Healthy Tasmania Update - Winter 2020

Healthy Tasmania and COVID-19

Communities have been working differently in response to COVID-19.

We have been inspired by the creative efforts of all our partners to adapt to the changing needs of their communities. It has been important for us to learn and understand the challenges faced by organisations during this time. We discovered communities remained flexible by taking projects online or reshaping activities to stay connected during public gathering restrictions. Some organisations postponed or delayed projects to respond to the immediate health and wellbeing needs of community members.

Healthy Tasmania continues to contribute to our State on the road to recovery by supporting community-driven action to address health and wellbeing needs.

We would like to thank and acknowledge the work of all our partners in continuing to look at ways to support their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Healthy Tasmania Fund Round 2 Announced

The Healthy Tasmania Fund Round 2 has been announced and will open 7 September 2020 with applications closing on 30 October 2020.

Two million dollars is available for community organisations and local governments to invest in the health and wellbeing of their communities.

Successful projects will build community connections while helping Tasmanians:

• reduce smoking
• improve healthy eating
• be more physically active
• improve mental health and wellbeing.

All projects should have a focus on building community connections.

The Healthy Tasmania Fund Round 2 will provide grants up to $200 000 for projects or initiatives for up to two years. There will be small grants (up to $30 000) and large grants ($30 001 to $200 000).

Visit Healthy Tasmania Fund for more information.

These grants aim to strengthen community connections and help people live happy, healthy lives. The Healthy Tasmania Fund is a key part of the Government’s investment to prevent chronic conditions and improve the health and wellbeing of all Tasmanians.

Healthy Tasmania Fund Round 1 provided twenty-five organisations across Tasmania with grants of up to $200 000. Read the list of the Healthy Tasmania Fund Round 1 recipients

The Healthy Tasmania Fund Round 2 has been announced

Healthy Tasmania Fund Round 2 Community Information Session Wrap Up

Thank you to everyone who attended the Healthy Tasmania Fund Round 2 Community Information Sessions in August. It was great to see a wide range of organisations attend and hear your inspiring community project ideas.

The Healthy Tasmania Fund Round 2 Community Information Sessions gave attendees the chance to hear more information about applying for the grants and insights into what the Healthy Tasmania Fund Review Panel will be looking for. There was also the opportunity to share project ideas and ask questions.

We were sad that wild weather across the state forced the cancellation of our Launceston and Devonport sessions. Thankfully, most people who had registered were able to join us for the first-ever online Healthy Tasmania Fund Community Information Session. Nearly 100 participants joined the Livestream, our third Hobart session! Thanks for all the feedback we’ve received. We are glad these sessions are useful and highly valued.

If you are thinking of applying for a Healthy Tasmania Fund Round 2 grant and you missed out on attending a session, stay tuned for details on how to watch the recording of the Hobart Livestream. Please make sure you are subscribed to our mailing list or follow us on Facebook.

For more information, including Guidelines, Frequently Asked Questions and helpful resources, visit our Healthy Tasmania website

Behind the scenes and screens of the Healthy Tasmania Healthy Tasmania Fund Round 2 Community Information Livestream Session in Hobart.

Healthy Tasmania Listen and Learn Series

Tasmania has set itself the goal of having the healthiest population in Australia by 2025.

Join us for a series of online sessions to explore how we can achieve that goal so Tasmanians can live longer and healthier lives.

The six-part series will cover six different topics. Each session is free and will include:

• local insights from specialist presenters
• question and answer sessions
• in-depth group discussions
• practical learnings you can use to promote health and wellbeing.

Join Healthy Tasmania and our host Leigh Arnold for this compelling series.

Limited places, so registration is a must.

Session one: Great Solutions in Current Times

How are we meeting the health and wellbeing needs of Tasmanians during COVID-19? What are services doing to support vulnerable Tasmanians? What challenges have we faced? What is working well? What have we learnt? And what happens next?

Discuss these and other important questions with these insightful speakers:

• Lynn Jarvis: CEO of Working It Out will speak about responding to the social, practical and emotional needs of the LGBTIQ+ community during the pandemic.
• Elizabeth Mahnken: Priority Populations Officer, Public Health Services will share strategies for communicating and engaging with a diverse range of people, including insights from the Migrant Support Network.

Date: Wednesday 16 September
Time: 12:30 to 2:00 pm

Register here

Future sessions: The dates and topics for future sessions will be confirmed soon.

SYC Healthy Mind Habits

The Statewide Youth Collaborative Group (SYC) recently launched SYC Healthy Mind Habits series, a set of resources with tips and ideas on how young people can positively support their mental health and wellbeing.

The SYC Healthy Mind Habits series was designed by and for young people, with the support of Healthy Tasmania funding.

Healthy Mind Habits are full of information and strategies to support positive mental health and wellbeing.

If the young people that you know or work with, are looking to improve, or even just be more aware of their own Mind Habits, make sure you check out and share the posters and videos online.

There are also a series of online blogs for parents and adults to learn about Healthy Mind Habits and how they can help support young people with their mental health and wellbeing.

To find out more about SYC Healthy Mind Habits, follow YNOT on Facebook or visit their website www.ynot.org.au

SYC Healthy Mind Habits series

Let’s Start a Conversation! – September 2020

You’re invited to the Let’s Start a Conversation Campaign

Tasmanian’s who have a mental health disorder are twice as likely to smoke. Your support can make a difference.

We want all mental health services in Tasmania to start a conversation with their clients about stopping smoking.

To be a part of the “Let’s Start a Conversation” campaign this September please contact me at Jasmine.Angus@health.tas.gov.au

Your service will be provided with:

• Posters and resources to display.
• Weekly emails during September with tips on how and why to start a conversation about smoking.
• An opportunity to access training.

Please RSVP by the 7th of August 2020 to:

Jasmine Angus, Tobacco Projects Officer
Public Health Services, Department of Health

Jasmine.Angus@health.tas.gov.au

Phone: 6166 0602

We Eat Local App

In April 2020, Eat Well Tasmania launched 'We Eat Local'—an online platform—in response to COVID-19. The We Eat Local app makes it easier for Tasmanians to source a variety of local produce while supporting hard-hit Tasmanian food producers during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. Over 400 Tasmanian businesses, offering home delivery, click and collect services and in-store shopping for local Tasmanian produce are now listed. With over 7000 downloads it is proving to be a popular resource. Coming soon in September is a feature which showcases local restaurants and cafes.

The recently launched 'We Eat Local Rewards' which recognises app user's loyalty to local producers through a monthly rewards program. App users have an opportunity to win delicious prizes—sourced from We Eat Local producers—just by using the app every month.

We Eat Local app supports Tasmanian business eateries, retail food shops, markets and producers

To support the, We Eat Local campaign, download the app from your favourite app store or visit eatwelltas.org.au, follow the campaign on the Eat Well Tasmania Facebook and Instagram pages and tag @eatwelltasmania in posts and use #WeEatLocal to show your support for local business.

We Eat Local app is currently supported with funding from the Department of Health, all businesses are being featured on the We Eat Local app free of charge right throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

Source: Eat Well Tasmania

Blokes Book

In May, Deputy Premier and Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing Jeremy Rockliff launched an update of the popular Blokes’ Book from Men's Resources Tasmania. This great resource provides practical health and wellbeing information for men, in a way that men can relate to and connect with.

The update provides important information focusing on male suicide, including a new section on how to have difficult conversations with mates you are worried about. Three in four suicides are men and up to three in four male suicides are not attributed to mental illness, but other factors like financial difficulties, relationship issues, or employment or unemployment issues. Drugs and alcohol can exacerbate the situation when used as a coping mechanism.

The Blokes’ Book was published with the support of The North West Suicide Prevention Trial site, funded by Primary Health Tasmania, Tasmanian Men's Shed Association, City of Launceston and Department of Health, Tasmania.

Copies can be ordered via the Men’s Resources Tasmania website at www.mrtasmania.org

Healthy Tasmania Facebook page

The Healthy Tasmania Facebook page has continued to grow over the past few months which has seen a mix of creative and interactive content being published and shared.

The Facebook page has been showcasing step by step healthy recipes and cooking video demonstrations, interactive polls, profiling local heroes and infographics with tips to stay healthy and well.

There has been an increased focus in stakeholder engagement through sharing posts from other organisations to promote online events, online research surveys and how best we can stay connected and look after ourselves and community during changing times.

Men’s Health Week local hero profile of Dr Scott McKeown

Healthy Tasmania Facebook Challenges

Every month our Healthy Tasmania Facebook page has exciting challenge competitions for participants to share their healthy habits to win a range of prizes.

Our June Challenge focused on how entrants were getting active during winter with physical activity prizes and family games on offer. The Challenge saw entries about going on family bushwalks, doing physical activity in the morning, doing housework, dancing to music, heading to the playground or taking pets for a walk. Entries were also shared in a separate video on the Healthy Tasmania Facebook page to share with our audience. July’s Challenge focused on how to prioritise sleep with great prizes on offer including a weighted blanket, sleep pack and oil diffuser.

Keep an eye out on our Facebook page for more upcoming Healthy Tasmania Facebook Challenges, including our first Healthy Tasmania Major Prize winner being announced. The Healthy Tasmania Facebook Major Prizes will include four major prizes on offer during 2020. New prizes include a kayak pack, veggie box subscription, an Aboriginal cultural tour and art classes. These new prize options cover physical activity, healthy eating, mental health and wellbeing and cultural priority areas.

Images in video of June Challenge showcasing how entrants were getting active this winter.

New resources on the Healthy Ageing Website

New Appetite for Life resources for health and community workers are now available online through the Healthy Ageing Website! You’ll find information on eating well, physical activity and other issues for those aged over 65.

Through the website, you can also access free training modules, blog posts and much more.

To keep updated on what’s new on the Healthy Ageing Website, sign up to monthly email updates

Healthy Ageing Website contains training modules, blog posts and more

Hello my name is … day!

This year on Thursday 23 July 2020 “International Hello my name is day”, the health literacy network recognised the important role #hellomynameis has played in our COVID-19 response.

A campaign started in 2013 by Dr Kate Granger and her husband Chris in the UK. It recognises the importance of introductions and is underpinned by Kate’s 4 core values of Communication which is so important. It starts with a simple introduction, little things matter, people should be at the heart of all decisions nothing about me without me and see me as a person first before a disease or a number.

For the many people who were pulled from their regular jobs into the public health response, it’s helped them to get to quickly know each other and come together to form teams. For the many people who’ve rung the hotline, been in quarantine, undertaken testing or received treatment for coronavirus, it’s helped breakdown fears and anxiety. Putting names or photos on the outside of PPE gear has helped to show the human side of our healthcare workers.

Thank you to all those who have championed this campaign across Tasmania. The world needs more compassionate care! #hellomynameis #healthliteracy #compassionatecare

To get involved or learn more about the health literacy network or #hellomynameis email health.literacy@dhhs.tas.gov.au

Hello my name is day was held on 23 July 2020

Four Tasmanian Communities Leading the Way in Anticipatory Care

The Tasmanian Department of Health in partnership with the University of Tasmania, The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre and four Tasmanian communities are involved in a project focusing on anticipating chronic conditions.

The four communities involved are Ulverstone, Flinders, Clarence and the northern suburbs of Launceston. These communities were identified as key locations to focus on learning about what can be done at the local level to help people stay well in their community with less need for hospital and acute clinical services.

Clarence City Council, through the Help to Health project, is adapting to the challenges of COVID-19 by delivering many of the activities in new ways. A new Facebook Group, the Clarence Service Online Forum will help services connect and better help the community.

Future planning is underway as evaluation findings reveal that Help to Health has assisted Clarence residents to find out what health services and supports are available and to be more confident in navigating the health system.

Leaving a lasting legacy, the Connecting Care model implemented by the GP-led health initiative at Ulverstone is helping create a healthy, connected Central Coast community.

Work continues on the Connecting Care portal, the local resource directory and a range of health literacy initiatives to support community health and wellbeing into the future.

On Flinders Island, the Our Health Our Future project team addressed cultural safety as identified by the community. Adapting to the impact of COVID-19, the project engaged Evolve Communities to deliver cultural competency training online.

Fresh resources and activities around alcohol awareness include a poster competition, educations packs, face to face training and local newspaper coverage.

In the Northern Suburbs of Launceston, Starting Point and the Northern Suburbs Community Centre Neighbourhood Houses are leading community initiatives designed to empower community members to value health as important and access support in reach.

Based on the success of Adventure Play in 2019, the program is expanding across the northern suburbs for the next two years. Cooking on a budget and yoga sessions run weekly at Starting Point Neighbourhood House and through the ‘rent-a-bed’ initiative community members can grow fresh, spray free produce in rented garden beds.

At Northern Suburbs Community Centre, the team has delivered a broad range of health, visual arts and advocacy projects. Artwork by young people created as part of Youth Week celebrations will be installed in the Mowbray Medical entry.

Despite the Anticipatory Care Project officially ending, advocacy forums and other activities will continue to help connect and unify a strong local voice for improving the liveability and general health and wellbeing of residents across the northern suburbs.

Check out more about the Anticipatory Care Project through the Department of Health website.

Artwork made by young people from Mowbray Heights Primary School

Printable PDF version of this update

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