Childhood Heart Disease - A partnership model of integrated care

HeartKids is a national charity supporting infants, children, young people and adults living with or impacted by congenital / childhood heart disease. For over 20 years HeartKids has worked in partnership with Lady Cilento Children's Hospital to deliver services and support to families. HeartKids supports families in hosptial and in the commuity with a suite of support programs lead by both health profesisonals and volunteers.  Critical to our model of care is a partnership with Lady Cilento Children's Hospital which includes providing staff, resources and funding to families at the point of diagnosis and short and long term hosptial stays and bereavement support to families experiencing grief and loss. This presentation will describe the nature of the partnership, the collaborative arrangements in place between a non government agency and The Children's Health Service.   The presentation will discuss from a famlies perspective the outcomes of the partnership including the impact and improvements on the health and well being of families during and post hospitalisation. The presentation will discuss the types of services used to engage families in particular the value of a case management approach delivered by HeartKids in collaboration with LCCH and the associated outcomes of each including parental confidence, reduced stress and anxiety.  The presentation will also discuss the financial impact on families particularly regional and remote families and how HeartKids addresses this issue. The nature of the partnership will also be discussed including how communication flows between HeartKids and LCCH and how the two organisations' staff work collaboratively together.  The challenges of working with families under stress will also be discussed and how HeartKids and LCCH social work team collaborate to reduce the impact of such.