New mobile health van will tackle ear problems amongst children in remote Indigenous communities

Dec 9 2008

An innovative new medical program in Queensland will use the latest technology to help treat children living in remote Indigenous communities.

A new mobile health clinic to be trialled in Queensland is the first of its kind in Australia and it is hoped will reduce preventable conditions such as ear infections.

The mobile telemedicine program will travel around remote communities capturing patient images and information which will then be relayed to specialists in Brisbane.

The program will be initiated in Cherbourg in south-east Queensland, 300 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, which has the third largest Indigenous community in the State with about 1,200 people.

The new mobile health clinic will also have a new van carrying specialised medical equipment which will be difficult to miss as it has been vividly painted by a local artist.

The program is the brainchild of Dr. Anthony Smith from the University of Queensland's Centre for Online Health and he says it will improve screening rates because the screening is delivered in a much more systematic fashion by providing a facility accessible throughout the year and 90% of children will be able to be screened regularly.

Dr. Smith says 85% of indigenous children in the state are suffering from glue ear which leads to painful perforations of the ear drum and hearing loss - glue ear or otitis media, is an inflammation of the middle ear which causes a build-up of fluid behind the ear drum.

Apparently the children will be given a thorough health check up and the information will be relayed to specialists in Brisbane who say they will be able to be more effective and see the worst effected children such as those who need both simple and complex surgery.

Experts say ear infections are a major problem and the new program will ensure there is a targeted approach.

Dr. Chris Perry, the medical director of the Deadly Ears program which aims to prevent hearing loss in Indigenous children, says in Aboriginal communities 90% of children at any given time have virtually hearing aid level deafness.

The van will be staffed by local health workers and Cecil Brown from Cherbourg's Community Health Service will coordinate the trial.

Mr Brown says many children in the communities have hearing problems which often lead to learning problems and identifying children at an early age and treating them will lead to better health and better learning outcomes for them.

Dr. Smith says the three-year project will initially focus on detecting health conditions which impact on children's hearing and vision, as well as monitoring general health and well-being, but he believes there is the potential to expand the screening service to include other specialties such as dentistry and dermatology.

The trial which is funded by the Royal Children's Hospital Foundation will hopefully provide a model for health care in other remote Indigenous communities.