Outreach as Preferred Practice in Supporting Rural and Remote Communities
Tracks
Room - Stanley A
| Thursday, November 9, 2023 |
| 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM |
Overview
Jacki Eckert and Jarryd Williams, Gateway Health
Speaker
Jacki Eckert
Executive Director of Population Health
Gateway Health
Outreach as Preferred Practice in Supporting Rural and Remote Communities
Abstract
North East Victoria, like many regions in Australia, has been hit with multiple disasters in recent times. Across the last 48-months alone, the region has endured drought, bushfires, floods, an earthquake, a hurricane, pest infestations, extreme weather events, landslips, and COVID lockdowns. Each has had an impact on the mental health and well-being of the regions’ residents, and highlighted the general health inequities that exist in rural Australia.
During the Black Summer bushfires, Gateway Health was asked to stand up a team of 12 trauma-informed specialists to provide recovery support to rural and remote communities. To achieve that, the team was established as a mobile work force that would outreach into impacted areas.
In their work, a number of issues were highlighted:
- rural and remote communities were often unaware of the services available
- perceived and real power imbalances between services and consumers
- health inequities in every community
- the tyranny of distance
- stigma associated with accessing services.
People who live in rural and remote areas are often described as ‘tough’ individuals, who manage to 'get by' - but only because they don't often have a choice. This assumption of resilience can add to the stress of recovery and reduce help-seeking behaviours.
Outreach as preferred practice can address this. It shifts choice and control to the consumer rather than the service provider, shows respect, removes barriers, gives the help-seeker more time in their lives, and removes the potential stigma of presenting at a service.
Outreach is more expensive to deliver, due to staff time, travel, and overheads.
Encouraging funders to shift their funding paradigm to enable outreach as preferred practice will enhance overall well-being outcomes for rural and remote Australians, and will ensure equity of access as a reality, rather than a ‘difficult to achieve’ ideal.
During the Black Summer bushfires, Gateway Health was asked to stand up a team of 12 trauma-informed specialists to provide recovery support to rural and remote communities. To achieve that, the team was established as a mobile work force that would outreach into impacted areas.
In their work, a number of issues were highlighted:
- rural and remote communities were often unaware of the services available
- perceived and real power imbalances between services and consumers
- health inequities in every community
- the tyranny of distance
- stigma associated with accessing services.
People who live in rural and remote areas are often described as ‘tough’ individuals, who manage to 'get by' - but only because they don't often have a choice. This assumption of resilience can add to the stress of recovery and reduce help-seeking behaviours.
Outreach as preferred practice can address this. It shifts choice and control to the consumer rather than the service provider, shows respect, removes barriers, gives the help-seeker more time in their lives, and removes the potential stigma of presenting at a service.
Outreach is more expensive to deliver, due to staff time, travel, and overheads.
Encouraging funders to shift their funding paradigm to enable outreach as preferred practice will enhance overall well-being outcomes for rural and remote Australians, and will ensure equity of access as a reality, rather than a ‘difficult to achieve’ ideal.
Biography
Jacki has worked in the health sector for xx years as a nurse in the acute and primary health system and in management roles at the Department of Health and in several community health organisations. Jacki is passionate about the need for accessible primary healthcare, early intervention services and population health approaches to mitigate the mental and physical health impacts of climate change.
Working in partnership with individuals, communities and organisations, particularly those disproportionately affected by climate change and disaster, to ensure preparedness and trauma-informed recovery is a key area of focus in Jacki’s current role.
Jarryd Williams
Program Manager Community Recovery and Resilience
Gateway Health
Outreach as Preferred Practice in Supporting Rural and Remote Communities
Abstract
North East Victoria, like many regions in Australia, has been hit with multiple disasters in recent times. Across the last 48-months alone, the region has endured drought, bushfires, floods, an earthquake, a hurricane, pest infestations, extreme weather events, landslips, and COVID lockdowns. Each has had an impact on the mental health and well-being of the regions’ residents, and highlighted the general health inequities that exist in rural Australia.
During the Black Summer bushfires, Gateway Health was asked to stand up a team of 12 trauma-informed specialists to provide recovery support to rural and remote communities. To achieve that, the team was established as a mobile work force that would outreach into impacted areas.
In their work, a number of issues were highlighted:
- rural and remote communities were often unaware of the services available
- perceived and real power imbalances between services and consumers
- health inequities in every community
- the tyranny of distance
- stigma associated with accessing services.
People who live in rural and remote areas are often described as ‘tough’ individuals, who manage to 'get by' - but only because they don't often have a choice. This assumption of resilience can add to the stress of recovery and reduce help-seeking behaviours.
Outreach as preferred practice can address this. It shifts choice and control to the consumer rather than the service provider, shows respect, removes barriers, gives the help-seeker more time in their lives, and removes the potential stigma of presenting at a service.
Outreach is more expensive to deliver, due to staff time, travel, and overheads.
Encouraging funders to shift their funding paradigm to enable outreach as preferred practice will enhance overall well-being outcomes for rural and remote Australians, and will ensure equity of access as a reality, rather than a ‘difficult to achieve’ ideal.
During the Black Summer bushfires, Gateway Health was asked to stand up a team of 12 trauma-informed specialists to provide recovery support to rural and remote communities. To achieve that, the team was established as a mobile work force that would outreach into impacted areas.
In their work, a number of issues were highlighted:
- rural and remote communities were often unaware of the services available
- perceived and real power imbalances between services and consumers
- health inequities in every community
- the tyranny of distance
- stigma associated with accessing services.
People who live in rural and remote areas are often described as ‘tough’ individuals, who manage to 'get by' - but only because they don't often have a choice. This assumption of resilience can add to the stress of recovery and reduce help-seeking behaviours.
Outreach as preferred practice can address this. It shifts choice and control to the consumer rather than the service provider, shows respect, removes barriers, gives the help-seeker more time in their lives, and removes the potential stigma of presenting at a service.
Outreach is more expensive to deliver, due to staff time, travel, and overheads.
Encouraging funders to shift their funding paradigm to enable outreach as preferred practice will enhance overall well-being outcomes for rural and remote Australians, and will ensure equity of access as a reality, rather than a ‘difficult to achieve’ ideal.
Biography
Jarryd has worked in the community sector for 28-years specialising in Youth Work, stakeholder management, and working with gangs and violent offenders - with 19 of those years in senior leadership roles. For the last four years he’s led a multi-disciplinary team across four different but concurrent disaster recovery initiatives.
Jarryd has also provided policy and program design advice at the international level, including to governments and organisations in New Zealand, Indonesia, Canada, and the US.
Jarryd’s professional passions include disaster recovery, men’s issues, and ensuring accessible mental health supports are available to people living in rural and remote areas.
