Primary Health Care Nursing Program

The Primary Health Care Nursing (PHCN) program aims to improve the health and wellbeing of residents in small rural and remote towns in the New England region through health promotion and education designed to improve health literacy and build community capacity.

In consultation with community members and other stakeholders the PHCN team works to identify local needs and develop activities and initiatives that encourage people to adopt or modify behaviours to better manage their health.

Services and activities provided under the PHCN program may include:

Preventative health screening – targeted health screening at group activities and events.

Health education – education on a range of physical and mental health topics to targeted populations such as primary and secondary schools, men’s and women’s groups. The PHCN team engage other organisations to provide expert education on their relevant subject areas such as the Heart Foundation, Cancer Council, Dementia Australia and many others. Community champions, and people with a lived experience may also deliver education.

Health promotion – promotion of behaviours and lifestyle choices which support communities to better manage their health and wellbeing and achieve improved health outcomes.

Linkages to Primary Health Care and other services – provision of information, advocacy and support for residents to access available health and social services. The program also works with health service providers and organisations to advocate for the provision of available services within target communities and/or to community members.

Community Capacity Building – provision of information and support to communities to apply for funding to establish, develop or maintain community resources, such as event venues or community gardens, or to build skills within the community, such as a community exercise or activity coordinator.

The PHCN program does not provide individual health care, case management, or the monitoring of health conditions, and does not duplicate services provided by other Programs or organisations, such as Community Health Nurses, Practice Nurses, Aboriginal Medical Services, or services that are the responsibility of the Department of Education.