Independent Review of The Bush Telegraph (Port Lincoln)

In 2022, Psychology Honours Student, Tasha Brennan, under the supervision of Dr Adam Gerace and Dr Tessa Benveniste, conducted an independent of The Bush Telegraph delivered across Port Lincoln. An overview of the program delivery can be found here.

The research employed a case study approach with focus groups (n = 12).

The purpose of the study was to gain the perspectives of community providers on their experiences in The Bush Telegraph Program, including how they used shared language, knowledge, methods, and skills, what were the facilitators and barriers to implementation, and what is the value of The Bush Telegraph in regional and rural areas.

This study found that shared language, knowledge, methods, and skills across multiple agencies improved both the practice of community providers with their own clients and their capacity to engage in effective interagency collaboration.

This research supports the incorporation of an intentional practice and systems approach into whole-of-community wellbeing programs that aim to improve wellbeing outcomes in regional and rural communities. It also demonstrates that a shared approach can be implemented across multiple agencies in regional and rural communities to improve interagency collaboration and service provision.

For a copy of the research summary, please click here.