HealthPathways Autism Initiative

This project will assist in the health management of children, adolescents and adults on the spectrum.

Specifically the project objectives are:

• To assess the barriers and enablers to the provision of health care to children, adolescents and adults on the spectrum
• To develop and implement evidence based clinical care pathways for children, adolescents and adults on the spectrum (Autism Pathways)
• Evaluate patient and health professional satisfaction with the Autism Pathways.

Overall HealthPathways aims to achieve the following objectives:

• To establish stronger networks of service providers (to deliver appropriate care to people on the autism spectrum across the life span)
• To promote systems to support coordination of care (for people on spectrum across the life span)
• To unify regional healthcare providers (to facilitate enhanced primary care services to people on the spectrum across the life span)
• To collaborate and participate in other quality improvement initiatives (facilitate the measurement of primary care for people on the spectrum)
• Ensuring efficient and equitable, high quality evidenced based health care in a timely manner (within primary care for people on the spectrum)
• To ensure patients consistently receive the right care by the right person at the right time (focusing on people on the spectrum)
• To increase patient satisfaction of healthcare and their journey through the health system (focusing on people on the spectrum)
• To improve patient access to appropriate services and information (focusing on people on the spectrum)
• To ensure skills and expertise of all health care providers of the region will be fully utilised and supported through the HealthPathways Program (in particular for people on the spectrum)
• To increase support for primary health practitioners to utilise their skills and knowledge to maximum benefit for the patients (in particular for people on the spectrum)
• To make more efficient use of local health resources (in particular for people on the spectrum)
• To reduce the demand on acute services.

The Autism HealthPathways Initiative was launched in Mackay on 31 August, 2019. The new platform for health professionals is now available, creating the first steps towards a health pathway specifically for people on the autism spectrum. The platform facilitates access to up-to-date and evidence-based information to aid clinical decision-making around the health and wellbeing of people on the autism spectrum. 

Autism HealthPathways are now available for adoption and adaptation in 43 health regions, caring for more than 28 million people across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. To find out more about adapting or adopting Autism HealthPathways for your region, contact your local HealthPathways team directly via the HealthPathways Community website.