On 24 October, we proudly sponsored the first-ever Western Sydney EXPO (WEXPO). The event presented an opportunity for community members, providers and businesses to come together to showcase products and services, listen to inspirational speakers and participate in community forums.
Building Community Infrastructure
A highlight of WEXPO was the Building Community Infrastructure Community Leader’s Forum we ran with expert speakers and panellists coming together to present to community leaders who provided real-time feedback based on their observations in community. The forum explored community infrastructure issues impacting health in Western Sydney.
The panel, facilitated by Dr Jim Taggart OAM, consisted of:
- Ray Messom, CEO, WentWest
- Scott Walters, Senior Program Manager, WentWest
- Dr Michael Fasher, Clinical Director, WentWest
- Elfa Moraitakis, CEO, SydWest
- Daniel Angus, Deputy Commissioner, NSW Mental Health Commission
- Nathan Burbridge, Executive Manager – Service Delivery, SydWest
All speakers stressed the importance of building programs co-designed by community and delivered through collaborative partnerships. “We believe in community-led change and reform. Today is all about finding out what works, what we can do and how we move forward together”, commented Ray Messom, WentWest CEO.
Dr Michael Fasher, Clinical Director at WentWest, explored the current state of child health in Western Sydney and the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on a child’s future outcomes.
“Our challenge is to make Western Sydney the best place for a child to grow up. Reducing adverse childhood experiences reliably predicts a simultaneous decrease in future mental health and chronic conditions. At the heart of positive childhood experiences are safe, sustained, nurturing relationships. For children to have safe, sustained, nurturing relationships, their parents need safe, sustained, nurturing relationships too. For patients to have sustained, nurturing relationships, our service providers also need them.”
The Kids Early Years (KEYS) Network offers the opportunity to change childhood outcomes in our region by taking a multi-agency approach to provide health, educational and social support for families. The program, which targets vulnerable families with children aged five and under, helps families to navigate the care system and connect to regional co-commissioned services. Program outcome data and real-time needs assessments then help drive continuous quality improvement.
Scott Walters, Senior Program Manager for WentWest, unpacked the recent successes of Western Sydney’s new Urgent Care Service (UCS). By designing and delivering a ‘service by the community for the community’, more non-life-threatening hospital presentations can be treated in the community. There are currently four UCS centres operating in Western Sydney, providing episodic treatment of patients and a warm handover back to their normal care GP.
The SydWest team explored the diversity of Western Sydney and the elevated mental health risks for those from refugee or culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. The team discussed the importance of strengthening and expanding non-traditional, peer-led mental health services for CALD community members.
The forum concluded with community roundtable discussions. The collective feedback from the forum will be analysed to develop strategies that improve health care in our region.
Find out more about Urgent Care Services and the Kids Early Years Network in Western Sydney.
