By Pam Kiriakidis
Mitchell Shire Council, schools, health, and local organisations brainstormed action ideas at Seymour Citizens Club earlier this month to address health concerns for children across the shire.
The RESPOND Workshop is a shared community response to healthy children, funded and co-led by National Health and Medical Research Council and Deakin University.
The Lower Hume Prevention Partnership, which comprises Nexus Primary Health, Alexandra District Health, Yea and District Memorial Hospital and Seymour Health, set up these workshops to plan a healthier future for children in Seymour and surrounding towns.
Nexus Primary Health and diversity team leader Cassi Stewart hosted the event to address the concerning data founded in 2019 and is expecting new monitored data this year to compare.
“That data was captured in 2019, showing that there was a really alarming level of children that were not meeting the dietary guidelines for fruit and vegetables, and also water intake,” she said.
“When we actually looked at those statistics back in 2019, we sent them to all of the local government areas to let them know what was happening, and originally did the response program over in Murrindindi Shire, we had a whole heap of actions that came out of that.”
Ms Stewart presented each group of attendees with different activities, including a systems map to identify where action had been progressed and was required.
“We wanted to highlight where there’s already action happening. So, we can either amplify it or we can say, ‘okay, well action is required elsewhere’, and we went through that activity again in worship three,” she said.
She said she was amazed by the turnout from other community groups, and how everyone actively engaged in the activities to work for the common good.
“All of the ideas that came up were all valid and definitely areas that we can focus on. So, it’s up to our community action group that we develop as a result of this workshop, how we prioritise and start working on the action,” Ms Stewart said.
Goulburn Valley Public Health unit planning and prevention manager Lee Coller was well-engaged in the action ideas activity where everyone had to form ideas to make a difference for healthier kids.
Ms Coller said the workshop was an opportunity for community groups to share their knowledge around, as she was able to inform others about the Get Active Victoria voucher for families.
“If there’s something really good happening in one area that you know we translate that knowledge, and already today I’ve shared a number of different programs that I know exist that people weren’t aware of or data that exists – as data can help drive change,”she said.
“That’s the beauty of having a whole lot of different people sitting around a table when you work on these issues.”
Rotary Club of Seymour secretary Kathy Mills also engaged in multiple activities, including the wall building exercise and prioritisation of ideas.
She said the activities at the workshop align with Rotary, as it is all to do with helping others.
“Rotary is service above self, that’s what Rotary is, and so the whole object of the game is that you get in there and do things that go and benefit the community and make it a better place,” she said.
The workshop concluded by people voting their favourite activity and signing up to the three themes – healthy eating in schools; healthy eating in the community; and physical activity – to continue to action ideas over the next few weeks.
“We are doing a separate recording of presentation, and we’ll be sending that out, along with a summary of the actions that were identified from the workshop,” Ms Stewart said.
“People will still have an opportunity to be able to submit their ideas as well and participate in action groups. We’ll be looking at hosting our first action group in the next two weeks where we can build that momentum.”
For more information or to get involved, contact Nexus Primary Health by emailing cassis@nexusprimaryhealth.org.au or call 1300 77 33 52.