Page 1666 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 15 May 2019
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The thing is that outcomes reflect inputs. You get what you put in. It is apparent that we need to enhance what we are putting into this sector so that we can arrest these trends. To that end, I am moving today that the ACT government work with stakeholder groups and sector leaders to establish a framework for a collaborative community-based sexual health outreach model.
It is a bit of a mouthful; so let me explain. Outreach means exactly that: reaching out, going out to communities rather than relying on communities to approach the sector. This model provides further opportunities to build sexual health literacy and awareness and to increase rates of testing. It allows for a focus on communities, which includes at-risk individuals, priority populations and/or communities which might not otherwise be engaged. It allows for targeted approaches for some communities, such as ensuring that sexual health promotion and testing are culturally appropriate.
Outreach also helps find and refer people who may have been diagnosed but not be actively treating or managing their condition. It helps further conversations and awareness about sexual health more broadly, such as abortion access, health education, safety in relationships for women, children and men, or body image. I will be clear that this model would not be replacing what is already being done, but would be in addition to—complementing what already exists.
The data tells us that this is where we need to be improving our efforts. We know that this model is effective because it has been effective in the past. Back in 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2013 there was a collaborative stamp-out chlamydia project in the ACT. It demonstrated that extra health prevention and testing activity contributed to a stabilising of chlamydia infection notifications in the ACT, despite increased testing, and this was while the trend was increasing nationally.
There was ACT testing month in 2014 and 2015 when the Canberra Sexual Health Centre, SHFPACT, the AIDS Action Council, the Sex Worker Outreach Project, the Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy, Hepatitis ACT and the Capital Health Network came together to raise awareness about the importance of testing for BBVs and STIs, provided additional opportunities for testing through innovative outreach clinics, and focused on priority populations.
In 2015 a mobile van was used for promotion in clinical outreach, extending to places like brothels and beats. A significant amount of advertising was conducted. A significant number of new people were reached and tested. It was evaluated as a great success. Initiatives like these and others have demonstrated that the sector can enhance and amplify its impact through collaboration and that having a specialised focus is critical to meeting community needs, access and engagement, and the workforce development of others in the front-line.
However, these outreach initiatives were not ongoing. There is recognition across the sector that we need to be doing this sort of outreach all the time. That is exactly why I am proposing the establishment of a framework for an outreach model, in partnership with the ACT government sector and the NGO sector, so that this can result in the
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