Fieldays Health Hub aims to improve health of rural people

Date: 24.04.2017

Mock operation in the Mobile Health bus at Fieldays 2011

Mark Eager, GM of Mobile Health in Christchurch

Michelle Thompson, CEO of Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand

Mock operation in the Mobile Health bus at Fieldays 2011

Mark Eager, GM of Mobile Health in Christchurch

Michelle Thompson, CEO of Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand

Rural health is in the spotlight, with a new area launching at New Zealand Agricultural Fieldays this year

Rural health is in the spotlight, with a new area launching at New Zealand Agricultural Fieldays this year.

The Fieldays Health Hub will be an interactive and non-threatening space designed to educate and inform Fieldays visitors about health issues affecting rural communities.

"Farmers don't always have the opportunity to get off the farm and have their health checks," Lee Picken, NZ National Fieldays Society's head of events, says. "It's really important to have this at Fieldays. It's a great platform for health professionals to start that conversation."

Mobile Health is a key partner in the Fieldays Health Hub, and its mobile surgical bus will be a cornerstone of the site.

"We want to engage with rural people about health and make a difference," Mark Eager, general manager of Mobile Health, says. "The idea is to get a lot of like-minded health organisations together and change how rural people think about health and generate conversations."

During NZ Agricultural Fieldays, which runs from June 14 to 17 this year, visitors can enter the Mobile Health surgical bus and watch a mock surgery taking place. For 10 months of the year, the bus travels the country, from Kaikohe to Balclutha, performing scheduled day surgeries in small towns and rural centres. It works closely with district health boards and local nurses to ensure rural people have better access to surgery.

The Fieldays Health Hub will also host a series of expert speakers doing free MED Talks – 10-minute health presentations inspired by the popular TED Talks concept.
Engaging with rural people in a fun, non-threatening but educational way is the aim of the Fieldays Heath Hub, Mark says. "Take melanoma. You can have people there handing out brochures and telling people to slip-slop-slap or you can bring in a UV camera and set it up so people can stand in front of it and see the damage the sun is doing to their skin. That's what we want to do – make it funky and interactive; not exhibitors standing there and selling something or shaking a bucket."

The mobile surgical bus last appeared at Fieldays in 2011 and was a drawcard for many visitors. "We had 6000 people come through our operating theatre in 2011," Mark says. "We had a real patient, an actor, and we put pig's skin on his tummy and stitched it up so it looked very gruesome and genuine. We had a knee surgery and a patient with a fake knee being operated on with a big television screen so people could watch. People found it very interesting."

Lee Picken says the health of rural people is incredibly important to the NZ National Fieldays Society.

"This year we are focusing on leading change, and the introduction of the Fieldays Health Hub is about leading that conversation and increasing awareness in the rural health sector. It's such an important conversation to have. If our farmers aren't healthy, then that impacts everything," Lee says.

Organisers are calling for people who have a vested interest in rural health and well-being to contact them with engaging, innovative, and interactive ideas for a stand.

For more information on exhibiting at the Fieldays Health Hub, e-mail info@fieldays.co.nz.

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