Check Me Out Project
It’s time to get the health of mums back on track.
Mums of the Hills in collaboration with Phoenix Australia and Women's Health East has a very exciting announcement. We are the recipient of major grant funding to help get the health of mums back on track in the regions of the hills, valley, urban and the upper yarra of the Yarra Ranges Shire Council.
Social services over the last century have given women access to many professional opportunities however cast a harsh light on deeply ingrained gender disparities. Whilst COVID lockdowns were hard for everyone, they placed a particularly heavy burden on working women who bore the brunt of home life. The Australian Medical Association notes that 80% of frontline healthcare workers tasked with managing the pandemic were women. We know that women are now facing alarmingly high levels of burnout. We know that women need to get their health checked, but for various reasons they’re not.
Australian Women's Safety surveyed 10,000 Australian women between February and April 2021 and found that 31% had lost their jobs, had to take a pay cut or reduced their hours in the first 12 months of the pandemic. As a result women reported a number of financial difficulties including having to go without necessary medical or dental treatment. The Jean Hailes’ Women’s Health Survey 2020 Snapshot found that one in three women aged 25 to 44 did not have enough time to attend health check appointments when they did try to prioritise their health. Alarmingly, the 2022 Snapshot of 14,000 women found that 40% said “their physical and mental health has deteriorated since the pandemic began, regardless of whether they have had COVID-19 or not”.
Women have continued to experience barriers accessing services in some ways similar to during lockdown – services still having staff shortages due to COVID and women themselves having difficulty finding the time to look after their healthcare needs. (Dianne Hill, CEO of Women’s Health Victoria)
In the wake of disruptions from multiple natural disasters and lockdowns in our region, the health service system is overburdened, basic health checks have lapsed, and mothers in particular are struggling to find the time and funds to manage their basic care. That’s why we developed our Check Me Out project.
Our project acknowledges the challenges hindering mums from reviewing their own needs and looking after their health. This project is designed to address the women’s health check shortfall, which has grown to an alarming number since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. By providing much-needed time and space for mothers in our community to check their own health and wellbeing status, we can help them connect with required services and get on top of their physical and mental health. Our project will strengthen the community by removing barriers (such as the cost of childcare) that impede women from attending to their own healthcare requirements.
Our role in this project is to: facilitate connections by bringing together mothers from each region via our extensive online community; provide childcare while mums review their own health and well-being checklist; and supply area specific information of healthcare options specific to their needs. We will also engage members of YR Council and key healthcare services to ensure appropriate representation and on-site support.
The Check Me Out project is a major women’s health promotion activity, co-delivered by Mums of the Hills, Women’s Health East and Phoenix Australia-Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health at the University of Melbourne. The Check Me Out Roadshows will provide a rare uninterrupted opportunity for mums to understand their mental and physical health status, get a snapshot of local health resources, and access relevant information about timelines and costs. Each event will draw mums together to actively address the necessary steps towards improved health outcomes in nurturing, supportive spaces whilst their children are engaged in fun activities. To create a positive and engaging atmosphere encouraging participants to linger and form deep connections, we will run catered activities for mums and their children both together and separately.
In short, our primary objectives for this initiative are to
Reduce or eliminate barriers preventing women in our community from accessing necessary health care services;
Improve women’s health outcomes through a targeted and supported education campaign to increase early diagnosis and treatment of a range of diseases;
Proactively attend to the mental health epidemic plaguing women, particularly in the early childhood years;
Address the disproportionate effects the pandemic and rising costs of living have had/continue to have on women; and
Develop community resilience and preparedness for future disasters through increased connection between individuals and health services.
We look forward to updating you with progress on this project. Stay tuned or sign up to our newsletter to find out when the first roadshows are taking place.
