Access to affordable and comprehensive primary health care is critical to maintaining and improving the health of individuals in a community.
Whilst appropriate care, good infrastructure and sufficient funding are crucial, these elements alone do not always lead to the provision of the best quality care.
Ongoing research and evaluation in the primary healthcare sector is necessary to improve the quality of healthcare, ensure care is of the highest standard possible, and provide a means of monitoring cost efficiency and social impact.
Sonder is committed to partnering with and supporting academic institutions and research bodies to drive high-quality, ethical research and evaluation that translates knowledge into improved services and better outcomes for the community we serve.
Our research and program evaluations help us to identify how best to respond to needs and issues in ways that enhance health outcomes for our community and improve clinical practice, and the systems that support good care.
By ensuring policies, practices and priorities are informed by trustworthy and robust evidence, we ensure clients have a positive experience when accessing community-based healthcare services.
Our research & evaluation initiatives
All research and evaluation initiatives at Sonder align with the organisation’s vision and strategic directions, as well as our research principles and research strategy.
Our research aims to contribute to evidence in:
- Preventing mental ill-health and mental illness.
- Improving the mental health and wellbeing of individuals living with mental illness, particularly those with complex needs.
- Improving the experience for individuals accessing our services.
- Increasing the uptake of primary healthcare among Aboriginal people and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
- Implementing innovative service delivery models.
Our Research and Evidence Translation Committee aims to drive and guide the conduct and realisation of high-quality research and evidence-based practices.
The Committee actively engages with staff interested in research and facilitates internal and external research partnerships.
The Committee also supports the compilation of reports using existing datasets to advocate for initiatives that align with the organisation’s strategic directions.
Whilst the Research Committee is not a fully constituted Human Ethics Committee, it plays an important role in the direction and oversight of research and evaluation activities at Sonder.
The Committee draws on the following in considering Sonder’s involvement in conducting research:
- Research and evaluation activities are conducted in a way that is safe, respectful and ethical, underpinned by notions of human rights.
- Alignment with current organisational priorities and strategic directions.
- Sonder has the required resources, systems, and structures to effectively facilitate the research and evaluation.
Meet our committee members
Research participation
We encourage the concept of co-design, co-production and participatory research in our research and evaluation works.
This approach maximises consumer and stakeholder involvement in the conceptualisation, design, planning, conduct and dissemination of research, resulting in outcomes that have relevance, value and credibility for consumers and stakeholders.
People who use our services can voluntarily participate in research and evaluation by completing surveys, interviews, focus groups, telephone surveys, face-to-face interviews or questionnaires.
Interested in partnering with Sonder?
If you are interested in undertaking a research project with Sonder, reach out to our Research & Evaluation Manager at evaluation@sonder.net.au
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