16 April 2024
Expressions of Interest open
GPs and general practice staff are invited to express their interest in undertaking a RACGP CPD-accredited online cultural awareness module at no cost.
SWSPHN is funding up to 20 places for non-RACGP members.
The introduction to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural awareness in general practice activity aims to improve the health of First Nations peoples by enhancing the cultural awareness of GPs, general practice staff, medical students, primary healthcare staff and other healthcare providers.
The module is a total of six hours – 3 CPD educational activity hours and 3 CPD reviewing performance hours. Participants have one month to complete the module from the date they receive their login details from the RACGP.
If you and your practice staff are interested, please provide the following information:
- full name
- practice
- position within practice
- email address
- mobile or other contact number
Email the details to SWSPHN Integration and Priority Populations Coordinator Ivan Broome at Ivan.Broome@swsphn.com.au.
11 April 2024
SWSPHN, Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC) and Yarpa Hub came together with Elders and community members to recognise and raise awareness of end-of-life planning during Advance Care Planning Week.
Patsy Bingham, an End of Life Doula, was at the Advance Care Yarning Session to talk about the importance of having an advance care plan and letting your mob know your healthcare and end-of-life wishes before it’s too late.
The Advance Care Yarning Session helped to relieve the stigma around talking about end-of-life planning. It also allowed Elders and community members to come together, ask questions, and have a yarn about advance care planning in a safe and culturally informative space.
Advance care planning helps ensure your mob knows what care decisions to make when you are no longer able to communicate these yourself.
For helpful resources on end-of-life planning visit End-of-life planning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
Caption: SWSPHN’s Integration & Priority Populations Coordinator Ivan Broome with Gandangara LALC staff at the Advance Care Yarning Session.
End-of-life planning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
When you let your mob know of your healthcare and end-of-life wishes in advance, you relieve them of the burden of making these difficult decisions without knowing exactly what you would want. For instance, what healthcare you would agree to receive? Do you want to be taken back to country when you pass?
The resources here help relieve the stigma around talking about end-of-life, from advance care planning to palliative care. These resources are for people who live in Gandangara and Tharawal country.
Resources on this page include:
Advance Care Planning guide
-
A Journey into Sorry Business
Palliative care support information for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in South Western Sydney
This booklet provides scenarios where having an advance care plan in place is beneficial, and how to setup an advance care plan.
Use this booklet, developed by Palliative Care Australia and Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives, to document what is important to you.
05 March 2024
Patients at Tharawal Aboriginal Medical Service now have a clearer picture of how healthy their liver is.
Clinical Nurse Consultant, Irena, from South Western Sydney Local Health District’s Hepatology Service visited the Airds centre on Thursday, 29 February and performed 29 liver fibroscans.
The fibroscan sends a pulse through the liver, a bit like an ultrasound, to measure the stiffness of the liver.
This involves putting a probe between the ribs on the right-hand side of the chest and pushing a button which delivers a vibration into the liver.
Stiffness in the liver indicates scarring.
The higher the score, the more likely the liver has fibrosis or cirrhosis.
- 5 to 7.4 suggests minimal fibrosis
- 7.5 to 9.4 suggests moderate fibrosis
- 9.5 or higher suggests severe fibrosis or cirrhosis
Yearly fibroscans are recommended for patients with abnormal liver function tests.
GPs can refer patients to liver specialists at Liverpool Hospital’s Department of Gastroenterology and Liver for:
- Fibroscan/Shear Wave Elastography
- Viral Hepatitis or other Chronic Liver Disease
- Cirrhosis (compensated/decompensated)
- Unexplained marked liver function test derangement
- Hepatocellular carcinoma (suspected or confirmed)
Referral form templates are available here
CAPTION: Irena performs the quick and painless fibroscan on patient Margaret.
05 March 2024
Patients at Tharawal Aboriginal Medical Service now have a clearer picture of how healthy their liver is.
Clinical Nurse Consultant, Irena, from South Western Sydney Local Health District’s Hepatology Service visited the Airds centre on Thursday, 29 February and performed 29 liver fibroscans, just one way of checking your liver’s health.
Read more: Liver Tests Explained
A fibroscan sends a pulse through your liver, a bit like an ultrasound, to measure the stiffness of the liver.
This involves putting a probe between the ribs on the right-hand side of the chest and pushing a button which delivers a vibration into the liver.
Stiffness in the liver indicates scarring (fibrosis).
The higher your score, the more likely your liver has fibrosis or cirrhosis.
- 5 to 7.4 suggests minimal fibrosis
- 7.5 to 9.4 suggests moderate fibrosis
- 9.5 or higher suggests severe fibrosis or cirrhosis
Read more: Fibroscan of The Liver
Yearly fibroscans are recommended for patients with abnormal liver function tests.
Find out more about liver health
CAPTION: Irena performs the quick and painless fibroscan on patient Margaret.
24 January 2024
The Go4Fun healthy lifestyle program for families and children aged seven to 13 is returning with sessions across South Western Sydney in Term 1, from Monday, 29 January 2024.
Locations include:
- Cabramatta Community Centre
- Bankstown PCYC
- Moss Vale Aquatic Centre
- Eagle Vale Leisure Centre
- Michael Clarke Recreation Centre
- Mt Annan Leisure Centre
You can register by phoning 1800 780 900 or visiting go4fun.com.au.
What is Go4Fun?
Go4Fun is a free program for children aged seven to 13 who are above a healthy weight, and their families. Trained health and community professionals like dietitians and exercise physiologists run the program which is a fun way to build self-esteem and learn about eating well, staying active and living a healthy life.
Go4Fun takes place during school terms, usually after school. Sessions run once a week for two hours, during a 10-week period. A parent or carer must come to every session.
Find out more about what's involved
Aboriginal Go4Fun
Aboriginal Go4Fun was developed in partnership with Aboriginal communities and is delivered by local Aboriginal organisations together with NSW Health. The program encourages the whole community to join in.
Aboriginal Go4Fun includes:
- Aboriginal support staff
- Traditional Indigenous games
- Tailored resources
Find out more about Aboriginal Go4Fun
Go4Fun online
Go4Fun Online is perfect for families that can’t make it to our face-to-face program, but still want to make health changes to their lifestyle.
Go4Fun Online runs over 10 weeks and includes:
- Weekly online activity sessions
- Weekly phone coaching with a health professional
- Resources and prizes
- Our online community where you can chat to other families in the program
- Email and text message support
Find out more about Go4Fun online
28 November 2023
A six-month cancer screening incentive scheme in South Western Sydney has wound up, with a final progress report highlighting positive responses from the community and several success stories.
SWSPHN partnered with Gandangara Health Services (GHS) in March to promote cancer awareness and screenings among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
The incentive scheme contributed to detecting potential cancers among community members, and other concerns including hepatitis C.
Giftcards were offered as an incentive to encourage engagement and participation in screenings for breast cancer, cervical cancer, bowel cancer and hepatitis C, and skin checks and vaccinations.
One female who attended the breast screening morning tea was recalled for further testing. With the encouragement of clinic staff, she went to a follow-up appointment and was booked in for emergency surgery.
The woman said she was grateful to the team for inviting her to the screening and taking swift and decisive follow-up action.
A male attended a skin clinic and during his screening had several growths removed. The gentleman held a common misconception people with darker skin didn’t have to worry about skin cancer. He was surprised he had suspicious skin growths and was thankful they were detected early. The man said if he hadn’t come to the accompanying barbecue and booked into the skin check clinic, he would never have gotten checked.
GHS used community engagement and regular gathering opportunities to promote the cancer screening incentive scheme and encourage attendance.
A community gathering in August had a cancer awareness theme, breast screening coincided with an educational Yarning Circle, cervical self-test screening was held in conjunction with an education pamper day and community gathering, and barbecues were great opportunities for skin checks.
16 November 2023
SWSPHN staff attended the Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council Caring for Elders Expo 2023 at the Liverpool Catholic Club this week. The expo was a special gathering focused on celebrating and supporting our Elders, who hold immense wisdom and cultural significance in our community.
SWSPHN Integration and Priority Populations Coordinator Ivan Broome and Workforce Engagement Officer Marina Hagarty attended the event to highlight the aged care services available in our region. They also represented SWSPHN as proud sponsors of this meaningful event.
The Elders Expo centred around the theme ‘Strong Mind – Strong Body – Strong Spirit’ and offered various resources for health wellness and cultural healing opportunities.
The event featured:
- Health, wellness and aged care service providers
- Information on ageing well and aged care support
- Pampering, massage and barber stations
- Elder Message Stick Exhibition
- Craft Corner
- Live music performances
- Informative health talks
Find out more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
21 September 2023
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experience some of the highest rates of Otitis Media and associated hearing loss in the world.
Otitis Media is commonly known as ‘glue ear’ in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Left untreated, these conditions are directly linked to serious and long-term deficits. These include poor medical health, delayed communication and social skill development, challenging behaviour and learning difficulties.
With the COVID-19 lockdowns behind us, now is the time to complete crucial checks for children including:
- regular ear checks
- hearing assessments
- onward referrals to ENTs / audiologists
Information for families
This article was written by members of the ‘Stronger Seeds, Taller Trees’ project which includes professionals from a number of government and non-government organisations in South Western Sydney. The group aims to support GPs working with families to navigate and access timely services when they have a concern about a child’s development.
30 August 2023
Healthy and Active for Life Online is a FREE 10-week healthy lifestyle program for NSW adults aged 60 years and over (45 years and over for Aboriginal people) and aims to build participants’ fitness, knowledge, skills and confidence to lead active and healthy lives.
The program will help you learn how to make small, sustainable changes in your lifestyle to improve your health, and includes tips on healthy eating and basic exercise.
Healthy and Active for Life Online participants receive:
- A Healthy and Active for Life Online account
- Access to weekly online healthy lifestyle modules
- Access to two online basic exercise programs for beginners
- Weekly handouts and an exercise manual
- Telephone support to keep you motivated
- Ongoing access to your account for 12 months
The next program starts on 9 October.
Find out more about the program
Please note the exercises included in this program are designed for beginners. This program is not suitable for those who already attend a regular exercise program (excluding walking groups).
UPDATE 16 January 2024:
The HAL Online program is now freely available on the Active and Healthy website.
Active and Healthy
All NSW older adults also have access to free phone and online-based health coaching through the Get Healthy Service. The Get Healthy Service offers coaching and online support to help people make lifestyle changes and reach their health goals. The program can support people to:
- eat healthily
- get active
- reduce alcohol
- reach and stay at a healthy weight
- stay active during and after cancer treatment
For more information on the Get Healthy Service or to enrol in the program, call 1300 806 258 or visit www.gethealthynsw.com.au.
25 August 2023
South Western Sydney Primary Health Network (SWSPHN) has a deep and ongoing commitment to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health across our communities.
Our activities include commissioning services with our local Aboriginal community organisations; providing cultural awareness training to improve and support primary care; connecting with and planning Aboriginal health initiatives across South Western Sydney; and implementing a Reconciliation Action Plan across the organisation.
More than 20,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live in South Western Sydney. Compared to our non-Aboriginal population there is a distressing gap in life expectancy and health outcomes. The socioeconomic determinants of health and wellbeing must be addressed.
The upcoming referendum proposes to enshrine an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament in the Constitution. It represents an historic opportunity to implement the recommendations from the Uluru Statement from the Heart, delivered at the First Nations National Constitutional Convention in 2017.
Constitutional recognition will aid self-determination and help resolve the well-recognised inequalities facing First Nations communities.
In line with our commitment to closing the gap and improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and consistent with our Reconciliation Action Plan, SWSPHN endorses the recommendations of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and supports constitutional change to establish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
