scholarly journals BreastScreen: Keeping Abreast with the Community

1996 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Lucy Needham
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Breast Screening ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Vast Area

BreastScreen NSW Central & Western covers approximately half of New South Wales (NSW), and this vast area and the diversity of its population requires a different approach from programs in smaller and more homogeneous locations. Although the Program has a discrete budget and staff dedicated solely to breast screening, it has also been important to develop, foster and maintain links with community health staff and with members of local communities in order to provide the service effectively. A variety of links which have been developed and are crucial to the success of the program are described.

Building a Gymnasium¾Building Health in Lake Cargelligo

1995 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Joy Northey
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Rural Community ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Combined Approach ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The Town

Lake Cargelligo is a small, isolated rural community in the centre of New South Wales with a population of 2000, of these 60% live in the town. The project to build a gymnasium was the result of a combined approach to improve the health and fitness of the community by hospital and community health staff and by the community at large. It was the outcome of a series of innovative approaches to addressing local health issues.

scholarly journals Municipal Responses to COVID-19: the case of library closures in New South Wales local government

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-94
Author(s):  
Andrea Wallace ◽  
Brian Dollery
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Community Wellbeing ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Library Use ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New South Wales (NSW) government ordered the closure of all municipal libraries in order to limit the impact of the contagion. As a result, 372 public libraries in NSW ceased operation on the 23rd March 2020. While the closure of public libraries will undoubtedly contribute to restricting the spread of the coronavirus, given the pivotal role played by municipal libraries in local communities, as well as the special characteristics of library patrons, it will have other negative consequences. In this paper we consider the impact of the closure of municipal libraries in NSW from two perspectives: (a) its effect on the fiscal circumstances of local authorities and (b) its impact on the spread of the corona contagion as well as its broader effects on local community wellbeing. We conclude that rather than complete closure, partial constraints on library use should have been considered.

Compassion, a Timely Feeling …

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-108
Author(s):  
Diana G. Barnes ◽  
Delia Falconer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Historical Change ◽  
Effect Change ◽  
Emotional Effect ◽  
South Wales

Abstract The concept of compassion, defined as suffering with, has a long history often entangled in that of the cognate term pity. It has proven to be a changeable concept that is not only responsive to but integral to historical change itself. This is because it is a sociable emotion, but, in the sense that it expresses a desire to alleviate the suffering of another, the emotion also expresses the desire to effect change. For this reason it is a particularly timely lens through which to consider the emotional effect of climate change upon local communities, and the new emotional regime taking shape in the Anthropocene – and the dawning of the Pyrocene – beginning with Armidale, New South Wales through the drought and fire of Australia’s Black Summer of 2019–20, but extending beyond.

Improving child immunisation rates in a disadvantaged community in New South Wales, Australia: a process evaluation for research translation

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 310
Author(s):  
Susan Thomas ◽  
Helen Higgins ◽  
Julie Leask ◽  
Lisa Menning ◽  
Katrine Habersaat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Process Evaluation ◽  
Home Visiting ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
World Health ◽  
Research Translation ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Disadvantaged Community ◽  
South Wales ◽  
New Strategy

The World Health Organization’s Tailoring Immunization Programmes approach was used to develop a new strategy to increase child vaccination coverage in a disadvantaged community in New South Wales, Australia, including reminders, outreach and home visiting. After 18 months, the strategy hasn’t been fully implemented. A process evaluation was conducted to identify barriers and facilitators for research translation. Participants included child health nurses, Population Health staff, managers and general practitioners. The Capability–Opportunity–Motivation model of behaviour change (COM-B) was used to develop questions. Twenty-four participants took part in three focus groups and four interviews. Five themes emerged: (i) designing and adopting new ways of working is time-consuming and requires new skills, new ways of thinking and changes in service delivery; (ii) genuine engagement and interaction across fields and institutions helps build capacity and strengthen motivation; (iii) implementation of a new strategy requires clarity; who’s doing what, when and how?; (iv) it is important not to lose sight of research findings related to the needs of disadvantaged families; and (v) trust in the process and perseverance are fundamental. There was strong motivation and opportunity for change, but a need to enhance service capability. Areas requiring support and resources were identified.

Case Study

2011 ◽  
pp. 191-203
Author(s):  
E. Saurman ◽  
D. Perkins ◽  
D. Lyle ◽  
M. Patfield ◽  
R. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Service ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Rural And Remote ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Western Area ◽  
Area Health

The MHEC-RAP project involves the innovative application of video conferencing to mental health assessment in rural NSW. The preliminary evaluation findings of the project are presented. Mental health emergencies in rural and remote settings cause particular problems and are not amenable to conventional health service solutions. Patients and local health care staff may be isolated from specialist mental health staff and from acute inpatient services. Decisions to transport patients for specialist assessments or treatment may be required at night or at weekends and may involve families, police, ambulance services and local health staff. Such decisions need to be made promptly but carefully and the ability to obtain a specialist assessment may assist in making a decision about how best to care for the patient bearing in mind the need to provide a responsive, high quality and safe service to patients and local clinicians. In this chapter we examine a novel approach which uses audio-visual technology to conduct remote emergency mental health patient assessment interviews and provide consultations to local clinicians in rural communities in western NSW. The Mental Health Emergency Care – Rural Access Project or ‘MHEC-RAP’ was developed in 2007 following a series of consultations held in rural towns and implemented in 2008 within the Greater Western Area Health Service (GWAHS), New South Wales, Australia. GWAHS is a primary example of a rural and remote health service. It serves 287,481 people (8.3% of whom are Indigenous Australians) in an area that is 445,197sq km or 55% of the state of New South Wales (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001; Greater Western Area Health Service, 2007, 2009). The communities within GWAHS are mostly small, the towns are widely dispersed and local services are “limited by distance, expense, transport, and the difficulty of recruiting health professionals to these areas” (Dunbar, 2007 page 587). The chapter focuses on the design of the service, its implementation and its performance in the first year. We conclude with a discussion about the service, its broader relevance, transferability and its sustainability.

Capital planning for operating theatres based on projecting future theatre requirements

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 216
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Sheehan ◽  
Peter Tyler ◽  
Hirani Jayasinha ◽  
Kathleen T. Meleady ◽  
Neill Jones
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Operating Theatre ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Local Data ◽  
Activity Data ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Operating Theatres ◽  
Capital Planning ◽  
Planning Methodology

During 2006, NSW and ACT Health Departments jointly engaged KPMG to develop an Operating Theatre Requirements’ Projection Model and an accompanying planning guideline. A research scan was carried out to identify drivers of surgical demand, theatre capacity and theatre performance, as well as locating existing approaches to modelling operating theatre requirements for planning purposes. The project delivered a Microsoft Excel-based model for projecting future operating theatre requirements, together with an accompanying guideline for use of the model and interpretation of its outputs. It provides a valuable addition to the suite of tools available to Health staff for service and capital planning. The model operates with several limitations, largely due to being data dependent, and the state and completeness of available theatre activity data. However, the operational flexibility built into the model allows users to compensate for these limitations, on a case by case basis, when the user has access to suitable, local data. The design flexibility of the model means that updating the model as improved data become available is not difficult; resulting in revisions being able to be made quickly, and disseminated to users rapidly. What is known about the topic? In New South Wales there has been no documented, consistent, robust planning methodology to guide the estimated future requirements for operating and procedural suites, nor recommendations available to determine the number of operating theatres that provide optimal efficiency. What does this paper add? Opportunities to design and build new operating suites rarely arise. There is a great deal of uncertainty about future surgical models of care and recent history shows that technology and development of new procedures and approaches have greatly changed the nature of the theatres and rooms required for many interventions. This paper describes the process of developing a planning methodology to estimate the future operating suite capacity required to meet forecast future surgical demand across New South Wales for both metropolitan and rural Area Health Services. What are the implications for practitioners? Although now used only in the New South Wales public sector, the methodology can easily be applied to planning requirements for operating theatres in the private sector.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of digital contact tracing for COVID-19 in New South Wales, Australia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Vogt ◽  
Bridget Haire ◽  
Linda Selvey ◽  
John Kaldor
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Positive Predictive Value ◽  
Predictive Value ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Public Health Staff ◽  
Close Contacts

Background: Digital proximity tracing applications were rolled out early in the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries to complement conventional contact tracing. Empirical evidence about their benefits for pandemic response remains scarce. We evaluated the effectiveness and usefulness of 'COVIDSafe', Australia's national smartphone-based proximity tracing application for COVID-19. Methods: In this prospective study, conducted in New South Wales, Australia between May and November 2020, we calculated the positive predictive value and sensitivity of COVIDSafe, its additional contact yield, and the number of averted public exposure events. Semi-structured interviews with public health staff were conducted to assess the application's usefulness. Results: There were 619 confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 25,300 close contacts during the study period. COVIDSafe was used by 137 (22%) cases and detected 79 (0.3%) close contacts. It had a positive predictive value of 39% and a sensitivity of 15%, and detected 17 (0.07%) additional close contacts that were not identified by conventional contact tracing. The application generated a substantial additional workload for public health staff and was not considered useful. Conclusions: COVIDSafe was not sufficiently effective to make a meaningful contribution to the COVID-19 response in Australia's most populous state over a 6-month period. This contrasts optimistic projections from modelling studies about the added value of digitally supported contact tracing. We found no evidence that it adds value to conventional contact tracing, and recommend that their implementation should always include comprehensive effectiveness evaluations.

Expert consensus on the operation of an adult tertiary intellectual disability mental health service in New South Wales, Australia

2021 ◽  
pp. 103985622110142
Author(s):  
Jessica A Walsh ◽  
Janelle Weise ◽  
Claire Eagleson ◽  
Julian N Trollor ◽  
Rachael C Cvejic
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Mental Health Staff ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
South Wales

Objective: To identify and reach consensus on the priorities and operation of an adult tertiary intellectual disability mental health service in New South Wales, Australia. Method: An online Delphi consultation was conducted with 25 intellectual disability mental health experts. Results: Participants agreed that the service should involve a multidisciplinary team and accept people with an intellectual disability aged over 15 years with complex needs and/or atypical presentations. Agreed service roles included short-term assessment, diagnosis and treatment, providing high-level clinical advice, and capacity building. Endorsed principles and practical ways of working align with existing guidelines. Conclusions: This study describes experts’ views on how an adult tertiary intellectual disability mental health service should operate in New South Wales. Further consultation is needed to determine the views of people with an intellectual disability and mental health staff.

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