship and learning; ii) strengthening QI processes within PHC systems and enhancing community linkages (i.e. vertical integration); and iii) extending QI processes and collaborations across sectors to promote health and strengthen social and cultural determinants of wellbeing (i.e. horizontal integration).
CRE-STRIDE builds on an established partnership of researchers and service providers, working to improve the quality of health care services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In over two decades of collaborative research, we have built a diverse network that includes more than 360 individuals from 85 primary health care services and other institutions across NSW, QLD, NT, VIC, WA and SA. Over time, we have responded to the emergent needs of the health sector and the communities they serve; seeking to advance research and practice of quality improvement for health system strengthening that pursues the Alma Ata and recent Astana vision of comprehensive primary healthcare for Indigenous communities.
Our work has collectively identified research priorities to extend and embed QI knowledge into practice supported by policy. CRE-STRIDE will extend the application of QI to address broader health system issues (such as workforce), strengthen cross-sectoral action that addresses social and emotional wellbeing and health promotion and prevention and empower communities to guide health care improvements. CRE-STRIDE has four Research Programs that address each of these areas (Figure 1). Each Research Program pulls together projects and individuals from across Australia in a collaborative, participatory research model to advance systems research and approaches to QI.
For more information on CRE-STRIDE, please visit our website.
For more background to CRE-STRIDE, please check out this short video.