24 November 2024
At the 2023 Allied Health—Translating Research into Practice (AH-TRIP) Showcase, the SWHHS Rural Immersion Placement Program—Allied Health, or RIPPAH as it is affectionately known, took home the HTQ-sponsored Partnerships Award 2023. This award not only secured a small amount of funds for the program but, more importantly, highlighted its growing success.
Rural Interprofessional Clinical Educator Rohan Ballon has been involved in RIPPAH since its inception and understands its benefits and challenges.
“South West Hospital and Health Service delivers services across a huge geographic area, and it is challenging to find and retain allied health professionals here,” Mr Ballon said.
“RIPPAH aims to show students already interested in rural and remote practice what it is like to live and work here.
“I came to Roma on placement as a nutrition student and, about 7 years later, I got involved in the initial consultation about the program. Then, I supervised a student during the first pilot, and now I lead RIPPAH’s statewide implementation across all disciplines.
“In 2024, we had over 100 applications for 25 placements, debunking the notion that students don’t want to practice in rural and remote locations.
“We now also offer the program in 4 Queensland locations – Central Queensland, North West, South West, and Torres and Cape – and evidence tells us that students need at least 40 days in a community to change their practice intent, i.e. to convince them to choose rural and remote practice when they graduate.
“The AH-TRIP Partnerships Award 2023 prize helped us to purchase National Rural Health Alliance toolkits, which we provide to students on placement to help them transition to rural life and practice.
“Many partners support this program, from university departments to the local tourism operators and businesses that support the students on the ground.
“Remote and rural communities understand the benefit of bringing health professionals to the area, and they find ways to help students integrate into life here.
“The students benefit from being immersed in the community, living and experiencing together the inter-professional practice that comes with being in a rural and remote location.
“Clinicians in rural and remote locations find it rewarding to share their knowledge with the students on placement and meet potential future colleagues.
With 40 students who have completed the program, the team is evaluating its success factors. Anecdotally, students with an existing connection to a rural and remote area seem more likely to practice in one. Still, it’s too early to confirm this perspective and the program’s return on investment.
Meanwhile, Rohan and the RIPPAH team continue to refine the program and their plans for building the capacity of the allied health workforce in rural and remote practice.
Shelley Roberts is the winner of the HTQ sponsored AH-TRIP Partnerships Award 2024 at this year’s AH-TRIP Showcase. A dietitian based at Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service, Shelley was recognised for her project ‘Transforming inpatient nutrition care: piloting a new model of care using technology, role delegation, and patient engagement.’
The Allied Health—Translating Research into Practice (AH-TRIP) is an innovative Queensland initiative that aims to embed knowledge translation from research into frontline care at hospital and health services by building health practitioner workforce capacity. For more details, please visit the AH-TRIP website.
For more details about RIPPAH, please see this Queensland Health webpage.
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