For many Victorians 2020 turned out to be a year of challenges. Together we have made great progress but the journey is far from over – which is why we are pleased to introduce you to Tiyana, our new COVID-19 Communications Officer!
Tiyana will be responsible for keeping the community connected and informed during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and ensuring our community is up to date on the latest news.
Last year was all about adapting to Covid, this year is about living with Covid.
Hi Tiyana, Can you tell us a bit about how the COVID-19 pandemic affected you?
Absolutely! Like many Victorians I was adversely affected by the pandemic. I had been living and working overseas for three years and I moved back to Melbourne just before the pandemic hit. As a result of the lockdown I was unable to find work and my personal and professional plans for 2020 all changed! I found myself having to rely on social support systems that I otherwise would not have needed to, and like many others I had to adapt.
The pandemic has affected all of our lives differently, but we can all be proud of how we came together to offer support to our friends and family when they needed it the most. While it was certainly a challenge for me, I’m happy that I can now put my experience to good use.
What exactly does a Communications Officer do?
In a nutshell my job is to keep you updated not inundated! The goal is to ensure we all have access to information that will keep us safe, connected and living our best COVID-19 free life!
I will be working directly with Your Community Health teams to find ways to keep you informed, with access to all the support and services that you need, when you need it. It is important to remember that things can change very quickly with global pandemics, so we all have a responsibility to stay engaged and ready to act.
What will you be working on first?
I’m glad you asked! Our East Reservoir health centre is an approved COVID-19 vaccination location. We are very pleased to be able to offer this service as getting vaccinated will keep you safe and help keep the entire community protected from COVID-19. My first job will be to make sure that eligible members know when and where they can get vaccinated as soon as it becomes available to them.
How will you keep us updated?
We have so much planned for our wonderfully diverse community. Many of our services revolve around face-to-face engagement, and while this is an integral part of what we do, we plan on strengthening our digital capabilities so that we are prepared for the unexpected!
We will use multiple approaches to ensure no one is left behind, from creating a new webpage with easy to access articles and videos, to continuing our community outreach work for people who have limited access or are not comfortable with computers.
What about you personally? What do you do in your downtime?
I’m local to Reservoir so I love spending time at the Reservoir Leisure Centre. My two favorite activities are swimming and the sauna because swimming keeps me healthy and the sauna keeps me young! I am also a huge foodie and count myself very lucky to live in such a diverse community where I can enjoy food from countries all over the world.
I hope to help change the way COVID-19 will impact every person in our community in 2021 and to make sure you are all getting the right information from Your Community Health.