Community Participation
The In Our Hands Centre experience can be shared by any community that has the will to make it work. The Federal Government funded a project to prove that centres such as ours are sustainable in the long term, the end result is a booklet that explains the process of setting up and running a centre in a similar model to ours.
Download pdf version of Implementing a Community Based Chronic Disease Self-Management Support Centre Click here
Primary Health Care - how it fits in with our vision
This poster depicts the journey of people with any chronic condition or conditions. They drift in the river of their condition; there is limited help available in the acute sector, which is under more and more pressure with the governments pouring more and more money into it as demand increases.
Some fall out and some die, some fall back into the river, only to go back into the hospitals, so more and more money is needed. But some manage to get onto the road of self management, a difficult road as there is so much to learn and so many changes to make to their lifestyles. They set out on the road, but because there is so much money being poured into the acute sector there is very little money to spare for help along this road and so some wander back and fall back into the river – and back into the acute system! But those who struggle through and find the motivation, help, education, information, and above all the support they need in order to improve and prolong their lives, so spending less time in the hospitals. This saves the acute sector for those who need it, and releases some of the funding to be re-directed into encouraging others to take the self management pathways. The result of this is a happier, healthier population who are living longer and are less demanding on the health system. The poster was presented at the World Primary Health Conference, Melbourne 2004.
Our Poster Judged as the best!
Two of our volunteers in partnership with the Spencer Gulf Rural Health School have attended the three day Consumers Reforming Health Conference in Melbourne in July. The conference comprised of many oral presentations which showcased many examples of the work that consumers are doing in the health field working alongside health workers worldwide. Our abstract was accepted as a poster presentation and was on display with many others throughout the 3 days of the conference. During this time participants were asked to judge the posters and we are pleased to say ours was judged as the best - our poster demonstrates how a four way partnership has evolved into the successful community service it now is. To view our poster please click here (as a PDF)
