Visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) at the Flinders Island Show to prevent a visit to the hospital.
The RFDS Right as Rain program has consulted the local community and teamed up with other health providers to tackle men's health at this year's Flinders Island Show. Men from Flinders Island end up in hospital when they shouldn't with preventable conditions such as lung disease, heart failure, skin infections, kidney disease and complications from diabetes.
At this year's Flinders Island show, a team of health professionals will educate locals about how to stay fit and healthy and avoid an emergency aeromedical evacuation and a stay in hospital. There will be free health checks, a free 'healthy show bag', fun fitness tests and the opportunity for locals to talk about the kinds of preventative health services they'd like to see available in their community.
The RFDS will be joined by local health providers, Men's Resources Tasmania, Rural Alive and Well (RAW) plus Medical and Exercise Science students from the University of Tasmania.
Jonathan Bedloe from Men's Resources Tasmania said, "While we know that many men are well connected, supported and successful in most areas of life, there are times when life presents challenges and help to find the right resources and services can be very useful. We look forward to talking with men from Flinders Island about how they are going, and what supports are out there for them".
The RFDS has partnered with Healthy Tasmania to deliver Right as Rain, a health promotion initiative to improve health equity in rural and remote Tasmania. Right as Rain works with existing services and community partners to improve health outcomes by focusing on health promotion, prevention and early detection.
RFDS Tasmania CEO John Kirwan said, "The RFDS is proactive in calling for a change to address the clear health inequities between remote and rural communities, and those in the larger metropolitan areas. We hope our time at the Flinders Island show will help to keep the locals out of our planes and out of hospital."
