Central Coast Local Health District (CCLHD) will host a special NAIDOC Week event with a focus on improving health awareness and management among local Indigenous people.
The annual Community Gathering and Health Expo will be held at Gosford Showground on Tuesday, July 7. This free family-friendly event will feature a traditional Welcome to Country, guest speakers, food and cultural demonstrations, music and dance performances as well as the annual touch football competition and barbecue.
There will be around 70 community stallholders and a Health Expo to showcase a range of Coast health services that are available to the Indigenous community.
The local health District’s Aboriginal health unit manager, Mr Steve Ella said the 2015 NAIDOC Week theme was ‘We all Stand on Sacred Ground: Learn, Respect and Celebrate’, which aimed to promote and celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
“The day is also an opportunity for us to engage with the Aboriginal community to increase their awareness of the many health services available on the Central Coast,” he said.
There will be 80 representatives on-hand from CCLHD including staff from renal, nutrition services, cardiac, pathology, podiatry, oral health, respiratory, diabetes, sexual health, drug and alcohol services and self-management support service.
Youth health will also be present to focus on health issues for young people as well as the health promotion unit to talk about tobacco control. “Last year, we had 150 participants completing the full health check program, and for some of those, we were able to identify early stage signs of kidney disease and diabetes,” Mr Ella said.
Media release,
24 June 2015
Lauren Nicholls, Central
Coast Local Health District