Working for the north
by Geraldine Hinter
UniSA has been awarded $397,000 in federal government funding to establish ongoing health and wellbeing programs run by UniSA students that will deliver real benefits to the northern Adelaide community.
The funding has been provided
under the federal government’s Sustainable Regions Program for the Northern
Adelaide Health and Wellbeing Project.
The project’s key aims are to improve and expand health services in the
Salisbury and Playford areas, increase university access and participation,
and provide role models for young people in northern Adelaide, according to
Mike Elliott (pictured), director of UniSA Northern Adelaide Partnerships.
“UniSA has already initiated several student placement programs in the north. These include programs being delivered by social work students and a new program by human movement students, involving children with delayed coordination development which, if not addressed, can lead to significant social and learning difficulties later on,” Elliott said.
“We envisage establishing ongoing programs right across the health professions, working with schools, local government, and a range of health and social agencies focusing on young families and children.
“Our programs will be quite diverse but the bottom line is that our students will be involved in delivering useful services to the community and they will be sustainable ongoing programs.”
What is important and unique in this project is that the placement of students will respond to needs identified within and by the northern suburbs community or service agencies, according to Associate Professor Sheila Scutter, project director and Dean, Teaching and Learning in the Division of Health Sciences.
“The project will allow for multidisciplinary teams of students – for example podiatry, occupational therapy and human movement – to work together with children to develop motor control skills,” Prof Scutter said.
“There are significant gaps in the provision of health services in northern Adelaide, with about half the rate of health workers per 100,000 residents, when compared with South Australia overall.
“We anticipate the program will improve the recruitment and retention of health professionals in the northern suburbs, where there are high levels of need and low levels of service.
“We believe it will also deliver improvements in community health through increased access to health and wellbeing services. We also hope that students in the northern area exposed to a range of services by University students working in their communities might consider university study in careers that they might not otherwise have contemplated.
Statistics show that the northern Adelaide region has very low rates of people studying for, or possessing university qualifications, when compared with the Australian average, which is more than four times higher,” Prof Scutter said.
The project will build on the recently developed Memorandum of
Understanding between UniSA and a range of northern Adelaide service
provider agencies aimed at developing programs in response to needs
identified in the community.