A first of its kind forum was held at the University of Wollongong’s Bega campus on Thursday, March 8 to bring the inquisitive minds of the Southern NSW medical world together.
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The Local Research Local Impact Bega health research forum was the idea of medical researcher Sharon James, who organised the event to build a stronger network between researchers as they carry out what can often be very isolating work.
Representatives from the Health Education and Training Institute of NSW, Southern NSW Local Health District and The University of Wollongong came together to discuss research possibilities and discover what has already been achieved at a local level in Bega and nearby regions.
Medical professionals shared their findings with the audience and technology was a recurring theme throughout the presentations, including medical consultations through tele-health in rural emergency departments, the effects of localising mental health telephone triage services and providing trans-cultural experiences to student nurses through blogging.
Other presentations spanned the topics of hospital volunteers and dementia patient relationships, patients’ perspectives on perioperative care, the causes of unplanned re-admissions to hospital and communicating lifestyle risks through registered nurses.
The South East NSW Primary Health Network Coordinare spoke about their partnership with nine medical practices across the Bega Valley since 2015 to collect and analyse local health data.
They said this has filled information gaps in the medical understanding of the region and allow the PHN to address the health needs of the whole community, not just individual patients.
At the conclusion of the forum, a panel discussion was held. Associate professor David Garne said that while funding can be a barrier to rural medical research, it should still be embraced because local developments, if successful, are often adopted to other regions.