The Fieldays Health Hub will be an interactive and non-threatening space designed to educate and inform Fieldays visitors about health issues affecting rural communities.

“Farmers don’t always have the opportunity to get off the farm and have their health checks,” says NZ National Fieldays Society’s head of events Lee Picken. “It’s really important to have this at Fieldays – it’s a great platform for health professionals to start that conversation.”

Mobile Health is a key partner in the Fieldays Health Hub, and its mobile surgical bus will be a cornerstone of the site.

“We want to engage with rural people about health and make a difference,” says Mobile Health general manager Mark Eager. “The idea is to get a lot of like-minded health organisations together and change how rural people think about health, and generate conversations.”

The bus will be at NZ Agricultural Fieldays from June 14-17 this year. And for 10 months of the year the bus travels the country, from Kaikohe to Balclutha, performing scheduled day surgeries in small towns and rural centres. It works closely with district health boards and local nurses to ensure rural people have better access to surgery.

Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand is backing the Fieldays Health Hub. RHAANZ CEO Michelle Thompson says rural people are losing out when it comes to health. “Of the scant data that exists, we know the health outcomes for rural people are poorer than for urban people.

“Agriculture, along with tourism, is the power base of the New Zealand economy. It makes good economic sense for the Government to focus on the people supporting the rural economy.”

City-size population

Michelle estimates there were about 600,000 people living rurally, from Cape Reinga to Bluff.  “If it were a city that would be New Zealand’s second largest city, and it doesn’t feel like the rural sector gets that level of attention when it comes to health.”

Poor access to healthcare or delay in seeking treatment help can impact many medical conditions, which become more serious than if they were treated earlier.

Michelle says the barriers to good health are varied. They include lack of GPs and aged-care workers in some rural areas, limited access to healthcare screenings or treatment due to geographic isolation, embarrassment or difficulty talking about symptoms, and work pressures – it can be hard to ‘take time’ away from the farm, especially during busy seasons or if short-staffed.

“We want all rural people to be healthy and well, and the best way to do this is to make sure they have equitable access to health services,” says Michelle, who says evidence suggests cancer impacted the rural community at a higher rate than the national average.

Large bowel

Among the proposed sites is a giant inflatable bowel from Bowel Cancer New Zealand. Large enough for people to walk through, the oversized exhibit will be both educational and fun, and provide important health information to the public.

The Fieldays Health Hub will also host a series of expert speakers doing free ‘MED Talks’ – 10-minute health presentations inspired by the popular ‘TED Talks’ concept.

Engaging with rural people in a fun, non-threatening but educational way is the aim of the Fieldays Heath Hub, says Mark.

“Take melanoma. You can have people there handing out brochures and telling people to slip-slop-slap, or you can bring in a UV camera and set it up so people can stand in front of it and see the damage the sun is doing to their skin.

“That’s what we want to do – make it funky and interactive – not exhibitors standing there and selling something or shaking a bucket.”

Surgical bus

The mobile surgical bus last appeared at Fieldays in 2011, and was a drawcard for many visitors. “We had 6000 people come through our operating theatre in 2011.

“We had a real patient, an actor, and we put pig’s skin on his tummy and stitched it up – so it looked very gruesome and genuine. We had a knee surgery, and a patient with a fake knee being operated on with a big television screen so people could watch.

“People found it very interesting.”

Lee says the health of rural people is incredibly important to the NZ National Fieldays Society. “This year we are focusing on leading change and the introduction of the Fieldays Health Hub is about leading that conversation and increasing awareness in the rural health sector. 

“It’s such an important conversation to have, if our farmers aren’t healthy then that impacts everything.