Child Development Service staff – from left – Annalise Mundy, Sarah McGuire, Imogen Armstrong and Robyne Bowie travelling to Thursday Island and the Northern Peninsula Area.
Summary
- new Child Development Service for the region
- for children with complex developmental delays and disabilities
- this service links children with ongoing therapy and supports.
A new Child Development Service to support families across the Torres Strait, Cape York and Northern Peninsula Area has begun taking referrals.
The outreach service launched in mid-February and has already received more than 80 referrals after community visits to Thursday Island, Bamaga, and Injinoo.
The family-centred service includes a speech pathologist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, and psychologist who will work in collaboration with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker staff.
It is designed to assess and support children with complex developmental delays and disabilities and link them with ongoing therapy and supports.
It will support children aged between 0 to 18 years of age.
The service was launched after the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service (TCHHS) successfully obtained more than $3.6 million last year through the State Government’s Connected Community Pathways funding program for the initiative.
Torres and Cape HHS Allied Health Manager Child Development Service Natalie Bellew said the team will travel to communities twice per month and across 34 communities within the health service region.
She said the Torres Strait and NPA had been identified as the initial priority with a higher recorded incidences of children with developmental delays, but the team was focused on delivering services to all communities.
“The team will work very closely with local allied health teams and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers, along with our Maternal and Child Health Nurses and paediatricians,” she said.
“The team currently includes a First Nations Community Engagement Officer who will travel with our clinicians and help liaise with local families and our education partners.
“We are dedicated to providing an integrated and culturally safe service and really listening to what families are wanting to ensure the best support for their children.
‘The new service is developing culturally safe resources to use with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families to support our clients to feel comfortable and empowered to share their hopes and concerns for their child in culturally and therapeutically safe ways.
“This includes a visual story telling resource.
“It is so exciting that we have begun delivering this service and such a benefit that we are able to see these children in their home communities where they can be supported by their whole family.”
Ms Bellew said the team was also incorporating visits to local schools into their support to the communities which had already resulted in some referrals.
Children can be referred into the service by childcare educators, school guidance officers, allied health clinicians, Health Workers, Maternal and Child Health Nurses, doctors and health partners including Apunipima.
She said the most common concerns they were seeing included speech and communication delays/disabilities, emotional dysregulation, social communication challenges, concerns with attention, learning and executive functioning and gross and fine motor skills.
Torres and Cape HHS Acting Executive Director Allied Health Fiona Hall said the team would be provided with ongoing training opportunities to further enhance the services being delivered to communities.
She said the health service was also dedicated to providing opportunities to grow the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce, particularly via Health Worker roles.
“We are passionate about delivering a family-centred, culturally safe service with the appropriate social, cultural and family supports that are trauma informed, in community, and working in partnership with community leaders and other service providers in health, education and disability sectors,” she said.
“We will also have an external working group in place, made up of key stakeholders, to oversee the service and help ensure we are providing the best care possible to children in the Torres Strait, Cape York and Northern Peninsula Area.”
Referrals can be made to the service via: TCHHS-Referral-Intake@health.qld.gov.au
General enquiries can be made to the CDS Team at: TCHHS-AH-CDS@health.qld.gov.au