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Using Telementoring to Promote Engagement and Collaboration Amongst Health Service Providers in Northern Australia

Tracks
Trinity Room
Thursday, July 24, 2025
11:20 AM - 11:40 AM

Overview

Professor Anthony Smith, Centre For Online Health, The University of Queensland


Speaker

Agenda Item Image
Professor Anthony Smith
Director
Centre For Online Health, The University Of Queensland

Using Telementoring to Promote Engagement and Collaboration Amongst Health Service Providers in Northern Australia

Presentation Overview

The University of Queensland’s Centre for Online Health (UQ-COH) was commissioned by the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia (CRCNA) to provide telehealth support services across Northern Australia. One of the services offered by the UQ-COH is a telementoring program using the Project ECHO service model. The focus of these sessions was on telehealth skill development (Telehealth Skills ECHO) and supporting the awareness of and delivery of mental health services in far north Australia (Health-e-Minds ECHO. ECHO sessions have a duration of one hour, are delivered monthly, and cover a broad range of topics. In the first two years (2023-2024), 28 ECHO sessions have delivered, reaching over 700 participants overall. Based on accumulative ECHO survey feedback received in 2023 and 2024 (n=74 completed surveys), over 90% of respondents for each ECHO program have agreed or strongly agreed that the sessions helped them acquire new skills and knowledge related to telehealth and/or mental health services. Around 70% of participants in each ECHO program agreed that these sessions helped reduce professional isolation. This model serves as a useful method of engaging with health service providers and promoting collaboration in regional Australia.

Biography

Professor Anthony Smith is the Director of The University of Queensland’s Centre for Online Health (COH); Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern Denmark, in Odense, Denmark; and Editor in Chief for the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare. Professor Smith has more than 25 years of research experience, resulting in the planning, implementation and evaluation of a broad range of telehealth (virtual care) services around Australia. Specific research interests include the feasibility, effectiveness and sustainability of telehealth services in the public health system; genuine consumer engagement; and novel strategies to support our health workforce and telehealth adoption.
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