Social isolation measures being used to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are forcing support services to adjust their tactics.
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Central West Lifeline Director Stephanie Robinson says the new measures, which recommend people isolate themselves as much as possible in order to stop the pandemic from spreading, is the exact opposite advice they've been giving to groups in need of the organisation's services for the past few years.
"Everything about this is the opposite of what we normally speak about, we firmly believe in the importance of community and connection," Ms Robinson said.
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Lifeline's been helping farmers suffering under the impact of the drought and bushfires for years now and community contact has been a big part of helping shake off the black dog.
"We're very much a centre that does a lot of outreach and on the ground work with our farmers, social isolation can be a very high risk factor for people in these situations, connection is a big key factor in keeping them strong," Ms Robinson said.
"We're definitely feeling the pressure right now, people are on high alert."
That pressure is coming from a swell in calls concerning the outbreak, and the financial strain that closing down country shows, saleyards and other large gatherings is putting on rural families.
"There's a definite increase, we've seen about 23 percent of all our calls that are coming in are realted to the virus, we'd already seen an increase in calls recently of about 14 percent after the fires and that influx is still there," Ms Robinson said.
"What we have to remember is connection and outreach can't be cancelled and won't be cancelled, we just have to adjust and be a little bit more creative about how we're doing it."
To that end, Ms Robinson urged people to stay in touch using more 'complete' methods, like using videocalls rather than text message services to speak to one another.
"Facetime rather than texting, picking up the phone and having a call rather than texting or e-mailing that's quite impersonal, seeing someones fave and hearing their voice makes a big difference for people," Ms Robinson said.
"I can't highlight enough the importance of community still looking out for our vulnerable, it'll be easy for some people to slip through the cracks without very intentional, targeted connection."
"I think that's something to watch for."
Its something that Lifeline has already been utilizing to stay connected, with not just the traditional phone helpline available at 13 11 14, but also online chat available at lifelinecentralwest.org.au.
"We have a range of services and platforms, if people need to reach out they can."