West Wimmera Health Service recently released new Community Health and Wellbeing Profiles, providing the first detailed snapshots of the health, wellbeing and liveability of nine towns across the Wimmera and southern Mallee.

The project, which saw the Service join forces with the John Richards Centre at La Trobe University’s Rural Health School, goes beyond the large scale data sets available on the health of regions and instead delves deeper into the nine towns where the Service has a presence, including, Nhill, Natimuk, Goroke, Kaniva, Jeparit, Rainbow, Minyip, Rupanyup and Murtoa.

“The exciting thing about this project is that we now, for the first time, have access to solid benchmarking data, which means from this year forward, we will be able to track the health and wellbeing of these small communities over time,” Health Promotion Manager, Dorothy McLaren said.

“This information is particularly important as it will help us to tailor initiatives to support and improve the overall health of the towns.”

A number of conclusions can be drawn from the current data, including that all of the nine towns have a higher rate of mental health conditions compared to the Victorian state average of 8.8%, with Jeparit the highest at 17%.

The data reports that our communities are home to many people in their late-forties to mid-fifties, compared to the Victorian state average of 38 years of age.

For more interesting data, information about these Community Health and Wellbeing Profiles, or to request a copy (either hardcopy or digital version) of the profiles, contact our Health Promotion team at health.promotion@wwhs.net.au. 

This article appeared in the Nhill Free Press & Kaniva Times, 8 March 2023.