Spotlight on Women’s Health Goulburn North East
About Women’s Health Goulburn North East
Women’s Health Goulburn North East (WHGNE) is a feminist organisation, leading change towards women’s empowerment, women’s health, the prevention of violence against women and ultimately, gender equality, in rural and regional Victoria.
Established in 1993, WHGNE has a strong connection with communities across the Goulburn Valley and north-east Victoria, working across the Alpine, Benalla, Indigo, Mansfield, Mitchell, Moira, Murrindindi, Shepparton, Strathbogie, Towong, Wangaratta, and Wodonga local government areas.
WHGNE has expertise in women’s economic empowerment, gender and climate change, gender equity, the prevention of violence against women and sexual and reproductive health.
Featured work: Long Story Short project
The Long Story Short project (formerly Storylines: Her Voice Matters) is a collaboration between WHGNE and Women’s Health Loddon Mallee (WHLM). The project began in 2018 to collect women’s stories about sexual and reproductive health (SRH).
SRH encompasses a broad range of health and wellbeing areas across the lifecycle – these can include menstruation, contraception, pregnancy, abortion, IVF, fertility, perimenopause and menopause. It includes general breast and vulva/vaginal health, as well as sexual pleasure, libido, STI’s, and chronic or acute medical conditions affecting reproductive organs like endometritis, PCOS, and certain cancers. Good sexual and reproductive health is essential for overall health and wellbeing.
In 2022, the teams at WHGNE and WHLM refreshed and expanded the original project, with a focus on identifying solutions through:
the collection of lived experience qualitative data
consultation with health professionals (including GPs, registered nurses, midwives, pharmacists and clinic managers)
community codesign
up to date, region specific quantitative data.
The project literature review looked into barriers to accessing SRH services in rural areas, different models of health, as well as alternative models of care and the settings in which SRH care and education take place. Bendigo Community Health Services was commissioned to prepare a comprehensive data report to gather quantitative data specific to the two regions.
The project’s Community Advisory Group identified five key themes that the project will use as a framework to pursue advocacy and develop resources:
Access
Education
Privacy and confidentiality
Stigma
Innovation and networking.
What’s next for this work?
The final phase of data collection will involve a series of focus groups with women and gender-diverse people in communities representing various locations around the Goulburn North East and Loddon Mallee regions. Focus groups will gather perspectives and generate stories on what experiences of sexual and reproductive health might look like in a world that values and prioritises women’s health. Embedded in the lived-experience perspectives of women from these communities, are the blueprints to overcoming existing barriers to achieving optimal sexual and reproductive health.
In addition to the qualitative and quantitative data collected throughout the Long Story Short project, the focus groups will provide crucial insights into how and where to improve access, education and experiences around SRH throughout the life-course, based on regional, lived-experience evidence. Informed by the Most Significant Change approach to evaluation, the rich, community driven and solutions-based qualitative data will drive future advocacy work at both a regional and state level. It will generate tailored resources to address the gaps identified through this process.
Following the completion of the Long Story Short project in June 2024, the team are planning to hold a forum later in 2024 to highlight the advocacy work and resource development resulting from the project. This forum will be a way to give back to the community members and health professionals who contributed their time, perspectives, energy and goodwill to the Long Story Short project.
To find out more about the Long Story Short project and WHGNE’s other work, visit www.whealth.com.au
