Evaluation of Wise Well Women Community Health Educator Program
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Project Leader
Dr Lucinda Aberdeenlucinda.aberdeen@unimelb.edu.au
+61 3 5823 3173
Project Details
The Wise Well Women Community Health Educator (WWW CHE) Program was designed and developed by the WWW convenors, Christine Nunn and Lorna Gillespie, to build the health literacy capacity of refugee and migrant women and a responsive health literacy environment in the Shepparton region. The training component of the program comprised learning modules devised by the convenors. The modules addressed the Australian health care system, health promotion; intersectionality; legal and welfare issues and facilitating and evaluating health education sessions, all in relation to refugee and migrant women’s health and wellbeing. Their content drew on similar resources developed by the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health (MCWH) and Cohealth Community Health Centre; two Melbourne based not-for-profit community health organisations committed to addressing health inequity. The six days of training was delivered to 12 women of migrant and refugee backgrounds in Shepparton in April 2021 by 33 presenters recruited by the WWW convenors.
Its implementation was evaluated by a team led by Dr Lucinda Aberdeen, Department of Rural Health, The University of Melbourne.
The evaluation report released by the University is available to download (see below) and the program has been described by research assistant Habiba Ibrahimi as a success.
Empowering people to speak to their own communities is the best way that we can deliver important health messages, she said.
The success of the Wise Well Women Community Health Educator (WWW CHE) Program has drawn attention to consideration of the program’s capacity for improvement and sustainability to continue the advancement of health outcomes for multicultural communities in northern Victoria.
Trainees and Convenors (C. Nunn, centre & L. Gillespie, right), Wise Well Women Community Health Educator Program, April 2021. Photo courtesy of Lorna Gillespie.
Researchers
Dr Lucinda Aberdeen, Senior Research Fellow, Culturally Inclusive Rural Healthcare, Department of Rural Health, lucinda.aberdeen@unimelb.edu.au
Carol Reid, Research Coordinator, Rural Health Academic Network (RHAN), Department of Rural Health, reid.c@unimelb.edu.au
Habiba Ibrahimi, Research Assistant, Wise Well Women Evaluation Project, Department of Rural Health
Funding
The evaluation was funded by The Greater Shepparton Foundation, with the support of the Upotipotpon Foundation and Ethnic Council Shepparton and District.
Research Outcomes
Download the Evaluation Report HERE
News Articles
Research Publications
Aberdeen, L., Reid, C. & Ibrahimi, H. (2022) Evaluation of Wise Well Women Community Health Educator Program. Culture and Rural Health, Department of Rural Health, The University of Melbourne.