Community engagements to support Quality Use of Medicines in rural areas with hard-to-reach communities

The Community Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) program is a model of engagement used to empower communities in various parts of Australia with respect to their consumer needs and expectations about the quality use of medicines. The CHF Community QUM Project was developed through partnerships between the Consumers' Health Forum of Australia and local rural communities. This presentation outlines the project and its use of strengths of rural communities, such as participating and using networks to encourage others to get involved. It provides an overview of the different styles of engagement used in different regions, the sharing of responsibilities and costs in partnerships, promotion of the project, what happens at the engagements, sharing information and feedback, reasons for the success of the project, and the resultant better health outcomes.