In the small town of Narromine, west of Dubbo, Sara McCarthy works as a rural pharmacist. She is passionate about rural healthcare and particularly medication compliance – the motivation behind her project.
As telehealth is used increasingly in remote areas, making doctors’ appointments more accessible, the next logical step in Sara’s mind is that any medication could then be delivered with the use of a drone. Drones would reflect many of the benefits that telehealth provides in the context of medications – their use improves convenience, reduces time limitations on the patient, eliminates geographical distance and natural disasters as barriers to access.
Sara’s hope is that her project will improve patient compliance with medication and by extension, their overall health. Sara hopes to be able to better serve her community through the Acceleration Grant Program. She sees how hard farming families work and wants to ensure the communities are healthy and have ensured access to basic healthcare, despite geographical location.