Champions4Change

The Champions4Change program is a national program that brings together people with the lived experience of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and RHD.

Entirely designed and led by First Nations people with lived experience and their communities, it is a culturally safe prevention and support program.

It aims to raise awareness, provide health promotion and health prevention messages, to support communities at risk of ARF and RHD, advocate for health systems change and provide support to people with ARF and RHD.

Champions4Change amplifies the voices of the Champions and encourages them to tap into their cultural knowledge to bring about a richer understanding of what it truly means to live with ARF and RHD.

Background of the Champions4Change program

ARF and RHD are preventable conditions, yet Australia has some of the highest rates of RHD in the world, seen almost exclusively in First Nations people.

In 2018, RHD Australia, an initiative of Menzies School of Health Research, established the Champions4Change program, drawing on evidence-based principles indicating grass roots leadership and self-determination is the most effective way to deliver RHD health messages to communities.

RHD Australia recognised that eliminating RHD requires more than just medical treatment. It needs to include the lived experiences and consider the social, environmental, and cultural factors of health, respecting and supporting First Nations knowledge and practices. The Champions4Change program incorporates these critical factors to ensure culturally safe prevention and support for those with ARF and RHD.

What does it mean to be a champion?

• Informing and collaborating with the Heart Foundation to develop culturally appropriate health promotion resources.
• Informing, collaborating, and delivering information/education sessions to raise awareness of best practice care options (especially pain free injections) and delivery of community awareness activities on ARF and RHD.
• Speaking at conferences, forums and other events using your lived experiences to raise awareness and increase knowledge, understanding and impacts of ARF and RHD.
• Yarning and sharing your story with other champions to stay connected and support each other through your ARF and RHD journey.
• Opportunities to attend regional workshops and an annual cultural and leadership camp.

Who can become a champion?

To become a champion, a champion must either be:

• A person with lived experience of ARF or RHD and/or
• A person ‘with the lived experience’ of caring for someone for example, a family member who has ARF or RHD or
• A person who cares/works with people with ARF or RHD for example, members of a community with high prevalence of ARF or RHD, a health care worker who supports patients with ARF or RHD and/or professional ally’s (friends) of the program who support the program and want to contribute to making lasting and positive change towards ending RHD.

How to join the Champions4Change program

To express an interest in joining the program, or if you know of anyone who might be interested in the program, reach out to the First Nations team at [email protected].