Improving digital access with the Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service

In 2016 it was recorded that 57.4% of First Nations households had internet access compared to 82.1% in other households in Geraldton. This presents a significant barrier to accessing vital health information.

The Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service (GRAMS) were seeking to distribute culturally appropriate health promotion information to their community in Western Australia, particularly around smoking cessation.

To help bridge the digital divide in their community, GRAMS purchased their Hitnet Hub in 2019. This was their second Hub with the first being part of a WA Health funded pilot project. GRAMS were keen to distribute ‘Tackling Indigenous Smoking’ video stories developed by their health promotion team, and to offer free Wi-Fi to the community.

GRAMS Staff with the Hitnet Hub in their waiting room.

GRAMS received their indoor Community Hub with a ‘My Place Geraldton’ channel, which displayed locally produced ‘Tackling Indigenous Smoking’ stories. Their My Place channel also had introductions to the GRAMS staff through the ‘Meet the GRAMS team’ video series.

GRAMS also launched a Hitnet Wi-Fi hotspot for their community, which included a co-designed mobile landing page.

GRAMS co-designed mobile landing page

What was the impact?

From March 2019 to March 2020, the GRAMS Community Hub had over 1170 purposeful uses, with an average use time of 4.5 minutes, showing that the community were actively engaged with, and exploring, the Hub.

Consistent with Community Hubs across the Hitnet network in Australia, the localised My Place channel was the most engaged with. This was followed by content surrounded kids’ mental health, financial literacy and Lockhart Bush Tucker.

Aiming to bridge the digital divide, the Hitnet Wi-Fi Hotspot was also accessed over 900 times, allowing the community to access vital health information and to download content to watch from home.

Access to the digital world is crucial for health promotion, we’re proud that communities are able to do this through the Hitnet Wi-Fi Hotspot.

Wi-Fi Hotspot Usage:

Break down of type of the 379 total devices