Youth Research Qualitative Report - District Council of Mount Barker

facilitating participation in health issues; facilitating social connection and social inclusion of
disadvantaged young people; ensuring easy access to health and community services that
understand and respect the needs of young people; and supporting the carers of young people with
chronic illness, disability or mental health issues, will all lead to improved health outcomes for
young people (Rice and Dolgin, 2008).
The medical health needs of these participants were generally low. However, a number of young
people complained they had poor access to GP, hospital and specialist health care services in the Mt
Barker Council District. General practitioners often had long waiting times, local hospital services
were inadequate for the local health needs (with some young people being referred to larger
teaching hospitals for non-life threatening emergency treatment) and specialist services had to be
accessed in the city. This was particularly inconvenient for those with chronic health conditions that
required frequent, but often cursory, checkups.
And the hospital doesn’t offer heaps either. Like you have to go downtown. (Young Man,
15yrs)
I have to see a specialist but I always have to go down to Flinders because there’s no-one down
here who can do it... all the way down to like Flinders just to like see him and it’s like half an
hour. (Young woman 16yrs)
One focus group was conducted with a group of young people who participated in ‘Yak Rap’, a youth
advocacy group run through the Adelaide Hills Community Health Service. Yak Rap gives young
people in the Mt Barker region a voice and a forum for participation in health issues (broadly
defined). The members meet regularly to discuss issues that are important to them; they cooperate
in the design of health programs for other young people; they participate in the dissemination of
health information to other young people and they represent the health service, their peers and the
Mt Barker community at professional meetings where the success of Yak Rap is showcased. Yak Rap
members who participated in this study spoke very highly of the group. They valued the opportunity
to have a say and to participate in program design, and many relied on the group and its Community
Health facilitators for social interaction, social support and professional advocacy in relation to
health, housing and education.
Like the Vocational College, Yak Rap is a highly valued service and an excellent resource for young
people in the Mt Barker district. It is especially valuable for young people at risk of social exclusion or
struggling with family, social or behavioural issues. Unfortunately, like the Vocational College, it
sometimes struggles to provide the level of service required by the community. In particular, there is
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Needs assessment of young people in the Mt Barker Council District – November 2009