Two and a half decades at Tocal Field Days

Hunter New England Health will celebrate 25 years of attendance at Tocal Field Days when the event kicks off on Friday 2nd May.

For 25 years Lower Hunter Community Health, who co-ordinate the Health and Safety Exhibit at the Tocal Field Days, has sought to bridge the gap between health services and the rural farming community.

East Maitland Community Health Community Nurse Marian Seaton has been there since the beginning and said the health exhibit has had an outstanding impact on the rural community and its approach to healthcare.

“When we began in 1983, farmers were reluctant to access healthcare and had difficulty obtaining information regarding their ‘wellness’, so we took on the job to let them know how we could help,” she said. 

“Every year we have a topic of rural health that we focus on. This time we will bring back some of the best and still relevant ideas from the past 25 years.” 

Some of the successful exhibits and displays making a return this year include:

• A breast screening and education display
• An audiometry sound proof booth to test the hearing of farmers (particularly the younger farmers)
• A farm safety display
• A UV reflective camera to ascertain sun damage exposure to the face 
• A display and fun competition to guess the correct serving sizes of food
• Community preparedness information in case of disaster
   
“We had such good results from things like the breast screening and education display a few years back. Women were shown how to examine their own breasts using breast models. A number of women have returned in later years to say that we probably saved their lives by doing that education.”

In 2004 Tocal Field Days saw the Hunter’s initial ‘Pit Stop’ Men’s Health program being presented to visitors. ‘Pit Stop’ has since been presented at many venues throughout the Hunter.

“Through innovative and entertaining health exhibits at Tocal Field Days we have been able to go on providing relevant health information to our rural communities,” Ms Seaton said.   

At Tocal Field Days’ first year in 1983 there were 7000 visitors to the exhibit, there are now some 30,000 people visiting the health exhibits every year.

This year’s health exhibit will also showcase a photo exhibition of images from past years.

Contact: Communication Unit

Phone: (02) 4985 5522