Mudgee Community Health Centre social worker, Catherine Bourke was presented an award for the 2018 Western NSW Health Research, Emerging Researcher of the Year.
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Ms Bourke said she felt very excited and humbled to have received the award.
“I am passionate about research, and the opportunity it offers to achieve better health outcomes for rural communities,” she said.
Ms Bourke has been a social worker at the health centre for seven years.
She has worked with families and children and provided counselling, group programs advocacy and support.
In particular, she worked with children who had autism and supported their families in stressful, expensive and frustrated times.
“I became curious about what could be done to improve the situation,” she said.
Ms Bourke was a graduate from the 2013 Rural Research Capacity Building Program where she has since presented her findings in autism diagnosis and continues to research.
“I have received fantastic training and mentoring in research, theory and practice,” she said.
Ms Bourke said she completed a research project at the health centre in Mudgee on how to improve early diagnosis of autism in children in the rural community.
Many local parents and service providers took part and discussed different aspects of what was involved when dealing with autism.
“Together with other local health providers, we began working on some of the recommendations from the research. This work still continues with the Mudgee Autism Working Party,” she said.
That project was the beginning of Ms Bourke’s formal research journey.
“I am still committed to trying to improve the early diagnosis of autism in rural communities, and this is the area on which my research is still focussed,” she said.
Ms Bourke also said she was working with the Western Local Health District for future research as a clinician at Mudgee Health Service.
“I am proud to work for an organisation that has developed a comprehensive research strategy,” she said.
She will continue to research and has enrolled in a Masters by Research at The University of Sydney.
Here Ms Bourke will study how new National Autism Diagnosis Guidelines could be successfully implemented in rural communities.
