HERB - Health Education Reaching Blokes

It’s no secret that men report significantly worse health statistics compared to women on nearly every measure of health status, and this disparity only increases with remoteness. The team at North and West Queensland Primary Health Care in Longreach, provide services supporting the mobile men’s health service. This program has been specifically designed to target men in remote and rural areas of Central West Queensland, and aims to reach men that may not have the opportunity to access other health services.

HERB (Health Education Reaching Blokes) is a mobile men’s health service that
Conducts screenings at remote sites (including pastoral stations, remote work and road crews).
Provides health screenings and information at key local events and field days.
Encourages the access and use of available local services.
Conducts various promotional initiatives to encourage local discussion and to dispel some of the stigmas that are associated with men’s health.
 
The service provides men with information and screening on a range of high risk areas, including diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, waist circumference, lung disease, sexual health, emotional wellbeing, bowel cancer, prostate cancer, testicular cancer, skin cancer, diet, smoking, alcohol use, drug use and exercise.

The HERB trailer and towing vehicle are capable of tackling outback Queensland’s toughest roads, reaching the communities and people in this remote ‘high-health-risk’ area. The HERB team travel across the Central West to communities and pastoral stations in Birdsville, Bedourie, Boulia, Windorah, Jundah, Stonehenge, Yaraka, Isisford, Tambo, Blackall, Alpha, Jericho, Barcaldine, Ilfracombe, Aramac, Muttaburra and Winton. Whilst on the road, it is not uncommon to arrive at a station and have 10 or more blokes (and some women also) waiting to be screened and be provided with health information. As an ongoing project, the HERB team aim to visit every station in the region each year. In doing so, HERB strives to increase knowledge and awareness of men’s health issues, reconnect rural men with local health service providers, and ultimately decrease illness and the incidence of avoidable death of men in Central West Queensland. This is primary health care at its best!

Since the beginning of the program on the 25 January 2010, 414 men and 133 women have been screened.

• 152 of these people had not seen a GP in the last year.
• 23% of individuals screened were in the ‘medium risk zone’ for waist circumference, measuring over the recommended healthy range of 94 cm. A further 36% of people measured in the ‘high risk zone’ as their waist circumference measured over 102cm. This excess build-up of fat deposits, which can surround the heart, kidneys, liver and pancreas can increase the risk of chronic disease.  
• 108 people screened were identified as requiring further health investigations, and have been referred to a GP, Dietician, RFDS and/or a Psychologist for follow up.
• 92 bowel cancer screen kits have been distributed to individuals over 50 who had not had a screen in the last 2 years.
• 142 men were encouraged to visit their GP to discuss a prostate cancer screening.

HERB will be continuing its endeavour to provide education and screening to all men across Central West Queensland into 2011. We encourage graziers, communities and local councils to contact us and arrange a visit. Help us keep men healthy. We look forward to visiting you soon!

The HERB program was developed by the Central West CHIC Partnership Network (Connecting Healthcare In Communities). The CHIC Initiative represents a proactive approach to establish partnerships, increase integration and service coordination, and to improve the health of all Queenslanders. The Central West CHIC Partnership Network is made up of different healthcare organisations from across the Central West Queensland area. These include North & West Queensland Primary Health Care as the auspicing agency, Queensland Health, HACC, Bluecare, Spiritus and Anglicare.

The HERB program is funded by the Queensland Government until June 2011.