Huon Valley Region

What is happening in the Huon Valley Health and Wellbeing Network (HWN) so far?

23 kitchen table conversations with 25 hosts trained.
128 community members took part.

Huon Valley Voice for Health – community group consisting of 10 local members established to coordinate placed based initiatives and investment in local health priorities.

Mental health and prevention and the provision of outreach services were the core priorities identified by the community.

Improve Access to Primary Care including after-hours services

Led by Primary Health Tasmania, explore alternative models of care and education opportunities to improve access and continuity of care – involves Tasmanian Health Services, Huon Valley Council, community and service providers. Includes examining enhancing the role of Clinical Nurses, Pharmacists and other relevant clinicians to reduce the reliance on GPs.

Palliative Care

A host from an aged care residential facility identified a gap in community services with regards to palliative care through their Kitchen table discussion. They then secured a grant to undertake community and service provider consultation and networking and education sessions around palliative care services. They created a space for consumers to be part of the palliative care networking to ensure the consumer voice is heard.

Community Workshop

A co-design workshop, held on 21 March 2023 in Huonville with 45 participants attending, 64.5% being community members. Aboriginal people were strongly represented and participation of younger men in the late 20s to 30’s age group was significant.

Mobile Health Hub

Partnering with Geeveston Community Centre and the Dover and South Action Group, who secured funding from Bendigo Bank to purchase a mobile health hub and Community Connector position for the Huon and the far south. HVH will add additional funds to expand the reach of the Hub. The Hub will allocate a specific time during the week across a number of locations to provide low level health care support, including community services.

Mutli Generational Art Project that celebrates Community.

As part of the Mobile HUB & Connector Project, HVVH are running a Multi-Generational Art Project to create awareness and ‘buy-in’ to the HUB. Geeveston Primary, Sacred Heart and Dover District Schools will participate in a facilitated art session to produce artwork that explores the theme ‘I love my community. Residents of the Dover Huon Regional Care facility will then vote for their favourite piece, and the chosen artwork/s will become the image that is used to decorate the Mobile HUB.

Rev It Up Program:

The Huon Valley Voice for Health contributed funds to the Rev It Up program, a One Day Health Promotion Event for all Grade 6 Students in the region. It brought health and wellbeing service providers together who each provided ‘workshops’ for the children to participate in. This was a collaborative effort by the Huon Valley Council, the PCYC, The Lions Club, all primary schools and local Social Workers (employed by the THS).

Huon Valley Food Hub

Worked closely with the Huon Valley Food HUB throughout its Co-Design processes and into its new phase as an ongoing entity to deliver locally grown produce boxes to vulnerable community members in a ‘Food Prescription’ Trial.

Exploring Transport Solutions

The Huon Voice for Health will explore options to overcome barriers for transport to and from health care services.

Linking Services with Community

Provide Clinicians who have been involved with the project an introduction to PHT so they can be involved in the Clinically Led work that is taking place.

Tasmanian Health Senate

Supported two community members to become part of the Tasmanian Health Senate and represent the needs of the Huon Valley Community.

Ongoing Community Engagement

Continued to hear the voice of people with disability through connecting with Maxima NDIS support services and providing opportunities for input in a safe and inclusive environment.

Capacity Building Working Group

‘Formed ‘Capacity Building through Training Working group’ that will deliver WoW (Wheel of Wellbeing) facilitator training to 24 community leaders. The working group will also explore other training opportunities within the health and wellbeing space. Huon Valley Council will co-fund the WoW training.

‘The Right Place’ Program

Working collaboratively with the Huon Valley Council to promote and support the ‘The Right Place’ Program, as a means of building community capacity to access services.

CEW’s have successfully become ‘The Right Place’ training facilitators. CEW’s are coordinating with Huon Valley Council to deliver training to new members. As opportunities to adapt/expand the program are raised, they are brought forward to the Connected Communities Working Group so that strategies can be developed to roll out these improvements/complimentary initiatives.

Huon Valley Service Provider Network membership

Secured places for community members of the Huon Valley Voice for Health on the Huon Valley Council coordinated Service Provider network. This is the first time a consumer led group has been included in the Huon Valley Service Provider Network.

The SPN has expanded to have a dedicated Youth focused Mental Health network meeting. HVVH attended the first session.

Community Engagement in Dover-Geeveston

At the request of Primary Health Tasmania (PHT) and the Tasmanian Health Service (THS), an additional 4 kitchen table conversations and 2 worker led community consultation sessions in the southern Huon Valley (Geeveston and Dover) occurred focusing on exploring primary health care access issues. This resulted in a further 62 people being engaged. A second workshop, facilitated by PHT, and supported by HCT, the Huon Valley Council and the THS (South), was held on 28 February 2023 in Port Huon. The workshop was attended by 48 attendees (22 providers, 19 consumers and 7 council representatives and councillors).

Promotion of Service Providers

Launch events for the HVVH Action Plan have been held in Cygnet, Huonville, Geeveston and Dover. HVVH have used these events to highlight services such as, The Right Place Program, The Age Well Program, Maxima Disability Employment and NDIS Services, wayraparattee, RAW, The Men’s Table, Geeveston & Dover Medical Centres GeCo, CTST and Area Connect community transport services, Tas Fire Service.
26TEN, Total Eye Care, Bendigo Bank, and Dover and South Action Group (DASAG).

Connected Communities Working Group

The Connected Communities Working Group which has undertaken an exercise to map formal and informal HUBs and Connectors, while considering most effective ways of utilising existing networks and social capital to foster a culture of information sharing & caring for our neighbours.

The group are undertaking research around community resilience project’s that have been designed with natural disasters in mind but could be utilised to promote connection that would improve health & wellbeing outcomes for all.

Food Working Group

Formed a ‘Food Working Group’ that will work closely alongside the Huon Valley Food HUB and the Heartlands Food in Schools Project. The aims of the group are to support food growing and education initiatives that are sustainable & accessible to all community members. Workshops and programs that teach veggie growing and processing, composting, seed saving and social connection.

Get Active working Group

Has been formed and is engaging in various options to bring affordable and easily accessible opportunities for the community to move more.
Ideas that have been discussed are ‘Come and Try’ days, using the PCYC and space at the Port Huon Sports centre. Another option floated has been to support either free or very subsidised classes once per week for several weeks.

Transport Working Group

HVVH have formed a Transport Working Group that includes key stakeholders and will work closely with CTST and Universities to develop a proposal for a sustainable and cost-effective transport option for vulnerable community members who do not fit the current criteria for community transport services.

HVVH are also participating in a CTST led Working Group that will develop a transport option for community service providers.

These two projects will compliment each other to fill gaps and will be ‘cross-promoted’ to ensure no duplication.