About
Healthy Towns is a collaborative, place-based initiative working to improve health and wellbeing across regional and rural Victoria. Grounded in local partnerships and led by the needs of each community, the program brings together university health students, local organisations, and residents to make health more visible, accessible, and actionable.
At the heart of Healthy Towns is a three-week pop-up health clinic, set up in a central community location. During this time, nursing students on placement offer free, non-invasive health screenings under supervision. These clinics act as both a service and a learning opportunity, introducing students to what regional and rural health practice really looks like: flexible, hands-on, community-focused, and often working where services are limited. Healthy Towns doesn’t stop at the main site. Over the course of the three weeks, we also take the clinic on the road visiting surrounding towns, local businesses, neighbourhood houses, aged care homes, and other community organisations. Community houses and local organisations are encouraged to get involved through hosting the program.
Each student participating in Healthy Towns will spend one of their three weeks in a hospital environment connecting with the incredible health professionals and developing their own professional identity. We are committed to working with the local hospital to ensure this placement component is meaningful, well-structured, and tailored to the opportunities available in each setting. We look forward to collaborating with hospital staff to identify a range of relevant experiences for the students and to understand how best to engage them without disrupting existing workflows. We are also keen to coordinate a streamlined onboarding process that avoids unnecessary duplication and maximises efficiency across the placement period.
Meet the Students
If you’ve been greeted by a friendly nursing student offering you a free health screening, you’ve already met the heart of Healthy Towns. Our screenings are delivered by first-year nursing students from La Trobe University, many of whom come from rural backgrounds themselves. While they’re here to practice clinical skills like taking blood pressure, checking glucose levels and offering basic health advice, they’re also learning something just as important: how to connect with people.
These students aren’t just on placement, they’re getting a real taste of rural health practice. By chatting with locals in familiar spaces, main streets, neighbourhood houses, workplaces, and community events, they’re building confidence, communication skills, and an understanding of what health looks like outside a hospital. It’s not uncommon for them to walk away with a new perspective on rural life, a deeper appreciation of community, and sometimes, a desire to return.
We hope that by helping them feel welcomed and valued, they’ll consider coming back, not just to visit, but to live and work. After all, the future rural workforce is already here, we’re just giving them a reason to stay.
What is a Health Screening?
Learning to conduct vital health screenings is an essential skill for nurses, as it empowers them to play a frontline role in detecting early signs of illness, promoting preventative care, and supporting long-term health outcomes. By mastering these assessments, such as monitoring blood pressure, heart rate, blood glucose, and other key indicators, nurses can identify potential health risks before symptoms arise, guide timely interventions, and educate patients on managing their wellbeing. In both clinical and community settings, this competency not only strengthens a nurse’s ability to deliver high-quality, holistic care but also contributes significantly to reducing the burden of chronic disease across the population.
In the Healthy Towns pop-up clinic and outreach students check for the following:
Blood pressure
Blood glucose
Tempterature
Heart Rate
Oxygen Saturation
Pain score
No appointment needed. Just show up, say hi, and the student nurses will take care of the rest.
Past Programs
In December last year, the main street of Kyabram got a little busier and a whole lot healthier. Over three packed weeks, Healthy Ky brought free health screenings right into the heart of town, setting up shop in the old ANZ bank and partnering with Kyabram Community Learning Centre, Kyabram District Health Service, and a brilliant mix of local organisations to make it all happen.
We didn’t sit still either. Our placement students and staff hit the road, visiting the Fauna Park, the police station, local businesses, and nearby towns offering quick, friendly health checks and sharing practical advice. If you were in Ky during those weeks, chances are one of our students tried to drag you in for a screening (and let’s be honest, you probably let them). The result? Over 1,300 health checks delivered in just 15 days.
