Community Engagement Strategy launch - update

Thanks for your contributions to our Community Engagement strategy. Below is a summary of the consultation process and outcomes.

What did we do and what did you say?

As part of the launch of out Community Engagement Strategy 2021-24, we hosted an eight-week engagement period that included a series of activities called ‘Community Chats’.

Community Chats encouraged the southern community to explore the future of their healthcare across SALHN and other community sites, as well as via online channels.

We invited the community to six Community Chats activities:

• One panel discussion (live-streamed and in-person)
• A workshop
• An information session
• Two listening posts, and our
• Annual Public Meeting (live-streamed and in-person).

SALHN partnered with the Caring Futures Institute, SA Ambulance Service and Onkaparinga Council to present and host some of the Community Chats during the series.

Some activities explored the future of healthcare with a focus on digital transformation, while others simply encouraged people to have a chat or share their ideas. The main themes were:

• Health data sharing with GP and health services
• Transforming information into a steady stream of meaningful knowledge
• Specialist prevention women’s health service for counselling and trauma recovery
• Better wayfinding
• More local services
• Community advocates for people and those experiencing disadvantage
• Improved hospital facilities and more beds.

We also wanted to know what type of event the community would like. We asked people to cast their votes. The Community Chat activities suggestions in summary were:

• Meet the volunteers
• More information sessions
• Visit the community
• Presentations on responding to demand including covid, elective surgery and emergency
• Presentations on end-of-life care or knowledge of dementia.

We listened and held another listening post at McLaren Vale Community Centre (visit the community) with SALHN’s Mobile Vaccination Outreach Clinic – our first community activity decided by the community.

We also invited the community to hear about the outcomes of the engagement we held, and we addressed some of the themes at our Annual Public Meeting.

Since then, we have held a series of consultations with the public on our volunteer service rebrand, which gave people the opportunity to meet our volunteers.

What are the next steps?

As we continue to further develop and improve the future of healthcare, we are now working on the Southern Area Health Direction (SAHD) strategy.

The SAHD strategy seeks to deliver the vision of SALHN as a bold and dynamic organisation that delivers healthcare differently from the first 1,000 to the last 1,000 days of life.

SALHN aims to reshape how healthcare is provided by delivering health services in the most appropriate place for our community and our consumers.

Further engagement will continue in later 2022 with our service partners and local health networks as well as universities and the community. Stay tuned!