Since Minister Snowdon launched the Djurali program at their Healthy Community Day on 24 June the Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation’s Tackling Smoking and Healthy Lifestyle Team has been flat out.
Djurali, which in local Dharawal language means Live Well – Live Healthily, comprises a number of healthy lifestyle projects including subsidised exercise classes, community cooking classes, community garden activities, Koori boot camp and quit smoking initiatives.
Live Longer! detail in the duco of the Tharawal Djurali ute.
Approximately 11,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live in the Tharawal catchment area, which spreads fromBankstownto the Bowral hinterland.
Sean Appoo leads the small team delivering the project. Sophia Malie, a qualified dietician and nutritionist, and Hal Droers who manages the physical activity programs, make up the rest of Djurali team.
One of Sophie’s projects aims to help people who are at risk of, or who already have, a chronic disease to make changes in their diet to improve their overall health and well-being and ultimately Live Longer!
“In the community kitchen, Sophie teaches people how to cook easy, economical, low fat, low sugar, low salt recipes that are nutritious and tasty too,” Sean said.
“Sophie has also worked with the local government health service to develop a healthy food policy and menu and provided training to staff on how to use it. The Tharawal Aboriginal Medical Service uses this policy to guide the selection of all the food it provides.”
To help people ‘Get Active’, the team’s major strategic approach is to break down the transport and cost barriers to participation, including the creative development of alternatives to high cost exercise options.
“Hal runs classes at the local park, using the equipment that’s already available there, like bars and swings,” Sean said. “He has purchased a few things like boxing equipment, but he also teaches people to use tins of food or plastic bottles filled with water in place of more expensive weights.”
The team is also working on a tool that will help workers to ask the right questions around smoking habits and assess what stage people are up to in the quitting process.
For more information on the Djurali program, phone 02 4628 4837.
Doing a good job there LiveLonger Team
Good afternoon Shonee
Thanks for your interest in the Tackling Smoking and Healthy Lifestyle measures.
The Australian Government is investing $805.5 million over four years (2009/10 to 2012/13) as part of the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes. Of this: $36.5 million is being provided to the Helping Indigenous Australians Reduce Their Risk of Chronic Disease (Healthy Lifestyle) measure; and
$100.6 million is being provided to the National Action to Reduce Indigenous Smoking Rates(Tackling Smoking) measure
The Tackling Smoking and Healthy Lifestyle measures are seeking to reduce the high rates of smoking in Indigenous communities and to reduce the incidence of chronic disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations by addressing the risk factors that contribute to the development of many avoidable chronic diseases. The measures are rolling out a national network of Regional Tobacco Coordinators, Tobacco Action Workers and Healthy Lifestyle Workers to work with Indigenous communities to reduce the number of people smoking and promote healthy lifestyles. This workforce will implement a range of community-based smoking prevention and cessation support activities tailored to local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. For more information on the measures please see the Closing the Gap Tackling Indigenous Chronic Disease website:
National action to reduce Indigenous smoking rate
Helping Indigenous Australians to reduce their risk of chronic disease
A Regional Tackling Smoking and Healthy Lifestyle team is based at GP Link Wide Bay. You may wish to contact John Corowa, who manages the Tackling Smoking and Healthy Lifestyles team at GP Link Wide Bay. You can also visit the Australian Government’s website http://www.grantslink.gov.au as a useful resource that may be helpful to locate opportunities for funding, as it lists grants offered by federal, state and local government for community projects.
Hope this information is helpful.
- The Live Longer! Team
Hey Name is Shonee Georgetown and Iam from the Cherbourg Commuinty in Queensland.
Myself and three other women have completed our Cert III in Fitness and are slowly on our way getting our Business up and running here in our community and surrounding areas. Our business name is Deadly Image, and we are trying to prove Personal Fitness, Health and Well Being to our community. But as you may know that evrey business needs Money to progess. We would like it if the Tackling Smoking and Healthy Lifestyle would be able to Sponsor our Business. As this is a big issue in our Community not just with the Elderly but also with the younger Generation.
Promoting this here in our Community would be such a really great idea, and I am sure the Community would appreciate it too.
If Tackling Smoking and Healthy Lifestyle could please get back to me through E-mail –
Shoneegeorgetown@yahoo.com or deadly_image@yahoo.com
Thank You
Shonee Georgetown
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for your interest in the Tharawal projects underway. You may wish to contact Tharawal directly to chat to the team about their programs, they can be contacted at reception@tharawal.com.au or by phoning 02 46810059. The Community Health Action Pack provides resources for developing and implementing health promotion projects which may be of assistance to you too.
Hope this helps and good luck with the development of you program!
- The Live Longer Team
I would like to know if you run health and wellbeing boot camps for high school students. I am looking at developing a specific Health & Wellbeing program for my students tackling student health issues assocciated with poor eating habits/obesity & dieting risks, binge drinking and experimental drug usage.