We have a simple solution
Currently, Australia has among the highest recorded rates of Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease in the world. The illness is caused by an autoimmune response to a bacterial infection and almost all cases recorded here are in indigenous people. Almost half of Australian's who are on the RHD register are under 24 and at risk of premature death or disability. .
Program aims
We want to try and prevent people from contracting Acute Rheumatic fever and Rheumatic heart disease through providing community members with an ANGA MAMALANG (wubuy for happy bed) We are running a pilot program in a remote community in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. Our goal is to increase the reaches of our program to assist other mobs around Australia.Aim 1 - Reduce infection
To reduce the incident of infection by giving members of the community the opportunity to engage in a program offering health and life education as well as raised bedding inside homes.
Aim 2 - Focus at school
To increase the chances for children involved in the program being able to focus in school through providing them with a clean and comfortable place to sleep.
Aim 3 - Build Self-esteem
To build the self-esteem of participants by creating a sense of ownership and belonging related to the having a bed of their own to sleep in each night.
Program Break down
The program will consist of three parts, these are education, in-house infrastructure and incentives through community engagement
Education
The first and most important part of our program is education. Education is the pathway for members of the community to make informed decisions about improving how they live. It is vital that we can communicate the ways in which environmental conditions affect people’s health. We need to demonstrate why good environmental health practices are important and how this will improve day to day life as well as longevity of life..
In-house infrastucture
The second part of this program is issuing the actual bedding. The bedding will only be available to those who have attended information sessions. We are planning to distribute the beds through services such as local op-shops. Doing this encourages members of the community to actively seek out the change, rather than forcing it on them. Hopefully after a few members of the community share their experience the demand for beds will increase.
At this stage, we are looking at supplying a range of bedding alternatives to suit the needs of everyone in a home. These include;
- Children beds which are hammocks, small beds or bunks
- Adult beds which fold-up or are multipurpose.
Program incentives
Finally, the third part of the program is an incentive program. The incentive program tracks the progress of households while offering perks for maintaining the beds. Perks for children include access to fresh fruit over weekends, a luxury which many would not have access to outside of school hours. Perks will be offered through a voucher system arranged with local supermarkets.