AUSTRALIAN-COMMUNITY-HEALTH-ASSOCIATION PRACTICE STANDARDS AND THEIR APPLICATION FOR PRIMARY HEALTH-CARE IN PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA

This paper describes the Australian Community Health Association Pract ice Standards (CHASP) and their application in the CHASP review proces s as a model that could be emulated to improve the quality of primary health care delivery in Papua New Guinea. The characteristics which co uld be beneficially emulated in Papua New Guinea are the comprehensive nature of the standards and their wide applicability, the balance con tained in their development and application between the inputs of tech nical expertise and local involvement, and the structured nature of th e CHASP review process itself. A model is proposed of how the CHASP st andards and review process could be fruitfully used in Papua New Guine a to improve the quality of rural health care delivery.