Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Speaker B: Welcome to Talkin Toowoomba, the podcast sharing real stories that matter.
We're proud to partner with Hope Horizons, shining a light on the journeys of locals impacted by cancer and the incredible people who walk beside them.
Today's episode is brought to you by Better your Business Consulting, helping local businesses with clarity and purpose.
The content of the Talking Toowoomba podcast is provided for general information and community interest only.
It should not be taken as professional, financial, medical or legal advice and must not be relied upon as such.
Listeners should seek independent, qualified advice relevant to their own circumstances before making any decisions.
Now, let's get into today's conversation.
[00:00:56] Speaker A: I'd like to welcome to the program Rachel Carter, who's the general manager here at Hope Horizons. Morning, Rachel. Good morning, Shane.
[00:01:05] Speaker C: Could I just take this chance to say thank you so much for highlighting Hope Horizons on this podcast? It's an amazing opportunity for us and we're excited to partner with you.
[00:01:14] Speaker A: It's a pleasure to have you on board.
So tell me, on a typical day, what does you your role as the general manager here at Hope Horizons, what's it involve?
[00:01:26] Speaker C: Yeah, so a typical day in my general life, I consider myself a bit of a jack of all trades, master of nothing. But that's what my role is a little bit like here at Hope Horizons. So I can be fundraising in a day or putting together a sponsorship prospectus for businesses. Then I could be meeting with someone, someone like a business owner about corporate sponsorship, but then I might be helping out with some HR needs within the organization across the social enterprises or here at the center.
It really varies a lot as to what I could be doing.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: Yeah, it's never a dull moment, by the sound.
[00:02:06] Speaker C: Never a dull moment. Never a dull moment. My job really, I probably should explain, is really the board's there to set the strategy in collaboration with myself and build the frameworks around how Hope Horizons will operate. And then my job is to then go forth and make that happen.
[00:02:25] Speaker A: Now, you've also got a nursing background, haven't you? Can you just tell us a little bit about that?
[00:02:30] Speaker C: Yeah, of course. I do have a nursing background. I've been a nurse for 20 years now. Oh, actually, I think it's 21. I always wanted to be a nurse as a kid, and so that's what I did. And I did solidly nurse for quite a few years until I had children.
And then there was always something else that I was doing in the community somewhere where I felt I saw a gap or just was passionate about something. So I'd be Doing things in the community as well.
And yeah, so I've done emergency nursing predominantly, but I've touched on general practice nursing, surgical medical and refugee health.
[00:03:12] Speaker A: Okay. So I would imagine that's a very beneficial tool to have in your belt here at Hope Horizons, because I'm sure.
And look, we do know each other.
[00:03:22] Speaker B: Outside of the podcast, so.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: And I know what you're like. So you would draw on those skills to even help during the day when you're talking to people coming into Hope Horizons, wouldn't you?
[00:03:33] Speaker C: Absolutely. It's been such a helpful skill to have, even in the running of the organization and the management of it, having that medical background to understand, you know, where our programs should go and where the gaps are and that sort of thing. It's just been really helpful to have that background. But, yes, you do learn a lot of skills, people skills as well, in nursing and how to manage people.
Well, that's terrible, isn't it? How to manage people, but how to deal with people when they come in and they're extremely distraught and that sort of thing. So I can bring my nursing skills out there as well.
[00:04:06] Speaker A: Now, there's obviously a gap in our region for a wellness centre for caring for people with cancer. How does Hope Horizons fit into that alongside the hospitals and the oncologists?
[00:04:21] Speaker C: That's a great question.
We definitely, at Hope Horizons are not a treatment centre. We're the wraparound support that helps someone journey through their medical treatment and then beyond as well.
So our work is filling gaps financially for people. So even if you've got private health insurance, but you then get a cancer diagnosis, it's still so expensive, you're still paying so much out of pocket, and the possibility of losing your job when you have cancer is quite high.
So. So we're helping to bridge that financial gap so that people can actually afford those wraparound services like allied health. And then we're filling gaps as well where the system is a little bit overloaded and we're able to maybe get someone in to see a psychologist sooner or in to see a specialist physiotherapist, because of what we offer here.
[00:05:20] Speaker A: Okay, so integrated oncology care is a term that I've heard used a bit.
Can you explain that in plain English to someone like me?
[00:05:31] Speaker C: I sure can.
So it means we work with conventional treatment, not instead of it. So you could think of it like this. The hospitals treat the disease, we support the person.
Someone might be having chemo or radiation, and at the same time, we're helping with the side effects of those sorts of things.
We're easing the pain, calming the anxiety, helping them sleep, reduce fatigue, and then we're supporting the families and carers as well, because it has a big impact on them, too.
[00:06:05] Speaker A: Okay, so if. If someone gets to hear about Hope Horizons and hopefully this podcast will go away to helping people know more about Hope Horizons when they come here. What's the process and how do they get started?
[00:06:22] Speaker C: You can be referred to Hope Horizons through several different avenues.
One way is that you can just walk in off the street. We don't actually require that you have a referral for our services, so that's one way that you can come in. Otherwise, you might hear from your nurse navigator at the hospital about us, or you might hear from your specialist, or you might hear from your treatment centre, like Icon, where they'll give you a referral up to Hope Horizons, and from there we will then get you in to see our nurse. And at the moment, that's Kate, who happens to be our founder as well. So it's really nice to have her consolidating that role here at Hope Horizons. You'll see our nurse and she'll go through with you and talk about what your goals are and, you know, what sort of side effects that you're having or, you know, what your issues are, basically, and then work out from there where we're able to step in and help.
Sometimes we do need a referral, so we might send you back to the GP to get a chronic disease management plan, but otherwise, a lot of what we do, we don't need a referral at all.
[00:07:34] Speaker A: So what would you say are some of the services that are most in demand right now here at Hope Horizons?
[00:07:40] Speaker C: Yeah, most in demand, I would say, is our psychology. That's a big one, because cancer doesn't just affect the body, we know it affects you psychologically as well.
And then another one is oncology massage. So oncology massage is massage that's especially designed for people with cancer. It's a lot gentler and it's more about.
And you'll hear this in the podcast later on, it's more about relaxing the body, relaxing the mind, so that you're ready to take on the next round of treatment or to relieve some of that anxiety or to relieve some of that pain. So that's a very popular one, and we're able to deliver that in Hospital at St Andrew's Hospital as well, which is a sort of Australia first. So that's amazing.
[00:08:31] Speaker A: Wow. So that's something that's unique. And it's an Australian first that you can actually go into the hospitals. Can you just tell me a little bit more about that?
[00:08:39] Speaker C: I sure can, because it's very exciting. There's other cancer centres around Australia.
They might have a service like ours within the hospital walls, but the patient still has to go down to that clinic to receive that oncology massage. Whereas. And that's significant because it's very difficult for a palliative care patient who. Who's at end of life because of cancer to go down to the clinic to get their massage because they're immobile. So we're one of actually the first services in Australia that have been able to send oncology massage into the hospital and where we can see palliative care patients on the ward in their own bed. They don't have to go anywhere and we can reduce a lot of anxiety and pain. And then the other exciting one is when we send our oncology massage into the day center where people receive their chemotherapy, which is just quite significant because of what they can do to help those people to receive that treatment on that day. And there's plenty of research and lots of case studies where, you know, someone's blood pressure has been too high and they're like, oh, can we even give them their chemo today? Have an oncology massage brings the blood pressure down and then they can continue on with their treatment for the day instead of being sent away and rebooking in on another day. But just to give, you know, sitting there getting your chemotherapy is not always that fun, and not only because it has a physical impact, but often you know that you're going to be unwell for the next week or two after this treatment, and that causes so much angst. So our oncology massage can just give you a really gentle massage in your seat and just help you to relax a little.
[00:10:33] Speaker A: Okay. It sounds like Hope Horizons is breaking the mole and breaking some ground, which.
[00:10:38] Speaker B: Is really good to hear.
[00:10:40] Speaker A: I'm just wondering, can you share a story, a short story, de identify it, obviously, but that captures the difference that this support makes.
Not just an oncology massage, but any of the services that you provide. Is there a story you can tell us about someone without naming them that gives us an idea of how it helped them?
[00:11:04] Speaker C: Yeah. I love the story of let's call her Sarah. She'd recently gone through breast surgery and she had a scar and it was quite a significant scar. Some of the ways that she described it. It was tight, it was always pulling, it was restrictive.
Even things like reaching for a seatbelt or hugging someone was difficult for her.
And she didn't feel like it was even a part of her. It was like just this thing and really quite debilitating for her. So she's had scar therapy with Hope Horizon. So this was, you know, after her treatment, after all of that had been kind of completed, but she'd been left with this scar, and we were able to support her with that scar therapy and really massage that out, release it a lot. And she walks away going, now it's softer. I can move more freely. I'm not flinching. Every time I lift my arm, the scar's still there. But she said, it doesn't own me anymore. And she feels like herself again.
I think that's such a significant story. Scars can be really awful for people afterwards, and I don't think we understand that sometimes.
[00:12:20] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a funny. I say it's a funny thing. I don't mean funny, but it's amazing how at times, unless you've been through something yourself, it's very hard to understand or comprehend why a person may be upset, not coping.
They're just not the person you have always known.
[00:12:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:12:45] Speaker A: And it's hard to understand why, you know, still here, you know, things are going well, but it's amazing how much the mental side of things, I think, still affects people.
[00:12:58] Speaker C: I think we heard it in Rosie's story a lot as well. You know, you can go, oh, yeah, your chemotherapy's over. You cured from cancer.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: You know, you're in remission. You should be fantastic.
[00:13:09] Speaker C: Exactly.
But you've got neuropathy because you had radiation or you've got this massive scar or, you know, whatever it is, like, there's all those little things actually have a really big impact on people in the survivorship period of your cancer journey. And, yeah, I like that story because it's not your typical one. You know, you can come in here throughout your treatment and have an oncology massage, and they talk about how, you know, they just walked out feeling a lot calmer, a lot more peaceful about everything. And I feel like that's a really typical story, and it's great. But then when you really get down to some nitty gritty stuff, that's. Those stories about scars and whatnot really are huge.
[00:13:50] Speaker A: Okay, so gonna put you on the spot.
What's the toughest challenge for a regional cancer wellness center like Hope Horizons right now?
[00:14:04] Speaker C: Finances.
[00:14:05] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:14:07] Speaker C: It's challenging.
Any charity is challenging. You know, we have a fantastic strategy around how to make some money so that we can continue supporting this service.
But it's still challenging to bring that strategy to life, to have enough resources and people to continue bringing those services.
So yeah, finances being able to continue the services is massive.
But I think there's some real challenges that we have here in the regions as well because we just don't have the access that they have in metro areas to resources, to people, to specialists and that sort of thing. So trying to find even practitioners who can give their time as well is difficult.
But yeah, we cover gaps for people. So you know, most people that come in here are in a financially difficult situation and our philosophy is that we encourage people to pay where they can, if they can, but that's not a reality for most people. So we're covering those gaps and then we're looking after this beautiful building as well, which is just a divine. So we've got all those operational expenses as well. And I love know people, there's a lot of grants and things out there. They'll cover a program, they'll cover equipment, but they won't cover operational expenses. And I'm like, well we can't actually provide that program or provide that service unless we've got the electricity on. And you know, we're working towards sustainability. That's why we've got two shops, Hope on a Hangar shops and they sell pre loved clothes. So, we have all of that profit from those shops coming into here. So we're working towards sustainability to cover all those overhead costs. But it is still challenging.
[00:16:00] Speaker A: Now talking about trying to raise funds for Hope Horizons is a number of different ways that you've already talked about and there'll be a lot that are going to come up gradually through the podcast.
But I brought with me today some of the tablet packages that are wrapped in foil and that sort of thing. Now that's a great way that anybody. Because there aren't too many people who, whether it be vitamins or medication, have these pop out trays on foil. Can you just go into a little bit about that for me and how that can be such a help in raising your funds?
[00:16:42] Speaker C: I sure can.
So we have bunches of people who bring in their Alfoil wraps from their medications and for some people that can be quite a bit. And we gather that all up and we take it to Busby's down the road and they weigh it and then they give us, you know, however many cents per kilogram of al foil. Now that costs you nothing that you just have to gather that up and drop it off. You can actually drop it off to Busby's yourself if you want to, because you just pick Hope Horizons. When you go through the order, that's where you want the money to go to.
So it's a really easy, simple way to help, but also really great for the environment because, you know, I'm. I'm always a little bit astounded by how much of that we get here that people drop off. And if that's not coming to someone like us or, you know, someone similar, it's all going to landfill. And that's not a great. The other way is also that you can actually drop off your 10 cent containers as well. Or you can even sign up with the likes of E Waste and get a bin from them. Fill your bin up at home, they'll send their truck to your house when it's full and empty that bin for you. And how easy is it just to chuck a can in a, in a wheelie bin and then have E Waste come and collect it for you? And then we get that 10 cents. It's phenomenal.
And you'd be surprised at how it adds up. Right? Every little bit counts.
[00:18:13] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's a great idea. Now, I didn't realize that I could even do my Pepsi Max cans.
[00:18:18] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: Notice I said Pepsi Max.
Look, one of the things I see that's important here with Hope Horizons, and I've experienced it firsthand, is the wonderful practitioners that you have here that provide support to those of us who are going through a cancer journey.
They've got to need some looking after as well.
So how do you look after your team?
[00:18:49] Speaker C: Oh, how do I look after my team?
Yeah. Actually, to be quite honest, I've been in this role for seven months now and I feel like I'm still establishing that a little bit, to be honest with you. But some of the things I've implemented since I've arrived is a quarterly catch up for everyone. So our volunteers, our staff, service providers, they're invited along for an evening or a day. And we've been, you know, our first one was actually a meditation class then with our provider who provides meditation here. So we were able to just offer that to our people, people and, you know, give them the chance to take a breath, ground themselves and just relax a little and let things go. And then we have, you know, last time was a meet the board one. So they were able to sit down, meet the board, hear from them directly because that's a little bit difficult sometimes in charity work. As well, because your board's here doing this very specific job, and then you've got your operational team doing this very specific job. And sometimes it can be hard to communicate because you're meeting at different times and that sort of thing. So, yeah, we just try to offer some social or wellness sort of activities each quarter.
And then we like to provide training as. As much as we can as well. So people feel supported and capable to do their jobs while they're here as well.
[00:20:21] Speaker A: I was going to say, one of the things I've noticed coming here to the wellness center is everybody's warm and friendly and very welcoming. I've noticed it's not just how they relate to the clients coming in, but it's how they relate to everyone else who's part of Hope Horizons.
You've seemed to have a real.
A real team environment.
[00:20:48] Speaker C: We have a lot of people making Hope Horizons happen.
So it's not even here at the center, you know, but we have volunteers here at the center every single day. And the thing about the center is we never wanted it to feel clinical at all. We wanted you to feel like you're walking into your home, basically, that you can go and make a cup of tea, you know, that you're. That you're welcomed with a friendly, warm welcome. But that's what we strive towards. And then we've got the rest of the team. It's a whole other little community out at Hope on a Hangar on Highfield and Hope on a Hangar at High Street.
It's adorable because they just. It's like this family that they have there, and it's really special to see.
[00:21:31] Speaker A: Rachel, I want to thank you for your time today. It's been great chatting with you and I hope that we've helped by our little chat this today. Encourage people to think about how they can support Hyper Eyes. And there's numerous ways that people can.
Is there anything else you'd like to add to the conversation before we call it a day?
[00:21:54] Speaker C: Is there anything else I'd like to add? We think no one should face cancer alone.
And we strongly agree that Hope Horizons is here because of the community.
It belongs to the community and it is for the community.
So we just, you know, with everybody's support, we can continue bringing that integrated oncology care to our region to support everyone in our community that is impacted by cancer.
[00:22:26] Speaker A: Thanks, Rachel. Have a great day.
[00:22:28] Speaker C: Thank you. You too.
[00:22:31] Speaker B: Thanks for joining us on Talkin Toowoomba. If today's story inspired you, please share it. To help spread hope, a special thanks to Better Your Business Consulting for supporting our mission and to Hope Horizons for their incredible, incredible work in our community.
The content of Talkin Toowoomba podcast is provided for general information and community interest only.
It should not be taken as professional, financial, medical or legal advice and must not be relied upon as such.
Listeners should seek independent, qualified advice relevant to their own circumstances before making any decisions.
Until next time, keep talking. Toowoomba.
