The Remote Area Health Corps (RAHC) is excited to share our new Partnership Solutions Model and several updates that strengthen our capacity to respond to individual community and health service needs.
Partnerships and solutions model
RAHC is an Indigenous-focused health workforce programme emphasising partnerships and place-based solutions. We support health services in remote and very remote Aboriginal communities, predominately in the Northern Territory (NT). Our model highlights four partnerships that must be considered in each placement solution:
- Community
- Health service
- Health professionals (HPs)
- RAHC team - Cultural and Clinical.
We collaborate across teams and with partners to find holistic and culturally responsive healthcare solutions that address workforce shortages and community needs.
Some of our new place-based approaches will include a team response deployment approach. This includes opportunities to place New-to-Remote (NTR) nurses alongside Remote Educators in clinics where NTR nurses and HPs were not previously suitable. These and other modified deployment models will be captured on our website soon. For more information, please contact the RAHC team.
Streamlining our teams
We have restructured to create two teams that work collaboratively to address place-based needs - the Clinical and Workforce teams. Each team is supported with specialist administration expertise, including credentialing, education and onboarding. The new structure streamlines operations, strengthens RAHC’s support to our partners, and improves opportunities to identify and deliver localised solutions.
Led by Clinical Manager Emma Thomas, the clinical team will continue to provide clinical support to HPs and ensure required clinical input into workforce and deployment solutions. Additionally, it will maintain responsibility for the Remote Educator programme, Nurse Practitioner programme and eLearning platform.
The Workforce team, led by Kristy-Lee Owens, combines what was previously the placement and logistics teams. HPs, health services and communities will now have their placement solution overseen and supported by a single workforce team member from start to finish. The provision of on-call after-hours assistance, as required, while health professionals are on placement will remain. This change aims to improve the placement experience for all HPs and partners and improve RAHCs sensitivity to local requirements.
New eLearning platform
You may have also noticed that RAHC’s eLearning looks different. To improve the user experience, RAHC has moved all eLearning modules to a new platform. This shift will reduce issues with password changes and interrupted access. We remain committed to partnering with subject matter experts to continuously update and build new modules related to remote practice. Recently, RAHC celebrated 10,000 eLearning users joining the platform. We encourage all individuals interested in remote and indigenous health to explore the free modules at www.rahc.com.au/elearning.
New website coming soon
We are excited to share that the RAHC website is being redeveloped. The modifications include new and updated information and some rigorous changes that make credentialing faster and more streamlined, with fewer delays.
Support for Remote Educators
The Remote Educator Programme continues to grow with the ongoing needs of communities, organisations and HPs. We aim to provide guidance to all RAHC nurses that enables delivery of strong, holistic and evidence-based primary healthcare in the remote setting. A Remote Educators Orientation Handbook is currently in development. This resource will support our REs as they guide the NTR nurses through orientation of clinic, community, and primary health care initiatives. The Remote Educator will provide 24-hour support for the first two weeks of remote placement and ongoing support as New-to-Remote HPs develop their skills in the primary healthcare setting. This will enable RAHC nurses to develop confidence and experience whilst delivering the best healthcare to those in the community.
We hope that RAHCs new model inspires you to start or continue placements with us so that you can continue to provide fantastic support to those who desperately need your expertise and care.