While the South West of WA is our most populated region, that doesn’t mean each community has access to the same amenities and resources.
Bridgetown-Greenbushes-based general practitioner Dr Sarah Youngson said young people living inland can actually feel quite isolated.
“The busy and populated coastal strip – Busselton, Bunbury, Margaret River – gets a lot of funding. But the inland communities often miss out,” she explained.
“If you’re a young person living on a farm in Northcliffe, where there’s no mobile range, limited internet access, no public transport to see a doctor or any kind of mental health professional, it’s really difficult and isolating.”
Sarah, who started at Bridgetown Medical in 2011, is now a much-loved member of the Warren Blackwood community.
While rural GPs often cover all areas of health, Sarah was given the space to dive into a special interest – youth and mental health.
“I’ve been very lucky to work in a practice of very supportive colleagues who have said, ‘off you, go follow your passion’,” Sarah said.
“I feel like I have a responsibility to do what I can within my community by any means to support, to help people who may need a little hand.”
Her phenomenal work extends beyond the clinic.
Sarah is heavily involved in the Blackwood Youth Action, which hosts events to build social connections and learn creative and life skills for young people.
She is also Chair of the Bridgetown Greenbushes Suicide Prevention Network, affectionately known as the Bee Gees.
The group of volunteers, mental health professionals and community representatives increases mental health education and training, improves local service awareness and access, and promotes greater mental health throughout their community to respond to the needs of people in distress.
Sarah will also chair the new headspace Manjimup Consortium, which is set to open in July. It will help guide and shape the service to ensure it reflects the needs and aspirations of young people within the community.
She runs an ADHD assessment clinic alongside paediatricians and was instrumental in securing a GP in Schools pilot at Manjimup Senior High School.
“I have a very wonderfully exciting working week where I move all over the place and all around our community,” she said.
Social Prescribing
While many challenges face regional, inland communities, Sarah noted many reasons to live rurally.
“You make and retain so many connections,” she said.
“I know who runs the environment society, I know who runs a community garden, I’m aware of the youth group and how to get access to that.”
This is not only helpful to her and her family but is beneficial to patients.
“I had a young man come see me, early 20s, very socially isolated. I was able to say, ‘do you know that there’s a Dungeons and Dragons group you may be able to join’,” she said.
“He doesn’t need an antidepressant. He needs social connection.
“Social connection is one of the fundamentals to mental health and wellbeing. And that is one of our roles.
“It’s important for us medical practitioners to embrace that, not just go along the medical model.”
In March, Sarah was named Community Health Professional of the Year at the 2026 WA Rural Health Excellence Awards.
She thanked Rural Health West for celebrating the joy and the positive aspect of rural practice.
“If it’s online or it’s via a magazine, Rural Health West unites those working in rural health; we’re like a big family club,” she said.
“It’s like a safety blanket, knowing if you need some help, they’re there.
“The work they do in advocacy and acknowledging the challenges of rural practice like isolation and not only medical, but allied health practitioners – is really valuable.”
Her road to medicine
Growing up in South Africa at the height of the Apartheid regime, Sarah’s father worked supporting black communities.
Sarah’s determination to help people in need was nurtured at the family dining room table.
“Dad was sitting at the table and crying about the work he was doing and how awful the situation was,” she said.
“There was so much injustice and so much inequity.
“I remember in this kind of childlike, naive state of mind, thinking ‘I want to help those people’.”
After her family moved across the globe and found a new home in Western Australia, Sarah was determined to fulfil that desire, leading her to this life in medicine.
And the drive ignited around that dinner table pushed her towards mental health in a rural setting, where she felt needed her help the most.
“My passion has always been to help marginalised people,” she said.