Attaching health literacy to the National Health Survey makes Australia the first country in the world to fully and comprehensively get a baseline of our country’s health literacy, using a tool that was actually developed in Melbourne.

A keen supporter of Northern in our efforts to improve quality of care, Professor of Public Health, Richard Osborne from Deakin University, and the director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Health Literacy, held a research seminar on health literacy in multicultural environments at NCHER recently.

Richard describes health literacy as a person’s ability to understand access, use and retrieve information, and organise themselves and their family to be able to get healthcare. That is something very close to health equity and quality because it goes two ways – people can have trouble understanding what to do and health professionals can also have trouble understanding what the needs are of the people they serve.

“Some patients are unable to read English, and they are given English written information, so they get in a tricky situation unless they have someone to help them understand. Also, they might be given medicine and they need to understand instructions on when to take them,” he said.

Health literacy also means developing a relationship with the healthcare professional. For a patient, it means whether they can actually discuss things with doctors, if they can find information on the web which is reliable and safe and do they trust the healthcare professionals.

“As this is a two-way street, we have to look from the other side too. From a health service perspective, health literacy means asking questions like – how good are we as a service to understand people’s needs? Do we talk to them in a way which they can understand? Do we understand their cultural issues and backgrounds?”

Richard adds that when someone leaves a hospital and professionals give them instructions to look after their baby in a certain way, as an organisation you need to make sure you’ve communicated correctly.

“There’s a technique called ‘teach back’ and that is what professionals can use to check if they have been understood,” he said.

You can say something like, “now, I’ve given you some information about what you need to do. Can you please explain to me the steps you need to take when you get home. If the patient can’t explain, then it’s the professional’s job to explain again or try explaining in a different format,” he advised.

‘Teach back’ is incredibly important and it’s key to good mutual understanding, as it genuinely supports better understanding.

“At the Collaboration Centre for Health Literacy, we offer various research tools, and those tools have been used in many parts of the world. In multicultural communities, it’s crucial to co-design communication materials to get cultural, as well linguistic, things right, so that when people go home they know what to do,” Richard said.

According to Richard’s research experience, understanding your community means knowing what community needs are and what perceptions they have.

“Try to understand what it feels like to arrive to Australia, and all the things you would need to know quickly, to be able to navigate thought the system and access all the health services available,” he added.

Make sure to check out amazing speakers during the Research Week at Northern Health from 8-12 October.

Northern Health’s Annual Dinner Staff Rate has just been extended!

On October 6, we are getting together for the biggest event at Northern – our Annual Dinner. We have extended the special staff rate, with tickets available at $99 per person or $990 for a table for 10.

And there’s more good news!

Our sponsors, Quest Epping have secured an accommodation special rate for everyone attending the dinner.

If your dancing shoes start feeling too heavy after a big night or you just don’t feel like driving late, discounted accommodation options are available at Quest.

All you have to do to get a discounted price is call in and mention that you are the guest at the Annual Dinner.

We can’t wait to see you there!

Where: Casa D’Abruzzo Club, Epping

When: October 6 2018, 6.30PM – 12AM

Entertainment: Comedian Michael Pope, with the show-stopping Baker Boys band

Meals: Three course dinner

Drinks: Wine, beer and soft drinks included

Price: Staff tickets are at the special price of $99 each or tables of 10 at $990

Click here to get your tickets.

 

 

 

 

Code Surge, developed in June this year, is Northern Health’s process for solving periods of peak demand in our Emergency Department.

Overcapacity in the emergency department can be a safety and quality issue and impacts both the patients waiting for a bed and those in the waiting room waiting to be seen. To address this, Northern Health developed a new code called Code Surge.

According to Debra Bourne, Divisional Director, this new initiative is unique to Northern Health.

“Having too many people in the ED impacts both patients and staff. It increases the waiting times, the length of stay and research has shown that it increases the clinical risk to the patients,” she said.

Northern identified that in situations where ED has overcapacity, an organisation wide response is required. The new Code Surge, just like Code Stroke or Code Blue is alerted throughout the organisation.

“Doctors get alerted through the paging system and we send SMS and e-mail notifications to other senior staff within the health service. From this, there are actions that each person and group needs to take,” Debra added.

Code Surge has been activated 10 times since its introduction and in the majority of occasions, the situation was resolved within 2 hours. This success is due to team work from all staff, both clinical and non-clinical.

In times of Code Surge, staff works extremely hard to ensure that our patients are cared for in the right place.

 

 

It’s Teddy Bear Hospital today at Northern, with our youngest community members and patients, together with Melbourne University medical students, checking up on their teddy bears.

The Teddy Bear Hospital is a unique educational program established and actively run by volunteer medical, nursing, physiotherapy, optometry and dentistry students of the University of Melbourne.

Northern Hospital hosts the Teddy Bear Hospital four times a year, with plan to expand next year with events at the Epping Plaza and the Aboriginal community in Thomastown.

Associate Professor Wei Qi Fan, Head of Neonatal Unit at Northern Hospital says that children often come stressed to hospital environments and the Teddy Bear Hospital relieves that stress by allowing kids to play with medical students and feel they can have fun in this environment.

“We help them relieve anxiety and stress and educate them in what to expect when they go and see a doctor. These events also help medical students, teaching them how to communicate with children of different ages,” she says.

Priya Croyal, a medical student from University of Melbourne says that this is a great way to get kids more comfortable around doctors and their equipment, as they can sometimes be frightening to kids.

“When kids are more familiar with health checks, in the form of a teddy bear, they’ll be less scared next time when they see a doctor,” she says.

Priya is currently in her third year of studies and is hoping to work at Northern Health soon.

“Northern is definitely going to be my number one choice to work at. I’m hoping they’ll have me next year,” she said.

 

 

Northern Celebrates, a month dedicated to Northern Health’s events, awards and celebrations kicks off with our Annual Dinner on October 6.

It’s time to get your colleagues, staff and family together, put on your dancing shoes and celebrate collective achievements of Northern Health.

During last year’s annual dinner, over $100,000 was raised for our Emergency Accommodation Relief Appeal, helping our Foundaton team build a home for families travelling long distances with loved ones receiving care in our Intensive Care Unit.

This year, the funds raised would be going to the Children’s Ward for the purchase of medical equipment and to improve the ward environment for children and their families.

Yvonne Amos, Northern Health Foundation Director says that Northern Health Annual Dinner, now in its 20th year, has raised over $2M to support the purchase of medical equipment across Northern Health, making a difference to the quality of care deliver within our community.

“Please join us this year to help in raising the vital funds needed for our Children’s Ward. Every ticket purchased, every dollar donated will help us reach our target of $120,000,” she said.

So grab your tickets and practise your best moves!

Where: Casa D’Abruzzo Club, Epping

When: October 6 2018, 6.30PM – 12AM

Entertainment: Comedian Michael Pope, with the show-stopping Baker Boys band

Meals: Three course dinner

Drinks: Wine, beer and soft drinks included

Price: Staff tickets are at the special price of $99 each or tables of 10 at $990

Click here to get your tickets and see you at the Annual Dinner 2018!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday 8 September, Northern Health Foundation Patron Bev Carman hosted the annual Northern Health Foundation Race Day at the Kilmore Racing Club.

As a long standing supporter of Northern Health, Bev is passionate about improving the health of her community and has a circle of dedicated supporters who assist in setting up the event.

140 guests were invited to wear their best race day attire and they didn’t disappoint. The room was filled to the brim with fascinators and fancy frocks.

Attendees included the Chairman, several members of the Foundation Board, our Chief Executive, Siva Sivarajah and Executive Director of Public Affairs and Foundation, Andrew Williamson.

A great day was had by all and the event was well supported by Kilmore locals. We also can’t forget to mention the perfect spring weather for a day at the races.

This year, Race Day raised over $7,500, with funds going towards research grants at Northern Health.

Professor Peter Brooks, board member of the Northern Health Foundation, highlighted just how important research grants are.

“We’re at this fantastic track and this event is a great omen. If you want to invest in something, invest in research. If you invest $1 in research, you get $7 back into the community,” he said.

Thank you to major sponsors, Epping Plaza Hotel, A Little Birdie Told Me and John Molnar Legal Services.

Another big thank you to Bev Carman, the Northern Health Foundation team and volunteers, and all who attended the event!

Check out some of our stunning entries in our video!

“When someone asks you how you are, instead of the trite answer ‘fine how are you?’…stop, pause and reflect on how you are really.” – David Paterson, Pastoral Care, Northern Health.

Conversations on Mental Wellness continues tomorrow on R U OK DAY, with Dr Eric Levi speaking at NCHER at 8 am.

“This time the spotlight is turned on us, the Medical Community, on how we care for each other. Our patients deserve to be cared for by mentally and physically healthy clinicians, working in safe workplaces,” says Dr Levi.

In the afternoon at 2 pm at the same venue, Sonia Gangi speaks along with Jo Gibbs.

Sonia, a Registered Nurse and volunteer speaker for beyondblue, will share her personal experience of anxiety and encourage others to open up the conversation about mental health conditions in their workplace, and with family and friendship groups.

Sonia believes that creating a mentally healthy workplace is everyone’s responsibility.

“It starts with individuals building a positive culture where everyone feels supported and able to do their best work,” she said.

Jo has a lifelong career in healthcare and developed Treat, a mindfulness based self- care and recovery program for health care professionals that has successfully run at Alfred Health.

Jo will address the question, “how can healthcare professionals rebound and recover from stressors so that they don’t burn out or leave the profession they are committed to?”

Conversations on Mental Wellness is an important initiative to promote wellbeing, address mental health concerns and protect the mental health of Northern Health staff.

As Will Halpin, Director Occupational Health and Safety, said at the opening session, “it’s easy to forget in the caring profession, we sometimes need to take care of ourselves.”