On Thursday 5 September 2024, we hosted our first Mount Druitt Health Care Neighbourhood networking event at Blacktown International Sports Park. The event successfully expanded the place-based approach which has been applied in the Cumberland region, aiming to provide greater connectivity between local health care providers.
On the night, over 70 health professionals, community members and local providers in the region joined us for an insightful night of learning and networking.
The Mount Druitt Need
The Mount Druitt region has a population of over 115,629 residents, with 5.6% of the population identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander1. Nealy half of the Mount Druitt population are aged between 0-29 years, with additional diversity highlighted by 12.2% of the region identifying as Filipino and 6.6% as Indian1.
Having recognised the need for greater connection in health care across a younger and more diverse population, the event was specifically designed to connect health care professionals and teams. The goal of this to create greater awareness of services available for patients and clients within the community. The demographic breakdown and identified health needs within the region lead to the focus of the evening centring on child and family health, chronic and complex health issues and social prescribing.
On the night, attendees enjoyed presentations from Jane Assange, Director Primary Care Transformation and Integration of WentWest – Western Sydney PHN, Dr Michael Crampton, Education and Engagement Clinical Lead, WentWest – Western Sydney PHN and Dr Keng-Seng Lim, President of the Mount Druitt Medical Practitioners Association. Thank you to all of the providers who attended including Healthicare, Sydney West Sports Medicine, New Edge Performance, Vital Home Health Services, Burbaga Burawa Western Sydney, Face Dementia, Healthily, Flourish and Live Life Get Active.
Next Steps
The evening was marked as a huge success towards achieving greater health outcomes for the Mount Druitt community with the intention to host regular networking opportunities moving into 2025. If you missed the event and would like to stay up-to-date with future events, please subscribe to our Training and Education newsletter.
References
[1] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021), Mount Druitt 2021 Census Community Profiles. Accessed by: 2021 Mount Druitt, Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)
Information is correct as of 12 September 2024.