Rhiannon makes inroads for people experiencing homelessness

People sleeping rough have the lowest life expectancy of any demographic in this country, with life expectancy 30 years less than the general population. A contributing factor to this statistic is inaccessible health services. These factors are the driving force behind the Bendigo Community Health Services’ InRoads program.

Rhiannon Engi, an InRoads Community Connector, supports people at risk of or experiencing homelessness by helping to link them with health and other services. She’s spent the past eight months seeing just how immense a challenge it is for the individuals she supports to access healthcare; to even step foot inside a GP clinic.

“I’ve witnessed the stigma and bias directed at people even while I was present to advocate for them,” she says. “It’s given me a glimpse of what they endure alone every day and helped me understand why accessing healthcare can feel so overwhelming.”

BCHS has two Inroads Community Connectors on the streets of Bendigo each weekday. They walk alongside the city’s most vulnerable, offering care, time and practical support. They’re currently connected with 65 people experiencing homelessness in the CBD.

Rhiannon says no two days are the same for anyone involved. “But I can guarantee if anyone makes a comment about how quiet it is, shit will hit the fan, and you can forget about any lunch break,” she says.

“Some days are full of appointments, phone calls, and advocacy. Others are about crisis support or simply sitting for hours listening to someone and their current struggles … the work is shaped by people’s lives.”

Rhiannon says building a bridge between her clients and the much-needed service access is highly complex and can involve barriers including having no Medicare card or ID, unpredictable transport, no phone credit, or nowhere to keep medication.

“My role is to be real and honest. To acknowledge the truths of both sides. And to find ways to encourage connection.”

A number of BCHS’ clinicians have opted to be that person on the other side of the bridge. Sometimes that’s a GP, other times it’s a Nurse Practitioner/Mental Health Nurse.

“Even with trained clinicians advocating — the barriers to care for someone experiencing homelessness, living with trauma and/or a cognitive or psychosocial disability remain too high.”

Rhiannon has long been a champion of the underdog.  Before joining BCHS and the InRoads programs, she was a Home Care Package care manager, working with elderly clients with complex needs to keep them in their own homes. Prior to that she worked with dementia patients as an enrolled nurse, specifically with people seen as having “behaviours of concern”, such as verbal and physical aggression, refusal of care and non-compliance of medications.

“I always found people to be misunderstood, not listened to, not respected and therefore not cared for to a standard that one would expect for their own mother or father,” she says.

“When the role of Community Connector became available, I was again drawn to supporting people who have not been treated with dignity and respect to access services that everyone is entitled to.”

It’s perhaps this ethos that has led the individuals Rhiannon supports to accept and often embrace her presence in their lives.

“Far from the stereotypes, I’ve been cared for and looked after by the very people I’m supporting,” she says.

“That mutual respect and humanity is what makes this work so meaningful.”

Since January, the Inroads team has recorded over 650+ engagements,700+ hours of support, and facilitated more than 130 health appointments. Thanks to the team’s dedication to building relationships and persistence to see positive outcomes for their clients, appointment attendance now sits above 80 per cent. At the start, almost no one had a regular healthcare provider. Now, more than 80 per cent of participants do. 

The work is tough, but the rewards are there, Rhiannon says. It’s there in the news that one man sleeping rough long-term, who had lost access to critical medication, found a GP after being advocated for. Now, six months on, he says he’s doing much better, is receiving his medication and is even housed.

That’s not the only good news story the InRoads team have been part of, and Rhiannon hopes more advocacy moments will end like this to change that dire life expectancy stat. 

Rhiannon says the most rewarding parts of her job are seeing people’s compassion for each other, and the pride they feel in themselves when they achieve something they didn’t think was possible.

“Reaching the clinic, or even making it partway through an appointment, represents growth, persistence, and courage,” she says.

We are pleased to share the story of Rhiannon’s work ahead of World Homeless Day on October 10, in the hope it contributes to breaking down barriers to care and understanding.

Inroads is nearing capacity with the amount of people it supports, and it yet to secure continued funding.

To keep building these bridges, and to expand access to our Nurse Practitioner – currently available only one day a week – we need your support. Public donations will help us continue this vital work and bring healthcare within reach for people who would otherwise go without. To donate, go to Donate – BCHS