Indigenous-themed Foundation programs earn encore screenings on Aurora TV in February
December 22, 2008Aurora Community Channel will re-broadcast four of the Rural Health Education Foundation’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health programs during February 2009, following successful initial screenings on that network in September 2008.
Aurora TV, now available through the digital versions of Austar, Foxtel and Optus TV, will show the four programs, which all highlight successful community initiatives for promoting good health, twice each during February 2009.
The programs, which will air on Sunday and Friday evenings, are Start Strong, Grow Strong, Keep Safe and Indigenous Mental Health: An Interview with Professor Ernest Hunter.
Aurora broadcast details
Start Strong (26 mins)
Sunday 1st February at 9.30pm (AEST)
Friday 6th February at 7.30pm (AEST)
Grow Strong (26 mins)
Sunday 8th February at 9.30pm (AEST)
Friday 13th February at 7.30pm (AEST)
Keep Safe (26 mins)
Sunday 15th February at 9.30pm (AEST)
Friday 20th February at 7.30pm (AEST)
Indigenous Mental Health: An Interview with Professor Ernest Hunter (16 mins)
Sunday 22nd February at 9.30pm (AEST)
Friday 27th February at 7.30pm (AEST)
Programs emphasise positive outcomes
Start Strong (airing on Sunday February 1st and Friday February 6th) and Grow Strong (Sunday February 8th and Friday February 13th) are both half-hour programs which showcase community-based initiatives designed to combat some of the poor birth outcomes and early health problems experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Start Strong and Grow Strong were filmed at the Townsville Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Service, Daruk Aboriginal Medical Service, Jirnani Childcare Centre on Bathurst Island (NT), and the Strong Women Strong Babies Strong Culture program in Darwin.
Keep Safe (Sunday February 15th and Friday February 20th), another half-hour program, offers successful models and ideas for injury prevention in Indigenous communities. Projects examined include the Hermannsburg (NT) Night Patrol, the Top End Women’s Legal Service (Darwin) and the Western Australian water safety initiative Watch the Kids.
The final Foundation program in the series, Indigenous Mental Health: An Interview with Professor Ernest Hunter (Sunday February 22nd and Friday February 27th), is a 16-minute discussion with mental health specialist Professor Ernest Hunter about the serious challenges facing Indigenous mental health in Australia.
As broadcasts grow, reception remains strong
The first three of the four Foundation programs airing for a second time on Aurora have already been shown several times on SBS-TV, and have garnered a positive critical reception from independent reviewers. For example, Pat Brodie, National President of the Australian College of Midwives, describes Start Strong as “an essential program for all midwives, nurses, Aboriginal health workers and medical staff.”
The four programs premiered on the Foundation’s own national satellite broadcast network in 2007.
Foundation welcomes repeat airings
“We’re thrilled that Aurora has decided to re-broadcast these Foundation programs to its viewers across Australia’s three major digital subscription television platforms,” says Don Perlgut, CEO of the Rural Health Education Foundation. “Aurora’s new broadcasts will not only bring these programs to a wider range of viewers, but also make them more accessible to our core audience of Indigenous communities and rural & remote health professionals.”
Available on DVD and the web
DVD copies of the four programs are available for purchase from the Foundation.
The Foundation’s website also provides the four programs for viewing via video web-streaming or listening via an audio podcast, both free of charge.
Program funding
Start Strong and Grow Strong were funded by an untied educational grant from Merck Sharp & Dohme with additional funding from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and the Ian Potter Foundation. Keep Safe was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing
More information
For more information about the broadcasts, please contact the Foundation.