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. Champions4Change is now run by the Heart Foundation’s First Nations Heart Health team to bring the programs goals and vision to life.

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.

As a Champion, you can:

• Collaborate with the Heart Foundation to develop culturally relevant resources, participate in media opportunities, speak at conferences and support the RHD awareness work the Heart Foundation is involved in.
• Work with us to deliver community information/education sessions, raising awareness around ARF/RHD and best practice care options (especially pain free injections).
• Yarn and share your story as a guest speaker at workshops, Champions' activities, and in promotional materials.
• Be supported to learn and grow with upskilling opportunities and workshop attendance.

Who can become a Champion?

To become a Champion, you must either be:

• A person with lived experience of ARF or RHD
• A person ‘with the lived experience’ of caring for someone for example, a family member who has ARF or RHD
• 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.