Already active in Midland
St John of God Health Care was very pleased to be confirmed as
the operator of the new Midland Hospitals recently. The new
facility will deliver a 50 per cent increase in public hospital
beds when it opens in 2015 but it will not be the start of the
organisation’s work within the community.
Social Outreach and Advocacy Services have been reaching
out to people in the Midland area for a number of years and these
community-based services will be expanded before the hospital
opens.
Over the last year, more than 5,000 people across Australia have
benefitted from these free or low-cost services.
Midland and the wider area surrounding the City of Swan is just
one of many communities that benefit from our Social Outreach and
Advocacy Services, some of which are operated in partnership with
other organisations. Services already active in the Midland area
include:
DAWN (Drug and Alcohol Withdrawal Network) has
been helping people who want to reduce or stop their drug and/or
alcohol use in the Midland area for ten years. Staffed by clinical
nurse specialists, DAWN visits clients at home and supports them
through their withdrawal, working closely with GPs. Home visits
eliminate the stigma often associated with staying in a clinic to
undertake a withdrawal. Serving the whole Perth metropolitan area,
one of DAWN’s specialist nurse caregivers is based at Holyoake in
Midland, serving the surrounding area. DAWN
website.
Kira House helps young women who are victims of
domestic violence with accommodation and support. Operated by Rise
(formerly Hills Community Support Group), St John of God Health
Care funds an outreach worker to help empower young people to have
a safer, more independent future. The partnership supports girls
and young women when they are most vulnerable, suffering as a
result of unstable living arrangements. This partnership is
expected to support more than 120 young women over three
years. Rise website.
Horizon House Dianella builds on our
partnership with HCSG to provide a unique accommodation and support
service for pregnant young women who are homeless. The service,
managed by St John of God Subiaco Hospital, accommodates 16 to
22-year-olds from across metropolitan Perth during pregnancy and
then, after childbirth, in an adjacent house providing support to
find independent, stable long-term accommodation. This new service
expands our commitment to homeless young people through Horizon
House, which has been active in WA since 2003. More information.
Swan Early Years Project – partnering with
the Mental Health Commission, St John of God Health Care has
employed a project officer to identify and address the unmet needs
of pregnant women and parents with young children in the areas of
Ellenbrook, Bullsbrook, Altone and Midland. Once community needs
for people with antenatal and postnatal depression, anxiety and
parent-child attachment issues are fully understood, key
stakeholders in the Swan Region will assess possible solutions to
this gap in service provision. More
information.
Meeting community need
The ethos of Social Outreach and Advocacy is to work alongside
people in the community so they can better manage their own health
and wellbeing outcomes. There is also a distinct focus on ‘early
intervention’, which means we strive to provide services in the
early stages of a health issue with the aim of minimising the
problem before it becomes a chronic or long term condition.
As a not for profit health care provider two per cent of St John
of God Health Care’s revenues are dedicated to these social justice
initiatives. With construction of the new Midland Hospitals due to
start soon our services in the community will also start to grow
with the surrounding communities.
More information on Social Outreach and
Advocacy.
St John of God Midland
Hospitals website.