General News
6 September, 2024
Innovative program offers beacon of hope for rural children's health
An innovative children's health program kicks goals in Victoria.
The statistics surrounding health outcomes for rural children make sobering reading.
Kids in the bush rank lower across a range of medical indices with isolation and the lack of access to appropriate services key issues.
However, one pilot project being run in Victoria's Wimmera-Mallee region is having success in addressing the inequities and streamlining access to essential services.
By Five is primarily funded by the Victorian state government and has been designed to help link children across five local government areas in Victoria's north-west with paediatric specialists.
This month marked the launch of By Five's "Years on End.... The Tyranny of Distance" documentary into its award-winning paediatric care project, which has given more than 400 children access to specialist, timely paediatric care in conjunction with local health professionals.
The name of the project refers to the need to have children see in a timely fashion in order to get best possible outcomes, and this has been a key success of the project.
By linking in specialists from the Royal Children's Hospital and local health practitioners and utilising a hybrid of telehealth and specialist visits to the region to consult with those on the ground the project has been able to create processes that have made meaningful change for children participating.
By Five chief executive Jo Martin said the solution was unique to the Wimmera-Mallee region, but some of its concepts were transferable.
"Every country town is different, so what works here will not necessarily be what works in other parts of the country, but there are definitely some key areas we think would be transferable as a blueprint for other rural and remote communities."
Nadia Coscini, paediatric consultant at the Royal Children's, who has been a part of the project, said utilising rural regions' famed community spirit was a key plank of the project's success.
"You feel like you are helping as part of a village, in Melbourne you can see the children and that is it, but with this you're working with someone who knows the child really well and there is that whole of community feel," Dr Coscini said.
Crucially, the paediatricians involved immersed themselves in the region to gain a better understanding of the best ways to provide care in a rural region with differences in preferred methods of service provision.
Paediatric Fellow Kate Monagle said she was inspired by the dedication of the local health care sector.
"Meeting some of the local professionals, it's infectious," Dr Monagle said.
"They really care for the community and the kids that they look after," she said.
Local GPs Franklin Butuyuyu, Warracknabeal and Felix Ritson, Horsham, both said the scheme had helped them treat complex paediatric problems.
"In rural Victoria you are faced with the tyranny of distance, Dr Butuyuyu said.
"This initiative has really helped me hone my diagnostic skills, my
understanding and management of children with complex behavioural issues and to support them in their growth and development," he said.
Dr Ritson said having access to experts in the field had assisted him greatly.
"Just knowing you have the RCH (Royal Children's Hospital) a call away and can chat to experts in every field means we have been able to do things that can really change lives," Dr Ritson said.
Parent participants in the project were also delighted with the outcomes, saying the model of having local maternal and child health nurses, allied
health practitioners, social care and education professionals along with general practitioners and the RCH experts helping them support their child had been transformational.
Wimmera pre-school field officer Peta Bond said the project was bringing long-overdue equality to the area.
"Being able to access this paediatric service ensures that our children are getting the care equal to every other child in the state - we deserve that and our families deserve that," Ms Bond said.
The initiative began following sobering data highlighting the levels of deprivation among children in the Wimmera-Mallee region.
Statistics show that when the project started in 2020 up to half of children in the region were arriving at school developmentally vulnerable, well above the state and national average of one in five.
The project has funding until June 2025.