Healthy Towns has undertaken extensive community consultation to determine needs in each town. In Lake Cathie this consisted of:

• 328 community health and wellbeing surveys
• Over 30 face-to-face consultations

Communities were asked questions about living in Lake Cathie, access to healthcare, health and wellbeing priorities and how easy or difficult it is to access certain services.

The survey results have been summarised in a Lake Cathie Community Profile resource: download here.

Two community workshops were held on Wednesday 27 June 2018 and attended by 75 participants. Results of the surveys and face-to-face consultations were discussed.

Participants achieved two key workshop outcomes:

• identified and prioritised key issues facing the Lake Cathie community
• brainstormed initial ‘ideas’ or solutions to address the agreed key issues

The workshop outcomes have been documented in a Lake Cathie Community Workshop Summary: download here.

Following 18 months of community consultation and co-design, NCPHN is now funding community health and wellbeing initiatives for Lake Cathie.

Initiatives include:

• Community Hub
• Trauma training for volunteer emergency responders
• Community noticeboard
• Community garden
• Mental health resources for students
• Intergenerational exercise equipment

The Lake Cathie Community Action Plan outlines key demographics for each community and lists each of the initiatives being funded. Click image to download a copy.

Next steps for the Healthy Towns program include implementation of local initiatives and a formal evaluation to determine the impact of the program in communities.