People In Health Care; Dr Gaj Panagoda,
empowering underprivileged communities
Xstitch Health takes project based approach to
creating community-driven,
sustainable health outcomes
Dr Gaj Panagoda, CEO of Xstitch Health, has a diverse medical background and is working to improve health systems for underprivileged communities. In the Australian Health Journal’s People In Health Care series, he talks about the changes needed in community-based care using a project based approach,
According to Dr Panagoda, there is a need for a shift towards community-based care and collaboration with stakeholders in the healthcare system, and the potential to create a new kind of socially conscious, inspired, community-informed medical specialist is the future of medical specialty care.
Project-based job outcomes are clear, post-COVID community-based health systems are innovative, and the six pillars of Xstitch involve working with communities to identify strengths and challenges, collaborating with stakeholders, and deciding what’s needed.
Communities, including underprivileged ones, have untapped strengths that can be harnessed for their own healthcare journeys, and Xstitch Health aims to do something different by focusing on change management, policy, and governance.
“We are looking at a unique model to fund health projects based on community-defined issues and deliverables, with most interest coming from schools”, says Dr Panagoda.
He’s seen, schools in underprivileged areas that are providing services for students with particular needs, are interested in working better with health systems, to address acute issues.
Dr Panagoda believes medical specialists in Australia have untapped potential to address the wider needs of patients and can start taking action on their collective knowledge without waiting for higher positions.
Xstitch Health offers a new kind of job for doctors, combining patient care with system improvement and the opportunity to work in various locations.
Health professionals need support in their role in communities and a collaborative model for medical specialists is being developed to have a big impact across Australia.
-
Peak body in child and family services urges prioritising healthcare for kids in care
The Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare (the Centre) is calling on the Australian Government to prioritise healthcare access for children in out-of-home care.
“We have many amazing young people in care with huge potential, but they’re not set up for success,” said Deb Tsorbaris, CEO “Young people and workers tell us that access to health and education assessments is a huge disadvantage.”
-
Inaugural vaccine value chain conference talks about Team Australia
For the first time, key decision-makers and thought leaders from government, industry, academia, NGOs, and representatives from the immunisation community converged in a 2 day conference in Sydney hosted by Biointelect, highlighting the transformative potential of collaborative innovation.
-
How I Became an Emergency Physician
Dr Kim Hansen was initially attracted to emergency medicine because of its dynamic and chaotic environment. She enjoyed organising the chaos of the emergency department and working with a variety of patients, from newborn babies to centenarians. Dr Hansen found it fulfilling to help people get better or provide them with assistance and guidance when they couldn’t be cured. The unpredictability of the work was also part of the appeal, and she dedicated herself to developing the skills required to be a good emergency doctor.
