We’re really excited that cohealth GP, Dr Georgina Whiting has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship to extend her knowledge of provision of gender specific care to people experiencing homelessness.
The Churchill Fellowship will enable Dr Whiting to build on her learnings from setting up a cohealth women’s clinic for women experiencing homelessness. Through this experience, Dr Whiting has come to understand that for women experiencing homelessness there are many specific barriers they face in accessing health services. One factor is Family Violence, the principal cause of homelessness for Australian women and their children.
Dr Whiting will attend the National Health Care for the Homeless Council Conference, a meeting of leading healthcare workers in the USA, who produce research and influence policy in this field. She will also visit several clinics in cities across the US, UK and Europe that provide specialised care to homeless women and their families.
This field research will be of immediate benefit to women in Melbourne via practice at cohealth, and to the Australian health sector more broadly via sharing of her findings through primary healthcare networks. We extend our sincere congratulations to Dr Whiting and encourage her in the pursuit of this important work.