Wednesday, May 6, 2026

1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Harbour View 2

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Overview

'Scaling Trust: Translating Grassroots Engagement into Sustainable Prevention Systems'. Hosted by:  Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative

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Details

Facilitated by:  Ms. Priyanka Rai, Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative Co-Presenter: Mr. Carlo Krikowa, Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative Summary: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia demonstrated that targeted, grassroots approaches were the most effective way to reach multicultural communities with prevention messaging, service navigation and vaccination information. Community-led delivery through trusted organisations, leaders and bilingual workers achieved levels of reach, trust and uptake that mainstream, broadcast-style prevention strategies struggled to deliver. This workshop uses that experience as an evidence base to argue that grassroots, community-led prevention is not a crisis-specific response, but a proven and transferable model. Drawing on COVID-19 as a system stress test and contemporary prevention initiatives such as cancer screening, the workshop explores how trust-based, place-based approaches can be embedded as core prevention infrastructure rather than treated as temporary or supplementary measures. Despite this evidence, prevention systems continue to rely heavily on mass communication, translated materials and short-term project funding. Grassroots approaches are often framed as “engagement” rather than delivery infrastructure, limiting sustainability and impact, particularly for prevention priorities such as cancer screening that require ongoing participation and trust. The workshop will translate what worked during COVID into practical design principles for ongoing prevention, outlining key elements such as community leadership, co-design, trusted intermediaries and local delivery. Participants will take part in a facilitated redesign exercise, applying these principles to a mainstream prevention initiative to identify practical system changes that better embed trust, cultural responsiveness and sustainability. Learning Outcomes: 1. Understand the key design principles that made grassroots, community-led prevention effective during COVID-19 and why they remain relevant beyond emergency settings. 2. Differentiate between community “engagement” and delivery infrastructure and recognise how this distinction affects the sustainability and impact of prevention initiatives. 3. Apply grassroots prevention principles to redesign a mainstream prevention initiative, such as cancer screening, to improve trust, cultural safety and participation. 4. Identify system and funding barriers that limit community-led prevention and pinpoint practical levers to address these in policy, commissioning and service design. 5. Build confidence to advocate for evidence-informed, equity-focused prevention approaches that centre people, culture and connection. Target Audience: Prevention policymakers, planners, practitioners, funders and researchers seeking practical, evidence-informed approaches to equity-focused prevention at scale. Domain:  Policy/Practice ​Sub-theme:  6) Centring Prevention in People, Culture, and Connection Registration: There is no additional cost for attending the workshops, but you will need to register as space is limited - Register at www.Prevention2026.com.

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Speaker