James Cook University Murtupuni Centre for Rural and Remote Health 2020 Annual Report
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JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY MURTUPUNI CENTRE FOR RURAL AND REMOTE HEALTH 2020 ANNUAL REPORT PREPARED FOR THE JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY MURTUPUNI CENTRE FOR RURAL AND REMOTE HEALTH ADVISORY BOARD Funded by the Australian Government Department of Health Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program 1 WE ACKNOWLEDGE AND PAY OUR RESPECT TO AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL PEOPLE AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLE AS THE FIRST INHABITANTS OF THE NATION AND ACKNOWLEDGE TRADITIONAL OWNERS OF THE LANDS WHERE OUR STAFF AND STUDENTS LIVE, LEARN AND WORK. Members of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are respectfully advised a number of people mentioned in writing and depicted in images in the following pages have passed on. All such mentions in this publication are with permission. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS DIRECTOR’S REPORT 4 Core Requirements 5 Nursing Program 5 Student Placements 6 COVID-19 Impact 6 Achievements 6 Knowledge Translation and Evidence Base 7 Fond Farewell 7 MEMBER ORGANISATIONS 7 THE MURTUPUNI STORY 8 OUR FOOTPRINT 10 OUR FACILITIES 13 Student Accommodation 13 Burketown 13 Emerald 13 Fleet 14 Teaching Facilities 15 Murtupuni Mount Isa Campus 15 Tarabada House 15 Yakka Library and Yacca Tutorial Room 15 Tjirtamai Hall 15 Cloncurry Learning Centre 15 Longreach 15 ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER HEALTH 16 NAIDOC Week 17 Cultural Safety 18 Partnerships 18 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student Support 19 DEVELOPING THE RURAL AND REMOTE HEALTH WORKFORCE 20 COVID-19 Impact 21 Modified Service Delivery 21 Student Placements 21 National, State and Regional Leadership 22 Mount Isa Nursing Program 23 Impact of Mount Isa Nursing Program on Rural Nursing Workforce 24 JCU General Practice Training 25 3 Allied Health 26 Allied Health Service Learning 26 Allied Health Partners and Places 27 Supporting the Rural Workforce 30 Weipa 30 Mental Health (Psychology, Social Work) 32 Interprofessional Learning 32 Student placements – some feedback 33 MCRRH Student placements 33 Student support 38 SUPPORTING HEALTH PROFESSIONALS 40 Allied Health Rural Generalist Program 41 Mental Health — Supervisor Training and Support 41 Mentoring, Supervision and Skills Development 41 Supervisor Training Program 41 SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES 42 Co-designed Initiatives 42 Mental Health 42 Community Engagement 42 HEALTH SERVICE AND COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS 42 DEVELOPING THE EVIDENCE BASE 44 Research Impact: Quadbike Safety 45 Primary Care and Allied Health 45 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health 45 Mental Health 45 Are you remotely interested? 46 Research Projects 50 Current Projects 50 Completed Projects 50 Research Grants 50 Postgraduate Research Students and Studies 51 Building Research Capacity 51 Student Project 51 Publications 52 Journal Articles 52 Editorials and commentaries 54 Books 54 OUR PEOPLE 55 Our Team 56 Our Adjuncts 58 Recognition/Awards 59 Leadership Roles 59 4 DIRECTOR’S REPORT As we approach the end of an extraordinary year, I am very pleased to present our twenty-third annual summary of our achievements as part of the Australian Government’s Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program (RHMT) and James Cook University’s Department of Rural Health. We are delighted that, in our twenty-fifth year, we have had a Kalkadoon name bestowed upon the centre to recognise the people whose land our campus stands upon. This follows an established tradition of Kalkadoon Elders selecting names for our buildings as they have been constructed. We are honoured and privileged to have been granted the name Murtupuni, (meaning “come together, or gather together”), and to have had a unique artwork created by local artist, Glenda McCulloch, to tell the story of our centre. You can read more about the Murtupuni story further on in this report. We are delighted that, in our twenty-fifth year, we have had a Kalkadoon name bestowed upon the centre to recognise the people whose land our campus stands upon. Image: Kalkadoon Country 5 CORE REQUIREMENTS NURSING PROGRAM Despite the rupture associated with the COVID-19 The modest JCU Mount Isa nursing program has pandemic the JCU Murtupuni Centre for Rural graduated 79 nurses locally since 2004. We took and Remote Health (MCRRH) has met the core the opportunity to explore where these nursing requirements of the RHMT program. graduates go and better understand what influences their decisions to choose nursing as a career and study In achieving these requirements, the centre has: location. What came across clearly and consistently • Maintained our training network headquartered in is that place and access matter. In answering the Mount Isa, with facilities in Cloncurry, Longreach and question “does the investment in rurally located Weipa, and RHMT activity generated from, in and for nursing degrees translate to rural nursing workforce?” North West Queensland, Central West Queensland, the answer is resounding: yes, it does. This is a pleasing the Lower Gulf, Western Cape, and Emerald in Central affirmation and demonstrated return on investment. Queensland • Maintained levels of rural multidisciplinary enrolment WHERE DO MT ISA NURSING and clinical placement, sustaining the length of placements as a minimum, with a view to influencing GRADUATES GO? extension across several discipline programs. • Developed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce MOUNT ISA & • Provided mentoring, support, and cultural training CLONCURRY 61% for all students before and during placement • Provided mentoring and support for Indigenous health professionals TOWNSVILLE, • Contributed to the growing evidence base through CAIRNS, & rural health and workforce research, capacity building 24% and knowledge translation SURROUNDS The RHMT evaluation and subsequent report have provided opportunities for reflection, refinement and consideration of a reset with some new approaches QLD RURAL and adaptation, as well as reaffirmation of the work TOWNS 5% we do and with whom we do it. None of our work can be achieved without effective partnerships with communities and their representatives — local government, land councils and community MAJOR CITIES organisations; plus health services and clinicians ACROSS engaged in the work of health improvement, heath AUSTRALIA 7.5% care and health workforce optimisation — the best people with the right skills in the right places providing the best care. All are still working as nurses with one retired in 2020. 6 The Murtupuni Centre for Rural & Remote Health was unveiled by JCU Chancellor Bill Tweddell and Vice Chancellor Sandra Harding on 9 December 2020, at a special ceremony held at the Mount Isa campus. Members of the Sam family were present to honour Uncle Clive Sam who originally proposed the name. (Left to right) Chancellor Bill Tweddell, Aunty Barbara Sam, Shaun Solomon, Professor Sabina Knight, Professor Martin Nakata, Kimberley Walton, Vice Chancellor Sandra Harding. STUDENT PLACEMENTS COVID-19 IMPACT Activities in biosecurity zones were drastically curtailed, with staff refocusing on providing education and support for communities, health service and clinical 420 STUDENTS roles, and redeployment of infrastructure to manage the COVID-19 response right across our footprint. Each member of the MCRRH team across all sites CLINICAL played a pivotal role in supporting communities, 2,301 PLACEMENT services, and clinicians’ responses to COVID and WEEKS associated challenges. Clinical leads and academics have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure final year students completed placement requirements in order to graduate at the end of 2020 and be available as part I am proud to report that we have sustained a modest of the surge or relieving workforce. The resilience of our increase in student placements achieved through team, students and colleagues is to be applauded. expanded capacity in our service learning programs. In total, 420 students across the Allied Health, Nursing, As a University Department of Rural Health (UDRH), Midwifery and Medicine disciplines completed 2,301 MCRRH has also participated in several COVID-19 clinical placement weeks. We innovated the placement related projects with our colleagues in the Australian program through virtual placements and telehealth Rural Health Education Network (ARHEN). service delivery, and played an active role in the support and upskilling of clinical staff for the COVID-19 Pandemic response. ACHIEVEMENTS In addition, we remain active in the GP and junior doctor Several of our team have been appropriately recognised training space and the graduate allied health and with awards, nominations and or becoming finalists in nursing arenas. Our allied health clinical leads, adeptly the IAHA Awards, SARRAH Awards, CRANAplus Aurora led by Ella Dunsford, have spent considerable energy Award, RACGP as well as NAIDOC nominations. in collaborating with Health Workforce Queensland in creating a place-based solution to rural allied health Our research team and cross disciplinary and cross generalist workforce challenges, and supervision of new institution collaborations have been successful with graduates across professions. several important grants and publications. We have also been unsuccessful in some grants but the The APHRA accredited supervision training led by Dr process of collaborative development on priority areas Sharon Varela continues to evolve with an expanding consolidates the relationships and contributes to a facilitator base and partnerships with Education WA rethink of what might be alternatively possible. and Southern Queensland Rural