Friday, October 27, 2017

Australia's first National Rural Health Commissioner announced

Emeritus Professor Paul Worley has been announced as Australia’s first National Rural Health Commissioner. Federal Assistant Health Minister, Dr David Gillespie MP, announced Professor Worley’s appointment this week, “Professor Worley will be a determined, effective and passionate advocate for strengthening rural health outcomes across Australia". 

Professor Worley is globally recognised for the development of programs that are regarded internationally as models for the establishment of rural medical education.

In his role, Professor Worley will consult with a wide range of health professionals and stakeholders to improve rural health policies and champion the cause of rural practice.

Prof Worley will be responsible for developing training and recognition pathways for rural doctors and his portfolio also includes addressing a wide range of rural health needs such as nursing, dental health, pharmacy, Indigenous health, mental health and midwifery.

The ADAVB welcomes the role of the new commissioner in improving access to health services for people in regional, rural and remote Australia. Poor oral and dental health amongst people living in rural and remote locations is concerning and we look forward to working in collaboration with Professor Worley to improve rural oral health outcomes.

Reference and further information:

http://health.gov.au/internet/ministers/publishing.nsf/Content/health-mediarel-yr2017-gillespie050.htm

Friday, October 20, 2017

Eric Reynolds awarded Prime Minister's Prize for Innovation

Laureate Professor Eric Reynolds AO FICD FTSE FRACDS, Chief Executive Officer of the Oral Health CRC at The University of Melbourne, has been announced as the winner of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation.

Each year the Australian Government honours Australia’s best scientists, innovators, and science teachers through the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science.

Professor Reynolds has been recognised for his outstanding achievement in the translation of scientific discovery into globally successful products that prevent and treat oral disease. It is estimated that these products have saved over $12 billion in dental treatment costs worldwide.

The remineralising technology CPP-ACP developed from a dairy protein by Professor Reynolds and his team at The University of Melbourne is now sold globally as RecaldentTM and used by millions of people every day in chewing gum and oral health products.

Prof Reynolds continues to lead research at the Oral Health CRC that is testing, improving and developing new RecaldentTM products. His team is also developing a therapeutic vaccine for chronic periodontitis, a highly prevalent gum disease .

Prof Reynolds was instrumental in the establishment of the eviDent Foundation, an ADAVB and Oral Health CRC initiative. Thanks to this partnership and Prof Reynolds' leadership, eviDent continues to support collaborative multidisciplinary practice based research that is improving the oral health of Australians.

References and further information:

Oral CRC website: www.oralhealthcrc.org.au

Science in public website: www.scienceinpublic.com.au

Photo credit: Prime Ministers Prizes for Science, WildBear 2017.


Tuesday, October 17, 2017

eviDent Foundation launches new website

The eviDent Foundation has launched its new website:

https://www.evident.org.au/

The website promotes the diverse range of collaborative research projects that explore the connection between oral health and overall health. The website also lists eviDent's latest news and upcoming events such as the Great Ocean Road Walk.

The eviDent Foundation is a health-promotion charity supporting Australia’s only Dental Practice Based Research Network. It is an initiative of the Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch and the Oral Health Cooperative Research Centre.

eviDent aims to encourage relationships between practitioners and academic researchers. By building research capacity to produce and use evidence, eviDent facilitates and supports dental practices to produce and disseminate evidence that can translate into practice and inform policy.

Some of these practice based research projects include:
  • Dental health and attitudes in young adults aged 15–25 years with diabetes mellitus
  • Facilitators and barriers to oral health for children with cardiac conditions
  • Body dysmorphic disorder: A practice-based study
  • Say Ahhh: What do GPs, dentists and community pharmacists do about bad breath?
  • Oral cancer risk test: An improved approach to early oral cancer detection and prevention
  • Diet advice in the dental setting

View website and join our mailing list: https://www.evident.org.au/

Get involved: https://www.evident.org.au/get-involved

Our research: https://www.evident.org.au/research

Make a donation: https://www.evident.org.au/donate

Friday, October 13, 2017

Encourage your patients to reduce their sugar consumption this World Cavity-Free Future Day

World Cavity-Free Future Day (WCFFDay) is this Saturday 14 October.

It's a golden opportunity for you to keep the conversation going with your patients about good oral health practices and to encourage them to choose water over sugary drinks.

WCFFDay was launched in 2016 by the Alliance for a Cavity-Free Future (ACFF). It aims to engage communities around the world in the global fight against cavities, and offers the chance to send a ‘wakeup call’ to those with the ability to make social, economic and political changes to encourage action towards achieving a cavity-free future.

According to the World Health Organization, dental caries is the most common chronic disease on the planet. Worldwide, 60 per cent to 90 per cent of school children and nearly 100 per cent of adults suffer from cavities – despite them being largely preventable.

We encourage you to help people understand the importance of taking control of their oral health, including reducing their sugar intake.

Sugary drinks are a major source of the sugar we consume. And Australians are among the highest consumers of sugary drinks in the world. In 2006, Australia was among the top 10 countries for per capita consumption of soft drinks. 

Sugar sweetened beverages produce more acid when the sugar combines with bacteria in the mouth. Drinking water is a much better alternative – it has no acid, no sugar and no kilojoules. Even better, if you get your water from the tap, it comes with fluoride – at no cost!

Learn more:


South Eastern Primary Health Network Consultation Survey

Are you a health professional working in the South Eastern Primary Health Network (SEPHN) catchment? We invite you to take part in the SEMPHN Sector Consultation Survey.

Complete survey

This is an opportunity for your organisation to contribute to SEMPHN’s understanding of the most important issues, enablers and barriers to providing the best health care for our community.

The information collected will:

  • inform the Needs Assessment due to the Commonwealth Department of Health in November 2017
  • add to the data and evidence used in future commissioning activities in the region.

The survey will take approximately 5-10 minutes. The information you provide will remain confidential and only be used to inform planning at the PHN.

If you have any questions please contact data@semphn.org.au.

The survey closes Monday 23 October, 2017.


Tuesday, October 10, 2017

5 tips to a mentally healthy practice

10 October is World Mental Health Day (WMHD) – a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy.

WMHD is an initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, and Mental Health Australia leads the campaign in Australia. The theme for this year’s WMHD is Mental Health in the Workplace.

We encourage our members to take the time today to reflect on what you can do in your practice to ensure the mental wellbeing of yourself and your staff.

Measures you may consider implementing include:
  1. Leading by example. Take a positive and healthy approach to work, for example, by ensuring work–life balance.
  2. Ensuring you and your staff have manageable workloads. Fatigue caused by working too many hours can trigger stress-related illness.
  3. Discussing any issues you are having at work that are causing you distress – and encourage other to do so. Talking out the problem can often lead to a solution. 
  4. Addressing any issues such as bullying or discrimination immediately. Bullying and discrimination in the workplace are major causes of mental illness. You must take positive steps to eliminate these triggers. 
  5. Making everyone in the practice aware of what help is available to them should they need it. Keep the following ADAVB contacts handy:
    • Member assistance service for personal and private counselling on family/life and workplace matters (ph: 1300 361 008)
    • HR advisory service and hotline for help with industrial issues (ph: 1300 232 462)
    • Professional consultants for advice on professional and compliance matters and Community relations officers who are on hand every day to offer dispute assistance – for members insured under the Branch Indemnity Scheme (ph: 8825 4600).
For more support, publicly available options include:
Learn more about World Mental Health Day.


Friday, October 06, 2017

Why are rebates so low? #time2switch

If you have “extras” private health insurance cover which includes things like dentistry, optometry and physiotherapy, it can be confusing to work out the reasons behind the rebate amount you receive when you make a claim.

There are a number of factors that shape your rebate amount, and contrary to what your fund may tell you, your dentist is not the issue. From March 2012 to March 2017, average dental fees per service only rose by 3%, with dental fees overall just keeping pace with the Consumer Price Index. In contrast, while the average rebate fees paid out rose 4%, it was dwarfed by a staggering increase in premiums of 38%.

Not happy with your rebates? File a complaint with the Private Health Insurance Industry Ombudsman and get involved in the ADA's Time2Switch campaign.

Learn more about rebates: https://www.ada.org.au/rebates

Compare your policy: https://www.ada.org.au/time2switch/Home

Make a complaint: https://www.ada.org.au/time2switch/make-a-complaint

Source: ADA website

Tuesday, October 03, 2017

October is National Safe Work Month – are you doing enough?

Did you know that October is National Safe Work Month? An initiative of Safe Work Australia, National Safe Work Month is a time to commit to building a safe and healthy workplace for you and your colleagues.
To manage your occupational health and safety (OHS) obligations, and reduce the risks in your practice, you must:
  • Identify hazards in your workplace, e.g. trip hazards, electrical hazards and ergonomic hazards.
  • Assess the severity of the risks posed by those hazards, e.g. do any of the hazards pose a severe risk of serious injury?
  • Implement risk control measures to eliminate or reduce the risks as far as reasonably practicable, e.g. removing cords from the floor to eliminate the risk of a trip.
Education and training is also a powerful tool, as often risks will arise from work practices. For instance, dentists and other dental professionals suffer musculoskeletal complaints resulting from their work practices, such as tasks that require awkward postures, repetitive or sustained force, high or sudden force, repetitive movement and exposure to vibration. These generally cause discomfort at different end points – in the neck, low back, shoulders and hand or wrist. In fact, the risk of musculoskeletal injuries is the top OHS risk faced by dentists worldwide!
We are committed to improving OHS outcomes for our members, so we are working towards helping build a training resource to help reduce ergonomic risks in dental practices. In partnership with Productivity Matters (with the support of PSA Insurance), we will be giving 10 dental practices a workplace review using WorkSafe’s OHS Essentials Program. The data collected from these reviews will be used by Productivity Matters to develop the content for the training resource.
Not only will the participating practices be helping us to develop a tool to help combat the risk of musculoskeletal injuries, they will also be receiving a free ergonomic workplace review. And what better time to organise an ergonomic review for your practice than National Safe Work Month?
If you’d like your practice to be involved, register your interest by emailing Mr Nicholas Leong from Productivity Matters at nicholas@promatters.com.au.
For further information, contact ADAVB CPD & Training Manager Ms Caroline Kaur on caroline.kaur@adavb.org.  

Monday, October 02, 2017

Leading health groups welcome support for sports centres to go sugary drink free

The 18 leading health and community organisations behind Rethink Sugary Drink have welcomed a new initiative encouraging Victorian sports and leisure centres to reduce the availability and promotion of sugary drinks.

VicHealth has announced a new Water in Sport Initiative, which will provide $500,000 for up to nine local councils to promote healthy drink options and reduce the availability and promotion of sugary drinks in kiosks and cafes at Victorian leisure centres and sports venues.

Members of Rethink Sugary Drink, including the Australian Dental Association, Cancer Council Australia and the YMCA, are working together to tackle sugary drink consumption, and are lobbying for a health levy on sugary drinks and a public education campaign supported by Australian governments.

Individuals and organisations looking to take action on sugary drinks, can visit the Rethink Sugary Drink website for free posters, fact sheets and other useful tips and resources: www.rethinksugarydrink.org.au

Councils are encouraged to find out how to reduce sugary drink availability and promotion with these helpful Rethink Sugary Drink videos and resources.

View media release:
Rethink Sugary Drink website

View article in The Age:
VicHealth announces $500,00 in funding to help sports venues ditch sugary drinks

Learn more about VicHealth's Water in Sports Initiative:
Funding for local governments- Water in Sports Grants 2017-2020