Editorial
Welcome to the first homepage edition of i2P for 2012.
In many ways it has been a slow start to the New Year because of having to deal with the “leftovers” from 2011.
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Volume 2012 Number 1
Health Politics
Neil Johnston: Friends of Science in Medicine
Peter Sayers: Confessions of a Frustrated Pharmacist
James Ellerson: $75.5 million in 5CPA lying idle. Why is it so?EPublications
ABORIGINAL HEALTH
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PDF version | Rollo Manning |
Rollo Manning has experienced pharmacy practice from all sectors of the industry – retail, administrative, policy and remote Aboriginal practice. He spent 10 years with Glaxo Australia and was the first Director of Public Relations at the Pharmacy Guild National Secretariat in Canberra. | |
By Rollo Manning PhC MPRIA Grad.DipPRABORIGINAL HEALTH
Consultant to Aboriginal communities and organisations in economic and social development and health service delivery.
http://www.oxfam.org.au/explore/indigenous-australia/close-the-gap
A “pharmacy” contribution to “Close the Gap”
|
A Discussion Paper has been posted to the Pharmacy Guild website outlining how pharmacy could make a significant contribution to closing the gap in life expectancy for Aboriginal people in Australia. It may be accessed through A survey of respondents reading the Discussion Paper to obtain views from the profession and other health professionals is at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GVVDDY8 |
Readers who are interested in the subject of Closing the Gap through pharmacy initiatives are invited to read the paper and respond to the survey.
It will never be possible to have pharmacists going to remote communities to talk to the people and even if there were – they would not be able to communicate with the non English speaking population.
Pharmacists servicing an urban population through an Aboriginal Health Service are unlikely to have the time to give one on one counselling to the Aboriginal people even if they came into the pharmacy.
In both these scenarios the Adherence Support Worker can fill the void and make a significant contribution to closing the information gap that exists between the prescriber and the patient.
The chronic diseases being encountered today were not evident 40 years ago for remote living Aboriginal people and for urban populations there is no evidence to show the question of compliance is understood any better than the remote setting.
The Adherence Support Worker could be the answer.
There is a lot of money being spent on ancillary staff in Aboriginal Health working in liaison and support roles and there is no reason why pharmacy cannot be part of this action.
Support workers are in hearing, skin, sex education, nutrition, eyes and alcohol and other drugs. In the Northern Territory Community Support Workers are a part of Stage Three of the NT Emergency Response (the “intervention”) to help their people understand the health system and the need to comply with recommendations of the clinicians at a health centre.
The idea for Adherence Support Workers comes from Africa where in Zambia a successful program has trained local people to be the conduit between the health system and the patients of HIV/AIDS. In this instance compliance is all important. Read about it at
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002204
The assumption being tested in a trial to be conducted in the NT town of Katherine is that the Australian chronic disease profile is attuned to the HIV/AIDS problem and requires an equally special effort for people to understand where medication fits into the overall task of managing the conditions.
Adherence Support Workers will be trained to understand the full impact of the social determinants of ill health and where a medication regime is important regardless of whether the patient feels well or not.
| You too can make a contribution to your own local Aboriginal people and speak to the Aboriginal Medical Service in your area about having an Adherence Support Worker trialled in your locality. |
If you need any help with this contact the writer at the address below for additional information and a flyer on the Adherence Support Worker.
Join the Oxfam Effort for 25th March and sign up as a supporter of its campaign to alert all Australians of the responsibility towards the First Australians and helping them to enjoy the world as much as those of us fortunate to have been brought up in a well educated middle class environment.
Questions or comments to the author at rollom@iinet.net.au
PO Box 98 Parap NT 0804 or 0411 049 872
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Information Technology
Dr David More: Australian Health Information Technology LinksIndigenous Health
Preventive Medicine
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