Working with government, NGOs and communities to empower local people to understand the drivers of disadvantage and to build their own local plans to improve health and prosperity.

THE PROGRAM

The Healthy Towns, Healthy Communities Program is an initiative of the Healthy Communities Foundation Australia that supports local, State and Federal government, and rural and disadvantaged communities, to co-design place-based solutions in collaboration with communities. The Program aims to support community members to build their own understanding of the things that are driving poor health and other community challenges, and to come up with their own plan to address them. The Program then supports communities to secure grants and financial support and build management and delivery capabilities to empower local people to drive community development in the future.

PLACE-BASED

We design our programs to reflect the different needs of different communities to ensure they are responsive and acceptable.

CO-DESIGNED

We work with people with lived experience of the challenges confronting a community to ensure plans are informed and impactful.

INTEGRATED

We work with the community to help them to acquire the resources, knowledge and skills to drive their own plan into the future.

EVIDENCE-BASED

We use the latest data, research and evidence, and partner with universities and research institutes to support community-led research to evaluate approaches and improve over time.

GALARIINBARAAY (COLLARENEBRI) COMMUNITY PLAN NEW SOUTH WALES

The Healthy Communities Foundation Australia commenced working with the Aboriginal community in Collarenebri in 2019 after an invitation to help the Murdi Paaki Community Working Party to develop a new Community Plan.

As one Elder put it: "We know what the problems are, and we know how to fix 'em. We just don't know how to write things in the way governments want things written".

What arose from this planning day was the need for a more holistic and coordinated approach to improving health and life outcomes for all members of the community - Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal.

The community is about to launch the Galariinbaraay (Collarenebri) Community Plan. Come back here to find out more in the next few weeks.

Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation

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HEALTH SERVICES IN ALICE SPRINGS NORTHERN TERRITORY

The Healthy Communities Foundation Australia was asked by the Northern Territory Primary Health Network and Rural Health Workforce Agency to work with the local medical service providers, the community and other stakeholders to explore future challenges in providing primary health services to Alice and surrounding communities, and to develop a series of proposals with the community about the future shape of health care in the Red Centre. The final plan proposed a strategy for addressing any decline in health care capacity through a collaborative primary health care facility.

Northern Territory Primary Health Network PHN

Rural Workforce Agency Northern Territory

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EYRE PENINSULA SOUTH AUSTRALIA

The Healthy Communities Foundation Australia was asked by the Northern Eyre Peninsula Health Alliance, an alliance of local government, local health network and primary health network, to work with their communities to co-design a networked model that would allow the communities to improve access to primary health care through a shared services network. The Foundation met with different communities and engaged stakeholders, and then worked on a grant application to secure funding to create a stronger primary health network to meet the needs of the Peninsula.

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DUNDEE BEACH COMMUNITY PROGRESS ASSOCIATION NORTHERN TERRITORY

The Healthy Communities Foundation Australia was asked by the Dundee Community Progress Association, with funding support from the Northern Territory Primary Health Network and Rural Health Workforce Agency, to work with the local community and stakeholders to co-design a solution to the lack of access to local primary health care services. The project involved a series of community consultations, including testing ideas of what was sustainable for a community like Dundee, over time. The final plan proposed a staged development model that would start with a virtual GP services supported by an on-site Nurse Practitioner that would allow service capacity to grow strategically as the population expanded over time.

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Want to talk to someone about the Healthy Towns Program. Send us your email and we will be in touch.