Newly-arrived communities face a huge task in adapting and adjusting to life in Australia. Refugees in particular receive a huge download of information in their first year after arrival.
The Multicultural Health & Support Service spends 6-12 months with a particular community, often in regional Victorian town centres.
We use an action research framework to discover each community's health needs, and a reference group to communicate these to local service providers and create (or strengthen) partnerships responding to them. We also run family health days and education sessions for community members about BBV/STI and training in community engagement and cultural competence for service providers.
The project is guided by insights from the ‘cultures of care' concept developed in 2001 by Dr Michael Hurley, which focuses on how communities develop and circulate self-care practices dealing with complex and chronic health and social needs.
For more information on this project, contact Daniel Reeders on (03) 9342 9713.