Supporting LGBTIQA+ communities in small rural settings: a case study of health promotion in a community health service
Dianne Couch A * and Sherene Clow BA Castlemaine District Community Health, 103 Roseberry Street, Ascot Vale, Vic. 3032, Australia.
B Dhelkaya Health, PO Box 50, Castlemaine, Vic. 3450, Australia.
Australian Journal of Primary Health 29(4) 306-311 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY22183
Submitted: 25 August 2022 Accepted: 7 December 2022 Published: 9 January 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of La Trobe University. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
People from LGBTIQA+ communities living in rural areas experience significant disparities across a range of health and wellbeing indicators, high levels of stigma and discrimination, and difficulty accessing inclusive health and support services. This article discusses a targeted health promotion intervention designed to build supportive health and social programs to address these problems. We describe the initial needs assessment undertaken to inform the intervention, the role and activities of the health promotion officer funded through the program, and present evaluation data on program outcomes. The article demonstrates that modest funding for health promotion can make a positive contribution to connecting and supporting individuals in a small regional community, leading to better health and wellbeing outcomes.
Keywords: community connectedness, community health: services, health promotion, health services: accessibility, LGBTIQA+ health, LGBTIQA+ wellbeing, preventive health services, rural health: services.
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