A program run through the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Speech Pathology Service in Albury-Wodonga will give adults who stutter greater access to an intensive treatment close to home.The week-long program from Monday 12 September is targeted at the one per cent of adult speakers who stutter.Speech pathology lecturer at CSU's School of Community Health, Dr Lisa Brown said intensive programs can have a significant impact on speech in a short period of time."The intensive format enables in-depth speech training, practice and mastery of techniques used to speak without stuttering," said Dr Brown."People can typically achieve stutter-free speech by the end of the third or fourth day of treatment, and use the rest of the week to practice speaking without stuttering in a variety of situations to boost their confidence using the techniques."Intensive treatments are not typically offered by public health services and can be very costly when offered through private speech pathology services."Charles Sturt University is the only university providing intensive treatment in a regional setting."Dr Brown recently completed her PhD on stuttering treatment methods. Read more here.The program will be delivered by final-year Bachelor of Speech and Language Pathology students, supervised by Dr Brown."Delivering intensive stuttering treatment provides students with significant experience working with adults who stutter within a short period of time," said Dr Brown."Many of our graduates will go on to work in regional and rural areas, away from specialist metropolitan services and this will help them to better serve adults who stutter wherever they go."The program will run from Monday 12 September to Friday 16 September with an initial assessment before the treatment and two follow up sessions.Bookings are essential and the cost is $300. Contact the CSU Community Engagement and Wellness Centre on (02) 6051 9299.While the program is aimed at adults, adolescents aged between 15 and 18 years can also contact Dr Brown to discuss their suitability for this treatment.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga is looking after the aged – particularly its trees.To help maintain the health of existing large trees on the campus, CSU students and staff will be planting around 400 native grasses and shrubs underneath them.CSU in Albury-Wodonga Campus Supervisor, Mr Richard Overall said "By re-establishing Indigenous under storey grasses and shrubs, birds and insects that are drawn to these plants will also help control diseases in the older trees." The annual Tree Planting Day at CSU in Albury Wodonga commences at 10am on Wednesday 10 August and runs until 12.30pm.

Author and social researcher Dr Hugh Mackay AO will examine the thorny issue of how we find meaning and purpose in our lives when he delivers public lectures in Albury-Wodonga and Wagga Wagga this month.The latest in the CSU Explorations Series, Dr Mackay's lectures will discuss the themes from his new book, Beyond Belief: How we find meaning, with or without religion.  He'll explore the changing role of religion in Australia and the ways we search for spiritual direction in a society where traditional religious faith and practice are in sharp decline."While our attachment to a traditional idea of God may be waning, our desire for a sense of meaning remains as strong as ever," Dr Mackay said.In the lectures, he'll identify some of the factors that have driven people away from organised religion, and examine the rise of the "spiritual but not religious" movement.Dr Mackay is an honorary Professor at CSU and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University in 1995 recognising his contribution to our understanding of Australian society during his long career as a psychologist and social researcher.Beyond Belief is his seventeenth book. The lecture at CSU in Albury-Wodonga will be held from 6 pm on Monday 15 August at the CD Blake Auditorium, building 751, room 104, near car park 2, off Elizabeth Mitchell Drive in Thurgoona.The lecture in Wagga Wagga will be held at 6 pm on Tuesday 16 August at the CSU Riverina Playhouse, 8 Cross Street in Wagga Wagga.

Paramedicine students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will test their skills in medical and trauma scenarios at a national competition in Melbourne this month.Bachelor of Clinical Practice (Paramedic) students Ms Elizabeth Phillips and Mr James Collins have been selected to represent CSU at the Australian and New Zealand College of Paramedicine (ANZCP) University Challenge on Friday 19 August.The third-year students from CSU in Bathurst have been spending several hours per week practising for the undisclosed simulation challenge, involving manikins in two scenarios, an oral presentation on a professional topic, and a cardio-pulmonary resuscitation challenge.They'll compete against students from nine other Australian institutions for the title of ANZCP University Challenge Champions.Associate lecturer in pre-hospital care, Ms Amanda Hlushak, who will accompany the students to Melbourne, said, "This is the first time Charles Sturt University students have participated in this Challenge."It is a chance to showcase the students' skills and knowledge attained during the last three years, in a competition again the other universities.   "Over the past few weeks, I've been working with them to enhance their scenario management through leadership and communication."CSU offers the Bachelor of Clinical Practice (Paramedic) through its School of Biomedical Sciences at Bathurst and Port Macquarie, as well as through CSU online.The ANZCP is a peak professional body representing paramedics in Australia and New Zealand.


It's being called a 'Yarn Up' by a team of Charles Sturt University (CSU) postgraduate students seeking the views of the Narrandera Aboriginal community on local health services.As part of their studies, three Master of Health Services Management students have organised the Narrandera Community Yarn Up from 6.30pm on Wednesday 10 August in the local Ex-Serviceman's Club.The students are working as a consultancy team for the Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD).Student Ms Anna Feiss said "The Yarn Up is an opportunity for the Narrandera Aboriginal community to tell us their personal stories about health care and services in the area."It is a chance for community members to raise any ideas they may have to improve services."The Yarn Up is open to members of the Narrandera community with particular emphasis on Aboriginal people as well as local community service providers.  Lecturer in Health Services Management Dr David Ritchie said, "This is the third successive year health services management students have undertaken consultancy work for the Murrumbidgee Local Health District and the second year it has focused on Indigenous health."Indigenous health was chosen as a long standing and complex area of health disadvantage, and the Charles Sturt University students should be better prepared than most to make a difference in Closing the Gap."The Yarn Up is being organised online as the students work full-time while studying with Charles Sturt University part-time.He said, "This is a year-long commitment by students to one project. What is also significant is that the project will be ongoing, with a further team of students expected to continue in 2017."The stories from the Yarn Up will be used in the students' final report to MLHD.Ms Feiss said, "The 'Flipping the Focus' report will highlight positives changes which the health authority can make to improve Aboriginal health in the local area."As a team, we believe this project can have a positive impact on the lives of the Narrandera Aboriginal community."For further information about the Narrandera Community Yarn Up, please contact Ms Feiss on 0438 441 262 or anna.macca@yahoo.com.au

Indigenous school students in Bathurst will attend a special leadership event at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst as part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Day on Thursday 4 August.Approximately 42 Indigenous students from every school in Bathurst will attend the leadership day organised by the local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG) at the Wammarra Indigenous Student Centre (ground floor, building 1292) at CSU in Bathurst.Co-convenor of the event and lecturer with the CSU Centre for Law and Justice Ms Annette Gainsford (pictured) said, "This is an example of Charles Sturt University's commitment to and involvement in advancing Indigenous education in regional Australia. Elders, junior AECG members and their parents, teachers and University staff will attend the event."The day will start at 11am with a Welcome to Country and Yarning Circle with Elders. Discussions about Aboriginal cultural leadership with the Bathurst Wiradyuri will follow, then a barbeque lunch at Wammarra with informal yarning with Elders, junior AECG members, parents of the junior AECG members, teachers and CSU staff.

A unique project and exhibition that explores the history and impact of a former mental asylum in Beechworth, in north-east Victoria, has opened at the Albury City LibraryMuseum.Dr Jennifer Munday (pictured), senior lecturer and researcher in the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Education in Albury-Wodonga and one of the curators, said the project titled Bedlam: living with a mental asylum in town has collected narrative data and artefacts for several years which now feature in the exhibition Up Top: A Sense of Place for Mayday Hills Hospital."Bedlam is an applied theatre, history and arts project that helps audiences and participants reflect on the multiple perspectives that co-exist around a significant site within community," Dr Munday said."Mayday Hills Hospital, the former Beechworth mental asylum, referred to as 'Up Top' by locals, has been an iconic presence in the North East Victorian community for more than 140 years," she said."Since the mental asylum opened there in 1867 approximately 9 000 people lived and died there during its 128-year history."One of the central aims of the Bedlam project is to investigate senses of place, along with the living memories of those who have in some way experienced the site."The re-organisation of Mayday Hills throughout its history, and its subsequent closure as a mental asylum, meant changes in the way the community, health services, and patients lived their lives."This project aimed to activate the voices of those touched by their experiences of Mayday Hills, and to provoke a community dialogue about both the history of Mayday Hills and its ongoing presence in the community."Dr Munday said, "One way of achieving this objective is the inclusion of a Story Booth in the LibraryMuseum exhibition where visitors can record their memories of visiting, working or having connections to Mayday Hills."Up Top: A Sense of Place for Mayday Hills Hospital was officially opened at 2pm Saturday 23 July by Professor Bruce Pennay, and will be exhibited until Sunday 25 September and throughout the Write Around the Murray Festival. Find out more about the project here.

Reading glasses and sunglasses donated to Charles Sturt University (CSU) have found new homes in remote villages in northern Thailand.They were hand delivered by nine Bachelor of Nursing students and their CSU lecturer Ms Cathy Maginnis while they were on an international work placement for their course focused on primary healthcare, health education and health assessments.The final year students from CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Dubbo, and Wagga Wagga arrived in northern Thai city of Chiang Mai for a quick acclimatisation to the new culture including the hustle and bustle of the night markets and endless traffic stream of motor bikes, push bikes and tuk tuks.They went on a walking tour and visited local temples to learn about the Thai culture and customs.The CSU group then travelled for four hours by mini-vans from Chiang Mai into the mountainous region of Kallayaniwattana (Watchan) to the students' accommodation in the grounds of Watchan Hospital.Each day, the group travelled by 4WD with hospital staff to remote villages to set up mobile health clinics in local schools.Ms Maginnis, from the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health at CSU in Dubbo, said, "Being the rainy season we experienced torrential downpours daily and roads being damaged by the volume and force of the water. The 4WD vehicles were an essential part of accessing remote villages."This alone was an adventure and we were able to take in the most breath taking scenery along the routes."Once in the villages, we assisted hospital staff in assessing and providing health care and supplying pharmacy."The students also delivered health promotions to school students, including education about hand hygiene, teeth cleaning and the Healthy Eating Pyramid."We distributed and did basic visual acuity testing for more than 300 reading glasses and sunglasses donated by our local communities in Dubbo, Wagga Wagga, Bathurst and Albury-Wodonga," Ms Maginnis said."These had an immediate and long lasting benefit for the villages. It was very emotional to watch the expressions of the villagers change as their vision improved."The nursing students also brought donated supplies of toothbrushes and toothpaste, loom band kits, stickers, slinky and toy cars as well as pens and book marks for the children.Ms Maginnis said, "These villages have limited access to health care and education and live simple lives while working extremely hard, for long hours, labouring in the fields, planting and harvesting a variety of crops such as rice, corn, strawberries, coffee beans and a variety of nuts and caring for their livestock."We also did home health visits and delivered health care while getting firsthand experience of village life and immersing ourselves in the Thai culture."It was both humbling and a privilege to be able to provide health care to the different villages and to be welcomed and immersed in the Thai culture.

Agriculture employers will come together with more than 300 potential employees at a student-led careers fair at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 27 July.The annual Approaching Ag Careers Fair provides an opportunity for students from CSU's School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences and School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences to meet with industry professionals and agricultural organisations."This year more than 35 agricultural businesses, research organisations and industry groups will be represented," said Ms Emily Saker a Bachelor of Animal Science student and one of the organising committee."The fair is not just an important networking opportunity for the students, it's also an opportunity for employers to engage early with quality graduates."Students will also get to hear about life after study from CSU alumni Ms Ashley Norvel, manager of technology, adoption and industry capability at Australian Pork Limited, and Ms Vanessa Warren an agronomist at Delta Agribusiness at Coolamon.The Approaching Ag Careers Fair is from 4pm on Wednesday 27 July at Joyes Hall at CSU in Wagga Wagga. More information is available on Facebook.