Universities as Partners in Primary Health Care Innovation

This is a real world case study I have written which has been published in Frontiers in Public Health August 2021 and available open source by clicking here. It is an example of Fresh Strategy and how collaboration can produce outcomes far in excess of individual contributions. The initiation of this case study was the dilemma of a resource constrained, primary health service Access Health and Community (AccessHC), with little tradition of innovation.  AccessHC sought to embed an innovation culture to support service development and improvement.  The task was set as a whole of organisation initiative applicable to all health and clinical disciplines within its services.  AccessHC reached out to Swinburne University of Technology (Swinburne) in Melbourne, Australia.   with a view to develop a sustainable innovation partnership which was of mutual benefit.  From the outset the case recognised that the drivers for the University to participate in the collaboration were not strong and the emphasis was on relationship development rather than a targeted research area.  The case describes the processes which led to the establishment of an ongoing relationship and some of the tangible outcomes for both parties in primary health care.  https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.713177/full