Principle 1. Centring local knowledge
Centring local knowledge acknowledges local people are best placed to understand needs and practicalities of what will work in their context.
- Local residents (including local service providers) have valuable first-hand historical and contemporary knowledge about what health services are available in their community, how easy they are to access, how well they meet people’s needs, and how smoothly they work together.
- Local residents are best placed to communicate their own priority health needs.
- Local residents may have expertise in understanding strategies that will be effective in their context.
- Communities often have key individuals who are ‘boundary spanners’ who have special knowledge of the relationship between community and health services.
- Local residents may not always want/be able to prioritise participatory health service planning due to other commitments or events in their community. Sensitivity regarding the timing of processes according to local events and readiness is therefore vital.
Figure 3.1.1. Connecting with local groups: the Clermont Men’s Shed. 
Although we have access to data from a variety of sources, statistics alone rarely reveal the reasons behind observations and trends. The community holds valuable contextual knowledge and understands the realities of their local environment. For example, data may show a high rate of missed appointments (did not attend – DNAs), but it won’t explain that in summer in the outback community of Hughenden, temperatures often reach 36o Celsius and higher. People without transport may choose to not attend their appointment because the clinics are generally held at the MPHS, which is located on the outskirts of town on the Flinders Highway. It is an uphill walk with many passing road trains (Figure 3.1.2). Suggestions such as relocating the clinic to be run from a more central location in town such as at the GP clinic, could help improve attendance. Alternatively, another strategy is to tackle the limited availability of local public transport. During the project, no public transport services were operating in town.
Multi-Purpose Health Service
General Practice/Practitioner
