Abstract
Early childhood is one of the most influential developmental life stages. Attainments at this stage will have implications for the quality of life children experience as they transition to adulthood. Children residing in remote Australia are exposed to socioeconomic disadvantage that can contribute to developmental delays and resultant poorer education and health outcomes. Complex contributing factors in far west New South Wales have resulted in children with speech and fine motor skill delays experiencing no to limited access to allied health services for a number of decades. More recently, growing awareness that no single policy, government agency, or program could effectively respond to these complexities or ensure appropriate allied health service access for children in these communities has led to the development of the Allied Health in Outback Schools Program, which has been operational since 2009. The program is underpinned by cross-sector partnerships and a shared aspirational aim to improve the developmental outcomes of children to enhance their later life opportunities. It was identified early that the initiative had the potential to deliver mutually beneficial outcomes for communities and participating partner organisations.Over the last five years the program has been the catalyst for partnership consolidation, expansion and diversification. The developmental evaluation approach to continuous program adaptation and refinement has provided valuable insights that have informed health and education policy and enabled the program to be responsive to changing community needs, emerging policy and funding reforms.This article explores the evolution of the program partnerships, their contribution to program success and longevity, and their capacity to respond to an emergent and dynamic environment. The authors propose that a community-centred and developmental approach to program innovation and implementation in remote locations is required. This is based on the premise that contemporary linear, logic-based policy development and funding allocations, with predetermined program deliverables and outcomes, are no longer capable of responding appropriately to the complexities experienced by remote communities.Keywords: allied health, remote communities, cross-sectoral partnerships, service learning
Highlights
Childhood is one of the most influential developmental life stages
Growing awareness that no single policy, government agency, or program could effectively respond to these complexities or ensure appropriate allied health service access for children in these communities led to the development of a new model and approach to providing essential health services that were aligned to community need
Children residing in remote New South Wales have been identified as being at greater risk of developmental vulnerability or delay in two or more of the domains of the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) on entry into the primary school system (NSW DEC 2013)
Summary
Childhood is one of the most influential developmental life stages. Attainments at this stage will have implications for the quality of life children experience as they transition to adulthood (COAG 2009; COSDH 2007; Maggi et al 2005). Children residing in remote New South Wales have been identified as being at greater risk of developmental vulnerability or delay in two or more of the domains of the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) on entry into the primary school system (NSW DEC 2013) Children and their families have experienced difficulty accessing allied health services for a number of decades, not least because of the vast distances they need to travel. THE MODEL: DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLUTION 2009–2014 The adopted approach saw cohorts of final-year speech pathology and occupational therapy students from The University of Sydney undertaking their clinical placement experiences in primary school settings in far west NSW across three school terms Prior to their placement, participating students took part in a discipline-specific, five-day comprehensive preparation for practice program on site in Broken Hill. Health service clinicians are extending their role by retaining case management for children who are jointly engaged with their
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