South West Academic Researchers Build Networks in Alice Springs

University Department of Rural Health South West (UDRH SW) academic staff Beth Armstrong, Abigail Lewis and Adam Johnson headed to Alice Springs last week to attend two important research events.

The first was an Australian Rural Health Education Network sponsored day-long symposium that brought together around 40 UDRH researchers from across Australia to discuss research initiatives from across the network and potential avenues for collaboration.  It was held at the Flinders University campus close to the centre of town.

As ARHEN Research Committee Chair, UDRH SW Director Professor Beth Armstrong introduced the day, followed by Professor Robyn Aitken, Director of Flinders University Rural and Remote Health who described how their research program has been successfully developed in Central Australia, in close collaboration with local communities. Speakers from the Central Australian Academic Health Science Network further elaborated upon the importance and strengths of local collaborations developing programs for impactful place-based research, with Aboriginal researcher providing a comprehensive presentation on culturally secure processes for undertaking community engagement. Panels of UDRH researchers discussed their research journeys, the need for ongoing capacity building within the network and successful collaborations already underway.

Abigail Lewis presenting

The second event was the 10^th Rural & Remote Health Scientific Symposium: Research from the Heart, hosted by the Australian Rural Health Alliance. Abigail Lewis presented results of a collaborative study “Adolescents with Intellectual Disability and Behaviours of Concern: Rural Allied Health Experiences” with ECU Speech Pathology Honours student Sophie Kinneen, University of Notre Dame researcher Dr Rachel Skoss and South West speech pathologist Stacey McAllister.

Adam Johnson remarked:

Highlights for me were learning about how a community paramedicine program is being used to address mental health issues for people falling through the gaps, and how behavioural activation is being used to boost the wellbeing of people in custody – especially as behavioural activation is also a technique being researched here in the South West.

Other symposium papers focused on rural and remote perspectives on clinically related topics (cancer, aged care services, improving equitable access to STI testing), educational issues (allied health services in schools, supervisory models for student placement education), First Nations-focused papers (health impact of powerful mums and strong families, energy insecurity and it impact on health and wellbeing), and research capacity building.

Beth Armstrong remarked that it was a fabulous and inspiring week!