Early intervention building brighter futures for rural Queensland children

In our 5-year strategy released last year, Royal Far West committed to ensuring children in all states and territories have access to vital developmental and mental health services.

It was very exciting then, to wave goodbye to a team of clinicians in early May, as they set out on the first of several outreach trips to Queensland planned for this year – aimed at providing health screenings and referrals to some incredible kindy kids!

These visits are similar to those of our Healthy Kids Bus Stop program, aiming to identify developmental challenges as early as possible in a child’s life – giving the greatest opportunity for timely and effective treatment.

If a child is identified as needing additional support during a screening, we will work with their family or preschool to outline the next steps. These might be Telecare sessions, recommendations for local therapy support or NDIS assessments, or a paediatrician review.

Crucially, these visits also aim to facilitate capacity building for educators by providing information on understanding and identifying developmental concerns like speech or motor delays.

Throughout their travels, the team met many wonderful children, families and educators, saw some fun play activities, and even joined a dinosaur yoga session! They are so excited to work with some of the kids via Telecare following their visit.

During May and June, the team visited a total of 31 pre-schools across Queensland…and we’re looking forward to visiting many more in the coming year!

 

Stay up to date with our latest news by following us on Instagram.