Addressing rural Victorian Allied Health professional isolation, through local training and networking opportunities.
Project Overview and Purpose
Professional isolation is a regular and significant frustration for rural Allied Health practitioners, contributing to the ‘push’ away from rural service delivery. The ‘Rural Link & Learn’ program offered by RWAV is intended to alleviate professional isolation through local training and networking.
RWAV has developed a project funded under an Innovative Practice Grant from Rural Health Workforce Australia to create opportunities for engagement and professional development amongst Allied Health practitioners in rural Victoria. Â
The ‘Rural Link & Learn’ Event Series
The project delivers a series of nine full-day, face-to-face, immersive training and networking events held in regional centres. The events target the top three priority Allied Health disciplines identified by the RWAV Health Workforce Needs Assessment.
These priority Allied Health disciplines are as follows:
- Psychology
- Speech Pathology
- Occupational Therapy
These events will take place in three regional locations:
- Horsham
- Shepparton
- Traralgon
The project is being delivered in consultation with key stakeholders across Victoria.
The Aims of the ‘Rural Link & Learn’ programÂ
By engaging regionally, the project aims to address;
- Increasing job satisfaction and long-term retention, particularly in rural contexts where practitioners often operate alone, where patient presentations vary widely and where a generalist approach is required
- Reducing challenges relating to accessing face-to-face training for rural and remote practitionersÂ
- Gaining the opportunity to build relationships with other practitioners with similar lived experiences, generating support networks for practitioners to lean on in times of professional stress.
- Boosting career progression opportunities and reducing professional isolation in rural health settings, contributing positively to health worker retention.
PRACTITIONER CONSULTATION SURVEYÂ
To assist in curating the most effective training for ‘Rural Link & Learn,’ RWAV has developed a consultation survey to capture the ideas and needs of practitioners.
Complete the brief survey to contribute your ideas:Â COMPLETE THE SURVEY HERE.
For further information about this project or the project working group, please contact:
RWAV Allied Health
alliedhealth@rwav.com.au
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