e-Bulletin June 2011


1. Refugee Health Research Planning Half-day. The Refugee Health Research Consortium, Dandenong, would like to give you advance notice of a refugee health research planning half-day. The aim will be to bring together researchers, policy makers and service providers to explore practical ways of advancing refugee health research. The discussion will be based on the areas of need as identified in the “evaluation of the primary healthcare needs of refugees in south east metropolitan Melbourne”. These include: maternal health, mental health, tuberculosis, data collection, and service access and utilisation. It will be held in Dandenong on Tuesday 26 July, registrations at 8:30am for a 9:00am start. Lunch at 1pm. For further details contact Dr. I-Hao Cheng, Southern Academic Primary Care Research Unit, email: or phone: 8792 1900.2. Two exciting job opportunities in refugee health. Foundation House is looking to employ two new project workers. One in Refugee Oral Health: Sector Capacity Building Project, and the other to develop three pivotal refugee health resources.

Resources3. MensLine Australia Pilot Project – Arabic speaking Call Back Service. MensLine Australiais piloting a service providing men with ongoing telephone counselling using Arabic as the preferred language to provide deeper, more meaningful engagement. MensLine provides a free, anonymous and confidential national telephone counselling and information service for men with family and relationship concerns and can be contacted on 1300 789 978.4. NURSE-ON-CALL brochure: now also in Tamil, Hindi, Khmer and Polish. The NURSE-ON-CALL brochure is now available in English and in 20 community languages, including four recently added languages: Tamil, Hindi, Khmer and Polish. The brochures in community languages aim to help people from a non-English speaking background understand and use the NURSE-ON-CALL service to their advantage.

5. New factsheet! Key health messages about low vitamin D for health professionals. The Department of Health has released a new factsheet: Low vitamin D in Victoria: Key health messages for doctors, nurses and allied health. This revised resource highlights important changes around dosing and target levels. It is intended to be used in conjunction with current SunSmart policies and guidelines and is a collaboration between the Department of Health, Cancer Council Victoria, University of Melbourne, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and Royal Children’s Hospital. For a copy of the factsheet click here

Professional Development

6. Refugee Health Series: for GPs, Refugee Health Nurses, practice nurses and interested practice managers. A presentation and discussion will be led by Dr Georgia Paxton on the “Gastrointestinal Issues – Helicobacter and other Gastrointestinal Delights.” This is the third of five sessions to be offered in 2011. Thursday 28 July, 7.15 – 9.15 pm (light meal from 6.45pm). At Foundation House, 6 Gardiner St, Brunswick.

7. Continence in ethnic communities: new report and seminar – Thursday 14 July. A new report, Awareness of Incontinence in Ethnic Communities, is based on consultation with ethnic communities and has found limited knowledge and understanding about incontinence, including knowledge of causes, prevention and treatment. A free half-day professional development seminar will be held on Thursday 14 July for community workers on their role supporting people from CALD communities who are experiencing incontinence, click here for more information. Registrations close Friday 1 July.

8. Foundation House’s Semester 2 Learning and Professional Development Calendar is now available. Foundation House is the home of the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture (VFST) and provides specialised services for refugees who have survived torture and other traumatic experiences prior to arriving in Australia. Foundation House offers professional development to other service providers working with people from a refugee background in a variety of settings. Click here to see the Semester 2 2011 Learning and Professional Development Calendar.

9. Disability Acvocacy Resource Unit Workshop: Cross Cultural Awareness and Communication. Organised by the Disability Advocacy Resource Unit (DRSU) this workshop will provide an excellent overview for Disability Advocates to understand the cultural barriers that impact on service provision and enhance communication with people of linguistically diverse CALD backgrounds. It will be held on Wednesday 20 July 2011, 9.45am for a 10.00am start and finishing at 4.00pm at VCOSS Boardroom, Level 8, 128 Exhibition Street, Melbourne.

Research / Reports

10. Henderson, S. & Kendall, E. (2011). Culturally and linguistically diverse peoples’ knowledge of accessibility and utilisation of health services: exploring the need for improvement in health service delivery. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 17 (2): 195-201. With 28% of Australia’s population having a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background, the health system faces an increasing challenge to provide accessible and culturally competent health care. The objective of the study was to examine the extent to which four prominent CALD communities (Sudanese, Afghani, Pacific Islander and Burmese) access and use health services in Logan, Queensland.

 

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