The seeds of Hands-On-Health were planted in 1988 through the work of Moira Kelly and the Missionary Brothers of Charity in Calcutta. Ms. Kelly assisted the brothers in gathering sick children and nursing them back to health in missionary homes
Despite the oppressive conditions, the children, once healthy, would always return to their scant shelters, which were situated on a train station and home to thousands of other less fortunate orphans.
The experience so moved Ms. Kelly and the brothers that they decided to work with these poor families and children where they lived. There, amidst the squalid surroundings, they built a small clinic run by volunteers, realizing the importance of working with people in the place they called home.
In July 1989, a clinic was established at the Sacred Heart Mission in St. Kilda, Melbourne. It was founded by Peter Cullen and Fr. Ernie Smith. The work conducted at Sacred Heart was overseen by numerous volunteer chiropractors and other health professionals, including Barbara Polus, Marita Smith, David Lovett, Graham Kinney, Bruce Ellis, John West and David Proctor.
A fraternity of clinics spread throughout Australia and collectively became known as Hands-On-Health. Following Sacred Heart, Drs. Felicity Redpath and Maryanne D'Amico established a student outreach and training facility in Brunswick, Victoria; Dr. Mark Pearse, with the help of the Uniting Church, brought a clinic to Echuca, Victoria; and Dr. Sean Healy pioneered a clinic in Brisbane, Queensland. Additional clinics have sprung up at the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross; the Salvation Army Newcastle, New South Wales and Adelaide; the Anglican Church in Fortitude Valley, Queensland; and the Catholic Church in Fremantle, Western Australia.
Hands-On-Health (HOH) clinics have also been seeded in remote Australian aboriginal communities and overseas in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Italy. Last year, over 20,000 people were reached through the collective efforts of HOH volunteers.
Patrons of HOH include such leaders as Sir William Deane,AC,KBE, Governor-General of Australia; Reverend Archbishop Peter Hollingworth,DD,AC, and Patch Adams,MD, of the United States.
The mission of Hands-On-Health is to provide health care and education to communities with special needs. Beyond providing health care on a physical level, HOH seeks to promote self-esteem and restore human dignity by encouraging people to discover solutions to their own problems.
To initiate parish-based programs in your country, you can use the model of HOH. Information is available via a video for communities wanting to establish a Hands-On-Health clinic.
The idea behind HOH is simple. You are encouraged to gather like-minded people from a local church community, which includes a priest or pastor, counselor, and other health professionals. The church or outreach program provides the facilities (usually for minimal rental), and a suitable coordinator who has an intimate understanding of inculturation issues and the deepest needs of the poor of the community, such as a pastoral worker.
These facilities have multispecialty practitioners, such as primary care medical and chiropractic physicians who will work as volunteers. Most clinics are incorporated with the professional volunteers belonging to professional associations who carry their own professional insurance. Member clinics of the Hands-On-Health Association communicate regularly via telephone link-ups, conferences and newsletters.
Such projects have been proven extremely low in cost, and rely on the generosity of the community it serves in order to sustain itself. Donations are used to refurbish the daily requirements of the clinic. While volunteers provide the services freely, people are encouraged to participate in the joy of service by giving their own gifts to support the health center.
Hands-On-Health is a practical and positive response to the WHO's call to health for all, and to the call of the Beatitudes and the Gospel of Saint John that implores us to "stop saying that we love one another, let us really show it by our actions." We believe there is great potential to respond to the growing burdens of society by seeding grass roots with these types of Christian programs.
About the author: Dr. Dein Vindigni is an RMIT graduate who served as president of Hands-On-Health (HOH) for 12 years. He is now the HOH secretary. For further information on HOH, please contact Dr. Vindigni at:
Tel: (011) 03-9464-3822
Fax: (011) 03-9465-9988
E-mail:
