We have two employment opportunities currently available. We are seeking people who are passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal communities in Melbourne's west. The Projects Manager will coordinate a range of Aboriginal health projects across the west. The Project Officer will work with community, health and justice organisations to enhance service coordination for Aboriginal people leaving prison or on court orders.
We strongly encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to apply. Applications close 5pm, Monday 9 March 2015.
More info: visit our website or contact Tanya Sofra on 8379 9946 or tanya.sofra@healthwest.org.au.
Over 70 people attended the Partnership Forum on the 18 February 2015 at the Footscray Community Arts Centre. The forum's theme was Community Partnership and Healthwest, in partnership with its members, was excited to launch our 'Stories of Participation' video. You can watch the video on the HealthWest website.
Other presentations focussed on HealthWest's activities in the consumer/community participation area, including Our 3021 and consumer input into the mapping of the Prevention System in the West.
Thank you to our members who displayed their organisation's work in promoting and strengthening community participation in their organisations.
HealthWest's new contact agency from the 1 April 2015 will be Carers Victoria. We will be co-located at their Footscray office at Level 1/37 Albert Street. The team is gearing themselves up for the move prior to Easter and new contact numbers will be made available closer to the time. Emails will remain the same.
We look forward to developing a closer working relationship with Carers Victoria and being within walking distance of many of our members.
The National Health Services Directory (NHSD) widget has been added to the HealthWest website. The NHSD is used by consumers and providers across Victoria and nationally. As the NHSD becomes more widely used it is important that organisations keep their information up-to-date and accessible on the directory. The secure-messaging platform Connecting Care also uses the NHSD database.
Visit our website to find out how to update or add your service or organisation to the directory. To install a widget onto your website, email melanie.smith@healthdirect.org.au.
More info: view the directory on our website.
Primary Health Care Research and Information Service (PHCRIS) have released a new video about Plain Language Communication. It is designed to help academics communicate their research more effectively, but is useful to anyone trying to talk about a complex subject.
Deakin is running a two day intensive masterclass for health professionals, managers and executives, health planners and those active in health promotion and community services.
The next Community Engagement in the West network meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 18 March. Justin Burgess from Hobsons Bay City Council will be talking about some significant community consultations that were conducted last year.
More info: contact Mindy Allott, Health Literacy & Community Partnership Program Manager on 8379 9948 or mindy.allott@healthwest.org.au.
Health Talk Australia conducts qualitative research into people's experiences of health and illness in order to provide information and support, and help people to make informed decisions.
Topics include ageing, breastfeeding and early childhood, mental health, addiction, and experiences of taking multiple medicines.
More info: see ongoing updates on the Health Talk website.
Professional partnerships and collaborations need to be deliberate, planned and based on a logic model and theory of change. With deliberative actions as opposed to ad hoc approaches, partnerships can change the way organisations and individuals work.
Policymakers, researchers and practitioners need only look to Australian best practices, such as The Peninsula Model for Primary Health Planning and the Inner-North Collaborative Framework for models on how to develop effective partnerships and collaborative advantage to accelerate primary care reform.
The North West Metropolitan Pharmacotherapy Network is a partnership between cohealth, Macedon Ranges North Western Melbourne Medicare Local, Inner North West Melbourne Medicare Local, Northern Melbourne Medicare Local, South Western Melbourne Medicare Local, HealthWest Partnership, Western Health and Harm Reduction Victoria.
Reduce the treatment's reliance on a few high-volume GP prescribers.
More info: to find out about the North West Pharmacotherapy Network, contact Peter Muhleisen, Pharmacotherapy Support Clinician on 9362 8100 or peter.muhleisen@cohealth.org.au.
You can get involved by making a submission online, joining the discussion in the online forum, completing a questionnaire or attending a public meeting.
More info: visit the website to download the consultation paper and fact sheets and have your say.
International Women's Day is on 8 March this year and is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. There are a range of events happening across the western suburbs and Melbourne.
More info: visit the International Women's Day website.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released the latest Gender Indicators. These indicators provide an insight on how women and men are faring in a number of different areas. The data shows the life expectancy of men is now 80.1 years, the first time male life expectancy has passed 80 years. Women continue to have a longer life expectancy than men, at 84.3 years.
The Community, Identity and Displacement Research Network (CIDRN) is a public intellectual space where research activities are encouraged and promoted. This broad network aims to draw together and foster scholarly investigation of the changing meanings of displacement and identity. It is an intellectual space where new questions about indigeneity, racism, refugees, sense of place, social inclusion, social justice, transnationalism and xenophobia can be raised, debated and discussed.
The Network has a range of seminars and events throughout 2015.
More info: visit the CIDRN website.
This report provides advice to the Commonwealth Department of Health about the relevance and potential shape of a national framework for continuous quality improvement (CQI) in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care.
This report examines the escalating crisis in Indigenous child welfare and outlines how policies designed to prevent a new Stolen generation risk maintaining the gaps in social outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
The Department of Health and Human Services' Immunisation program has developed a new poster 'Safety from harm takes a jab in the arm!' to encourage young people to get vaccinated. Services including youth services, schools and health services who engage with young people are being encouraged to promote vaccination by displaying this poster. It is important that all eligible young people, including those not engaged in school, receive information and have access to these vaccines while they are free.
More info: you can order copies of the free poster from the Department's website (order code: PH809).
Improving quality, safety, performance and accountability.
More info: visit the PHCRIS website.
The Ageing in Australia Expo is on again and bookings to exhibit are now open. The Expo, now in its third year, connects older people and their families to aged care providers and services. The event is targeted to people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to ensure equitable information access.
More info: visit the website or call 03 8823 7979.
This workshop draws on a cultural competence framework to improve counselling within diverse communities. The training features discussions on relevant theory around cultural competency tools for counsellors, hands-on activities including a clinical case study and comprehensive resource lists for further learning. The workshop is targeted to counsellors, psychologists, social workers and welfare workers.
Implement strategies to improve services to CALD clients.
Supported by Women's Health Victoria, the Applied Gender Analysis workshop is an introductory level, one-day, interactive learning opportunity with a focus on practical skills.
More info: visit the Women's Health Victoria website.
Arthritis and Osteoporosis Victoria webinars are designed to provide participants with clinically-meaningful skills and knowledge to deliver recommended care for people with arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions. An upcoming webinar will focus on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Pain, with Dr Jacqui Stanford, Psychologist, Director, EmpowerRehab.
Joy Leggo, Chief Executive Officer, Multicultural Aged Care Services Geelong Inc.
More info: register online or call Tonina on 03 8823 7969.
Hosted by the Victorian AIDS Council and Inner North West Melbourne Medicare Local (INWMML) and funded by the Raymond Hader Clinic, GPs and practice nurses are invited to learn how to better understand and manage the needs of people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer communities with alcohol and drug issues.
Discuss how to treat and/or manage LGBTIQ consumers with alcohol and drug use issues.
More info: visit the INWMML website.
How productive is Australia's health care system? What opportunities are there to improve service delivery? This seminar will discuss the health and productivity agenda, including improvements in the delivery of primary care and role of technology, data and analytics.
The Wyndham Multicultural Fiesta is organised by the Events Working Group of the Wyndham Humanitarian Network. This is a free event and everyone is very welcome.
Where: Great Lawn, Werribee Park, Werribee.
One mob strong community workshop in the west.
When: 7 March 11am – 3pm. Lunch Provided.
More info: for transport please phone Deb Evans 9665 9507.
The Contemporary Pacific Arts Festival (CPAF) returns to Footscray Community Arts Centre in April 2015. CPAF is a multidisciplinary showcase of contemporary artists from Pacific diaspora communities in Australia. This year the festival explores Oceania Now: the spiritual, physical, cultural and political dimensions of contemporary Pacific identity today.
The program consists of exhibitions, workshops, and performances spanning art, design, film, dance, spoken word and literature – alongside the CPAF Symposium, and the CPAF Community Day.
More info: visit the CPAF website.