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On Wednesday 12 August 2026, Terry Morich (Coordinator) and Tamara Taylor (Program Officer) from the Tackling Indigenous Smoking (TIS) team at Derbarl Yerrigan Health Services in Perth attended Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital to conduct a Healthy Lungs event.
Tamara mentioned that during her last event at that location 8 weeks prior, a supervisor from Kardan Construction attend the table and noticed the health education model Clem’s Phlegm. Kardan Construction is an Aboriginal owned company based in Perth. The supervisor then said to Tamara that he would be right back, and he returned a short time later with one of his young staff named Jen. Jen frequently used a vape and viewed Clem’s Phlegm and said “Ewww. Does that really happen?”. The supervisor and Jen left the table a short time later.
During the event on the 12 of August, the supervisor again attended the table, and he was recognised by Tamara, who said “How is Jen?”. The supervisor then said that Jen was so overwhelmed by looking at Clem’s Phlegm that she had given up vaping. He also said that not only had Jen stopped vaping, but also two of the young male staff had also stopped vaping as well. The supervisor said, “You guys are doing a great job. That’s three people you guys have helped.” He also stated that Jen is trying to make her house vape free that she shares with other people. The supervisor thanked us and then left.
A good measure of our success is the number of people who come up to the table and say that they remember the last time we visited. Some also say they have been waiting for us to come back and asking about certain items of merchandise that they found to be very handy. There is certainly an increased awareness of TIS in locations such as the hospitals we visit and discussion about the educational materials we’ve had on previous visits. We certainly didn’t expect feedback that three young people had changed their habit and stopped vaping. It is certainly good to hear such feedback, and it is really rewarding to know that we can help in some way. It is also amazing for us when hospital staff who work in the wards, and others ask if they can take pamphlets and informational material away for the information of their patients or loved ones who may be smoking or vaping.
Through this activity we access a wide cross section of the community. This includes doctors, student doctors, nurses, orderlies, cleaning staff, patients, and building contractors. The list just goes on. The lesson learnt for next time is to always be prepared and know where our educational resources are when we do these sessions. We could not locate Clem’s Phlegm and some of the other educational materials due to being used for a weekend event. We have since located them and will definitely keep tabs on where they are always. To build on this success story we would like to locate the three young people who have stopped vaping and reward them with a gift for their efforts.
This is a good story that the Derbarl team wanted to shar with the TIS community. It is also a good example of how the smallest things can make a difference to the lives of others.
