Review of Training Unit in Subacute Care WA (TRACS WA)

The WA Department of Health requires a review of the effectiveness of the Training Unit in Subacute Care WA (TRACS WA).

TRACS WA was established in April 2012 as a recommendation of the WA Subacute Care Plan (2009-2013). The Service originally operated through WA Health block funding from the Commonwealth Government’s National Partnership Agreement for Subacute Care.

Subacute Care:

Is health care for people who are not severely ill but need; support to regain their ability to carry out activities of daily life after illness, help to manage new/changing health conditions and assistance to live as independently as possible. Services aim to improve the quality of life for patients who have a functional impairment by maximising their functional capacity and independence with the focus on helping patients through goal-orientated interventions and multidisciplinary management. They are delivered in a range of inpatient/outpatient settings including; inpatient hospital wards, day therapy units via geriatric and psycho-geriatric consultation and liaison services, rehabilitation in the home and community and home-based services.

TRACS WA role and operations:

Working in partnership with the Department of Health WA and the WA Primary Health Alliance, the service delivers enhanced training programs to subacute care staff in hospitals and health care providers throughout WA in the areas of:

• rehabilitation;
• geriatric evaluation and management;
• older adult mental health; and
• palliative care,

with the aim of improving the quality of subacute care service delivery across metro and country WA via targeted interprofessional education and training to clinicians and supporting communities of practice.

Training programs delivered by TRACS WA include; face-to-face seminars, workshops, videoconferencing, self-paced learning packages, e-learning, communities of practice and funding and support of skills exchange programs.