A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(September 2014) |
Formation | 1992 |
---|---|
Type | Not-for-profit organisation |
Headquarters | Deakin, Australian Capital Territory |
Key people | Dr Brian Bowring, Chair; Don Perlgut, CEO |
Website | www.rhef.com.au |
The Rural Health Education Foundation was an Australian provider of television-based health education for doctors, pharmacists, nurses and allied health professionals.
The Foundation provided independent distance education services to general practitioners and other health professionals working in rural and remote Australia. This can assist in reducing levels of professional isolation often experienced by doctors in rural and remote Australia. [1]
The Rural Health Education Foundation also provided community educational resources, paying particular attention to the health, medical and education needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.
The foundation closed in 2014. [2]
Founded in 1992, the Rural Health Education Foundation is a non-government, not-for-profit organisation that provides an education and information "lifeline to the bush", targeting Australia's rural and remote health professionals as well as the communities in which they serve.
The Rural Health Education Foundation has produced several hundred health-themed educational television programs covering a broad range of subjects including Aged Care, Obstetrics, Infection Control, Child and Adolescent Health, Continence, Mental Health, Oncology, Nursing, and health issues for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.
Foundation-produced programs are designed to address the unique education and information needs of medical practitioners, health workers and communities in rural and remote Australia.
The programs, which are all accredited by relevant professional organisations, feature presentations from medical and health professionals, usually including at least one rural health professional, who are leaders in their disciplines, and allow for input from the target audience on material presented.
The primary distribution mechanism for Foundation-produced programs is the Rural Health Satellite Network, an Australia-wide network of more than 660 satellite TV receiving sites. The Rural Health Education Foundation's satellite network is one of the largest dedicated networks of its kind in the world, reaching more than 90 per cent of Australia's rural doctors and other health professionals. [3]
Several programs produced by the Foundation have also been aired on Australia's SBS TV network, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s television service to the Asia Pacific region, and on National Indigenous Television, and shown at health-themed conferences around Australia. In June 2010 the Foundation's Outback Healers and Heroines program, about women GPs who are passionately committed to rural practice, had its world premiere on SBS TV. This was the first time a Foundation-produced program was broadcast on an external network before airing on the Foundation's own satellite network.
In addition, streamed versions (both full video and audio-only) of most Rural Health Education Foundation programs are freely available through the Foundation's website. New programs are sometimes presented as a live broadcast and web simulcast, enabling viewers to participate and ask questions during the program.
DVD versions of most programs are also available for purchase, and some are available for loan from selected Australian libraries. [4]
The primary audience for Rural Health Education Foundation programs is doctors, pharmacists, nurses, administrators and other health workers operating in rural and remote Australia. For these health professionals, Foundation programs provide an opportunity to undertake continuing professional education [5] and receive timely information emanating from national launches or events of national importance. The Foundation's educational programs reach more than 50,000 Australian health and medical professionals each year.
The secondary audience is the communities these health professionals serve – the patients and their families, carers and friends. For this stakeholder group, the Foundation's educational programs provide in-depth information about the specific condition they have, or have an interest in.
The Foundation pays particular attention to the health, medical and education needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Although the Foundation's services are primarily aimed at Australians, a substantial number of visitors to the Foundation's website come from outside Australia. [6]
The Rural Health Education Foundation receives funding from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. It also receives funding and support from corporations, other health-focused organisations, and philanthropic trusts and individuals.
The Foundation derives income from sales of its programs in the DVD format.
The Rural Health Education Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation governed by a nine-person board of directors, all of whom serve in a voluntary capacity. Day-to-day operations are managed by a chief executive officer and a team of full-time staff based in Deakin in the Australian Capital Territory, and Sydney in New South Wales.
Tom Calma was appointed Patron of the Foundation in May 2010, at a ceremony attended by the Governor General of Australia and the Federal Minister for Indigenous Health, Rural Health & Regional Services Delivery. Mr Calma is a former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner who has been involved in Indigenous affairs for 38 years.
The Foundation is an eligible tax deductible organisation (deductible gift recipient, or DGR).
The Rural Health Education Foundation is one of 29 member bodies of the National Rural Health Alliance, a national body which promotes good health and wellbeing in rural and remote Australia.
Three Foundation-produced programs have been winners or finalists at the "Freddies"—the International Health and Medical Media Awards.[ citation needed ]
The Foundation has produced educational television programs in the following categories:
The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) is an organisation founded in 1980 to expose Aboriginal music and culture to the rest of Australia. It started with 8KIN-FM, the first Aboriginal radio station in the country. Based in Alice Springs, the organisation is particularly focused on the involvement of the local Indigenous community in its production. CAAMA is involved in radio, television and recorded music.
Lowitja Lois O'Donoghue Smart, is an Aboriginal Australian retired public administrator. In 1990-1996 she was the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC). She is patron of the Lowitja Institute, a research institute for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing.
Reconciliation Australia is a non-government, not-for-profit foundation established in January 2001 to promote a continuing national focus for reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. It was established by the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, which was established to create a framework for furthering a government policy of reconciliation in Australia.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is the professional body for general practitioners (GPs) in Australia. The RACGP is responsible for maintaining standards for quality clinical practice, education and training, and research in Australian general practice. The RACGP represents over 40,000 members across metropolitan, urban, rural and remote Australia.
An outstation, homeland or homeland community is a very small, often remote, permanent community of Aboriginal Australian people connected by kinship, on land that often, but not always, has social, cultural or economic significance to them, as traditional land. The outstation movement or homeland movement refers to the voluntary relocation of Aboriginal people from towns to these locations.
The Department of Health and Aged Care (DHAC), formerly the Department of Health, is a department of the Australian Government responsible for health research, funding, promotion and regulation in Australia. Primary health care and aged care services are overseen by DHAC, while tertiary health services are administered by state and territory governments. The department is responsible for programs such as Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and agencies such as the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the National Health and Medical Research Council.
The Australian National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy (AEP) is a national policy adopted by the Government of Australia by each State and Territory government. The policy was first introduced in 1989 and is the foundation of education programs for all Indigenous Australians.
National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week NITV News Update, with programming including other news and current affairs programmes, sports coverage, entertainment for children and adults, films and documentaries covering a range of topics. Its primary audience is Indigenous Australians, but many non-Indigenous people tune in to learn more about the history of and issues affecting the country's First Nations peoples.
Dr. Sue Page AM is the past President of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia and current Board member of Future Health Leaders. Page is also on the board of the North Coast GP Training, and RACGP Rural. Until 2010 she was the inaugural Director of the North Coast Medical Education Collaboration, a venture linking the University of Sydney, the University of Western Sydney and the University of Wollongong which established year-long training for medical students in rural areas and later combined with the UCRH.
The National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA) is Australia's peak non-government organisation for rural and remote health.
The Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, formerly National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Clearinghouse, is an internet resource that collects, collates, interprets, and presents evidence-derived knowledge on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health in Australia.
Indigenous Australians are both convicted of crimes and imprisoned at a disproportionately higher rate in Australia, as well as being over-represented as victims of crime. As of September 2019, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners represented 28% of the total adult prisoner population, while accounting for 2% of the general adult population. Various explanations have been given for this over-representation, both historical and more recent. Federal and state governments and Indigenous groups have responded with various analyses, programs and measures.
The Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT) is a healthcare policy organisation that serves Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is an independent, not-for-profit group that is funded by Australia's federal government, the Northern Territory Government, charities and non-governmental organisations.
The Australian College of Optometry (ACO) is a not-for-profit organisation in Australia committed to improving the eye health and well-being of Australian communities. Established in 1940, the ACO delivers public health optometry, vision research and professional education.
Indigenous health in Australia examines health and wellbeing indicators of Indigenous Australians compared with the rest of the population. Statistics indicate that Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders are much less healthy than other Australians. Various government strategies have been put into place to try to remediate the problem; there has been some improvement in several areas, but statistics between Indigenous Australians and the rest of the Australian population still show unacceptable levels of difference.
Thomas Edwin Calma,, is an Aboriginal Australian human rights and social justice campaigner, and 2023 senior Australian of the Year. He is the sixth chancellor of the University of Canberra, a post held since January 2014, after two years as deputy chancellor. Calma is the second Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person to hold the position of chancellor of any Australian university.
The Closing the Gap framework is an Australian government strategy that aims to reduce disparity between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians on key health, education and economic opportunity targets. The strategy was launched in 2008 in response to the Close the Gap social justice movement, and revised in 2020 with additional targets and a refreshed strategy.
The Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM) is the peak national body that represents, advocates for and supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives in Australia. The organisation is located in Canberra, in the ACT.
Close the Gap (CTG) is a social justice campaign focused on Indigenous Australians' health, in which peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous health bodies, NGOs and human rights organisations work together to achieve health equality in Australia. The Campaign was launched in April 2007. National Close the Gap Day (NCTGD) has been held annually since 2009.
Patricia Lynette Dudgeon, usually known as Pat Dudgeon, is an Aboriginal Australian psychologist, Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and a research professor at the University of Western Australia's (UWA) School of Indigenous Studies. Her area of research includes Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing and suicide prevention. She is actively involved with the Aboriginal community, having an ongoing commitment to social justice for Indigenous people. Dudgeon has participated in numerous state and national committees, councils, task groups and community service activities in both a voluntary and professional capacity.