Emma Webster
Rural Research Support Officer
Clinical Education and Training Institute, Rural Division (NSW IRCST)
E: emma.webster@
gwahs.health.nsw.gov.au
The day started like this: it was dark and minus four degrees—so things were always going to get better! Conference networking started at Sydney airport as the rural New South Welshmen accumulated and piled into a plane headed for the warmth of Darwin and the stimulation of other like minded researchers.
This was one of the most enjoyable conferences I have been to in years. Presentations were of high quality across the board and there was a range of research on offer to interest participants. Personally I exploited this broad range, enjoying each part equally: clinical research findings in varying fields, exploration of different research methods, research relevant to policy and even research on policy. I especially enjoyed the presentations relating to implementation of research findings as this demonstrated the powerful nature of research as an agent for change, when undertaken close to our own practice.
The highlight for me was attending with my colleagues and supporting each other to do our best with our respective presentations. As a rural health worker there can often be a feeling of isolation when working in research. The respectful critique of my research efforts and encouragement and suggestions received from others sent me back to the cold country with ideas in my head and lightness in my step!
Marcos Claudio Signorelli
Federal University of Sao Paulo (Brazil)
E: sarcosina@
yahoo.com.br
Australia and Brazil: exchanging knowledge and exchanging practices on primary health care
Australia and Brazil, despite being separated by oceans, share several common characteristics in public health. And this became absolutely clear to me during the 2010 Primary Health Care Research Conference.
As a Brazilian lecturer and Public Health PhD student, participation in the Conference brought significant reflections that I would like to share with you. The first similarity is the huge cultural diversity of our people along with the enormous territorial area of both countries, which results in a challenging agenda for the health sector. A particular example is Indigenous health which both of our countries need to sensitively plan. Choosing Darwin to host the Conference provided a great opportunity to allow delegates to interact with the Aboriginal context.
Another resemblance between our countries, and discussed at the conference, reflected my study area, which involves the health responses in PHC to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). As a visitor researcher in Mother and Child Health Research at La Trobe University (Melbourne), I studied the Australian health responses to IPV. This Conference provided an opportunity to extend this horizon, and to discuss this area of work with different stakeholders who are involved in innovative studies
I enjoyed other important exchanges, like the key role of allied health professionals in PHC, the articulation between research and development of public policies and international scenarios. The Conference’s methodology around workshops and topic tables during the lunch allowed for good networking. Congratulations to the PHC RIS team and I offer my sincere gratitude for the opportunity to have attended.
Bradley Smith
PHCRED Research Fellow
Flinders University
E: bradley.smith
@flinders.edu.au
For those of us who left behind cold and miserable weather, arriving at Darwin for this year’s conference was a welcome relief.
The conference venue was stunning, with the whole event expertly run by the PHC RIS team. As the field of primary health care is new to me, it was a great experience getting introduced to the wide variety of topics that were being covered. I was surprised to see so many representatives from different organisations, all bringing a unique prospective to the same topic.
I particularly enjoyed listening to key note speeches from Colin Tukuitonga regarding health care in the Pacific region, and Stephen Campbell regarding quality and outcome frameworks used in the UK. It was also pleasing to hear about all the positive activity regarding Indigenous health. The workshops that I was involved in were well attended and highly relevant. For example, the grant writing
workshop gave me great insight into how grants are developed and then evaluated.
The social events, which occurred all throughout the conference, were a great time to get to know fellow attendees. The conference dinner was held at the yacht club and happened to coincide with Territory Day (the day when the NT attained self governance in 1978), so we were spoilt with a magnificent dinner and view of fireworks across the bay.
|
