e-Bulletin December 2011

News and Events

1. A Communication Flowchart for GPs and Refugee Settlement Service Staff was developed by the Network GP Working Group some members of which now participate in the Primary Health Care Working Group.  The flowchart was devised to assist communication between settlement services and General Practitioners.  The flowchart outlines government funded services available to newly arriving refugees in their first five years in Australia, along with important information that GPs and Settlement Providers should communicate to each other.  For a copy click here (it is best printed in full colour A3).

2. Victorian Refugee Health Forum for GPs and Primary Health Care Providers: This forum will be relevant for GPs from across Victoria who work with refugees, together with practice staff, nurses, allied health and other doctors. There will be presentations and workshops including updates on refugee health issues in Victoria, along with opportunity for interactive discussion about working with refugees in GP practices and primary care settings. The forum will be held on Saturday 5^th May, 9am-4.30pm, in Brunswick.

3. New Refugee Health Fellows: The Department of Health in Victoria has again funded two part-time fellow positions in refugee health.  This year we welcome Dr. Anthea Rhodes as the Paediatric Refugee Health Fellow, and Dr. Joanne Gardiner, as the Adult Refugee Health Fellow. These statewide roles include improving coordination of health care for refugees, providing advice and liaison about issues arising in individual refugee clients and providing education in refugee health.  More information about the Refugee Health Fellows services can be found here: https://refugeehealthnetwork.org.au/engage/engage-sub-page/

4. Talking with Young Refugees about Experiences of Services (TYRES): Foundation House are conducting a project exploring what young people from refugee backgrounds have to say about their experiences of mental health services. Foundation House are interested in young people’s experiences of pathways to care, barriers and facilitators to accessing services and engaging with professionals. For further information about the project click here

5. You are invited to participate in Mental Health in Multicultural Australia’s (MHiMA) Victorian consultation on Thursday 29 March, from 10.30 – 2.30 at Kew Heights Sports Club, 397 Bakers Road, Kew. The project “Mental Health in Multicultural Australia” was launched in July 2011 to provide a national focus on mental health and suicide prevention issues for immigrants, refugees and their families. For more information about MHiMA visit www.mhima.org.au.

Resources

6. FKA Children’s Services “Starting Out Safe” information sessions: FKA’s bilingual staff are providing education session about safe use of child restraints in cars (free of charge) to families from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds.  For further information or to make a booking call Kerrie Tardio on 9428 4471. Bookings are being taken now for sessions up to December 2012.

7. Immigrant and Refugee Clinic, Victorian Infectious Diseases Service (VIDS) brochure: based at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, this services provides specialist care for immigrants, refugees and travellers with a range of conditions, including infectious diseases and nutritional deficiencies.  Detail about referrals and clinic hours can be found on the brochure.  Referral information for VIDS can be found here: https://refugeehealthnetwork.org.au/refer/specialist-services/

8. Emergency department factsheets (multilingual) provide condition specific health and medical information for people attending the emergency department.  They are designed to assist communication between emergency department clinicians and patients and/or carers.  Languages available are limited however include Arabic and Turkish. To view factsheets visit: health.vic.gov.au/edfactsheets/

Professional Development

9. Foundation House Learning and Professional Development: some places still remain in this semester’s Course for Incidental Counsellors (Youth Focused), Thursday 14^th & 28^th June in Brunswick, for further information visit: http://www.foundationhouse.org.au/professional_development/index.htm

Reports/Research

10. Schulz, T., Leder, K., & Maloof, T. (2012). Refugee health update. Medicine Today. 13(9), 79-87. Retrieved from: http://www.medicinetoday.com.au/home/article/view/1410

11. Milosevic, D., Cheng, I., Smith, M.M. (2012). The NSW refugee health service: Improving refugee access to primary care. Australian Family Physician. 41(3), 147-149. Retrieved from: http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2012/march/the-nsw-refugee-health-service/

12. Yun, K., Hebrank, K., Graber, L.K., Sullivan, M., Chen, I., & Gupta, J. (2012). High prevalence of chronic non-communicable conditions among adult refugees: Implications for practice and policy. Journal Community Health. Advance published online 02 March 2012. DOI 10.1007/s10900-012-9552-1

13. Gray, B., Hilder, J., & Stubbe, M. (2012). How to use interpreters in general practice: the development of a New Zealand toolkit. Journal of Primary Health Care. 4(1), 52-61. Retrieved from: https://www.rnzcgp.org.nz/assets/documents/Publications/JPHC/March-2012/JPHCIPGrayMarch2012.pdf

14. Vasey, K., & Manderson, L. (2012). Regionalizing immigration, health and inequality: Iraqi refugees in Australia. Administrative Science. 2, 47-62. doi:10.3390/admsci2010047 Retrieved from: www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/2/1/47/