Healthy Towns has undertaken extensive community consultation to determine needs in each town. In South West Rocks this consisted of:

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

Communities were asked questions about living in South West Rocks, 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 South West Rocks Community Profile resource: download here.

Two community workshops were held on Thursday 28 June 2018 and attended by 81 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 South West Rocks community
• brainstormed initial ‘ideas’ or solutions to address the agreed key issues

The workshop outcomes have been documented in a South West Rocks Community Workshop Summary: download here.

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

Initiatives include:

• Early intervention speech pathology services for preschool students
• Horseshoe Bay Reserve parkrun
• Exercise and wellness groups
• Community bus service to Kempsey and Port Macquarie
• Support for Kempsey Shire Council’s My Community Directory
• GP workforce support

The South West Rocks 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.