Hope Alexander MPH

Posts Tagged ‘policy’

Hope is attending the Anaesthetists Expert Working Party meeting.

Date
Thursday 15th April 2010

Agenda

10.00  Welcome and overview of meeting objectives – Linda MacPherson

10.10  Summary of results Kirsten Armstrong

10.30  Facilitated discussion:

• Feedback on report

• Identification of recommendations – Lorraine Acheson

12.15  Next steps and close – Linda Macpherson

Hope will be attending the following Clinical Senate meeting on 26 March 2010 in Perth, Western Australia.

Event: 26 March 2010 - Pre-Hospital Assessment - Avoiding the Revolving Door

Hope has been invited to the “Supporting Older Women who have experienced Domestic and Family Violence and Mistreatment forum” to be held on Friday 26 March, 2010 at City West Lotteries House, 2 Delhi Street, West Perth from 9.30 am – 12.00 noon.

The forum aims to bring together the Domestic and Family Violence and Aged Care Sectors to identify and support older women who have experienced or are experiencing abuse in their own homes and communities.

Guest speakers aim to up-date you with current research and data on Older Women who have experienced Domestic and Family Violence and Mistreatment, and engage with you as service providers, advocates and policy makers through group work to share good practice models and identify current gaps in service delivery for women who often become “invisible” from data from 45 years onwards and then reappear as “elder abuse” at the age of 65 and over.

Research shows that 1 in 4 women who have experienced an incident of physical violence in the past 12 months is aged 45 years and older (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006).

For more information please contact Terri Aldridge or Janette Richardson on 9420 7264 or email info@womenscouncil.com.au

Hope will be attending the Consumer-Centred Health Care Conference in Melbourne, 22 and 23 March 2010; “Policy Innovation Empowerment” National Conference.

Hope has been invited to participate in the inaugural annual Conference of the Australasian Association of Bioethics and Health Law [AABHL] in July 2010. The AABHL will replace the Australasian Bioethics Association and Australasian and New Zealand Institute of Health Law and Ethics which have traditionally held joint meetings.

Hope’s abstract submission will discuss “Bioethics and health law – a consumer perspective”.

The Conference will be held at the University of Adelaide North Terrace campus, South Australia, commencing Thursday evening and concluding Sunday.

Choice… do we have any?

Who chooses what is ethical? Who should choose? What shapes choice?

Researchers, practitioners, politicians, lawyers and commercial interests have an impact on matters that the community might consider to be their choice. How do we ensure the public is informed about and engaged with the work of bioethics? The 2010 AABHL Conference will explore questions of choice across many settings from:

· The theoretical to the practical

· Research to application

· Law to policy and practice

The Conference will bring together representatives from around Australia, the Pacific and Asia for a series of plenary lectures and contributed papers that will ensure a vibrant and exciting program.

Submission to the Commonwealth Government Department of Health and Ageing on the new National Women’s Health Policy 1 July 2009

Hope Alexander MPH, Consumer Representative and Health Educator, Perth, Western Australia.

Introduction

In any proposed new National Women’s Health Policy as submitted by the Australian Women’s Health Network there needs to be a balance struck between research, prevention, and treatment and care.

For all those sick women whose treatment is determined not by gender but by class and economic disadvantage where are their voices in this proposed policy?

Where are the recommendations around Foetal Alcohol syndrome so that Indigenous children can have the best start in life?

The emphasis should show balance, not the middle class mantra of prevention education without the recognition of the suffering of the poor and the marginalised in our health system.

Recommendations

• Breast prosthesis – eligible women to be given a voucher for their prosthesis/es similar to that given eligible people for hearing aids

• A voucher for say $350 per year to attend an accredited gym to undergo an exercise program designed by an exercise physiologist for weight loss and/or weight management

• The New Zealand Green Prescription be implemented nationally

• Programs to address the issue of foetal alcohol syndrome, particularly in Indigenous women

The rationale for the recommendations

• Breast prosthesis – eligible women to be given a voucher for their prosthesis/es similar to that given eligible people for hearing aids.Although the Medicare rebate is a welcome innovation, it still leaves some women with a problem. They do not have the cash to pay upfront for their prostheses. These can cost from between $350 up to $550 each and possibly beyond. For a woman requiring two prostheses, (double mastectomy) this could mean anything up to $1000, perhaps more. For a woman whose only income is the aged pension or other form of income support this outlay is not an option.

• A voucher for say $350 per year to attend an accredited gym to undergo an exercise program designed by an exercise physiologist for weight loss and/or weight management.

For those women who have suffered weight gain and body fat gain from cancer treatments (HEAL study, USA, 1996) and possibly other drug treatments some form of assistance is required. Women on pensions and other low incomes are unable to afford gym memberships, and thus are prevented from gaining access to rehabilitation exercise.

It is recognized that chronic conditions (eg cancer and cardiovascular disease) are becoming a greater burden on the public health purse, and will continue to do so. Rather than have the Federal Government spend around $15,000 per obese person on stomach stapling surgery, a more equitable option would be to invest $350 per year per woman, for those meeting the above criteria: weight gain from cancer and other drug treatments. This is a form of rehabilitation, thus returning these women to a more fully functional and hopefully independent lifestyle.

The costs of the consultations with the exercise physiologist can be met by Medicare, under the Enhanced Care Plan (ECP). Many GPs are reluctant or unwilling to put women on an ECP. The complaint is “it takes too much of my time” and “We don’t get paid enough” (personal communications).

• The New Zealand Green Prescription (1, 2) is a program that works, and has been evaluated. Because the populations of Australia and New Zealand are similar (both having Indigenous peoples and a diversity of cultures) there appears to be no reason why the Green Prescription could not work in Australia. More important, it may well be acceptable to Indigenous women in Australia, as was the “One heart many lives”(3) program acceptable to New Zealand Maori males.
• A national program to address the issue of foetal alcohol syndrome particularly in Indigenous women.

References

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1508188

http://www.sparc.org.nz/getting-active/green-prescription/how-it-works

http://www.oneheartmanylives.co.nz/