Minister's Awards - Winners
Minister’s
Award
Category: Appropriateness
Northern Rivers Area Health Service
“Minimising Pethidine
Use”
Contact: Jennifer Prince
Phone: 6620 2116
The project aimed to markedly reduce the prescribing of
pethidine within three Emergency Departments in the Northern
Rivers. The project has since been rolled-out around the
Northern Rivers. Pethidine is less desirable than morphine
as a painkiller for several reasons, including its potentially
toxic effects, shorter duration of action and the risk of
serious interactions with other drugs. At the conclusion
of the one-year project, pethidine prescriptions at the hospitals
had decreased by 68%, while the number of pethidine ampoules
issued to the project hospitals was down by 80%. After two
years of data collection, an overall 82% reduction in pethidine
ampoules issued to NRAHS hospitals has been achieved.
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Minister’s
Innovation Award - Joint Winners
Category: Consumer Participation
Greater Murray Area Health
Service
“Aboriginal Healthy Baby Bags”
Contact: Jenny
Wines
Phone: 6938 6411
An innovative collaboration with local indigenous women
has developed a health promoting educational package which
doubles as a practical clean area and carry-all for Aboriginal
mothers with new babies. Aboriginal women in local communities
were consulted and subsequently contracted to make Healthy
Baby Bags for all new Aboriginal babies born within the Greater
Murray Area Health Service. The bags are made from hardwearing
cloth and serve a number of purposes. Firstly they provide
new mums with a bag to carry their items required for their
baby. Secondly they can also be opened out to be used as
a clean change area promoting hygiene habits and thirdly,
they are a ‘vehicle’ in which health promotion
messages, with a particular focus on Environmental Tobacco
Smoke (ETS) and its effect on babies and children, can be
delivered to the community. The initial survey, used prior
to the new mother’s receipt of the bags and it’s
contents, tests the women’s knowledge of the environmental
tobacco smoke health hazards and methods of reduction, their
behaviours in regards to smoking around children and attitudes
of their significant family members. The preliminary data
from these surveys indicates that the behavioural and knowledge
deficits are related to smoking inside the house, around
children and the lingering presence of tobacco smoke in the
air. Thus far 58% of new mothers identified that this project
has led to a reduction of people smoking inside their house
or car.
Wentworth
Area Health Service
“Aboriginal Boys Cultural Mentoring Camp & Men’s
Talking and Learning Circles”
Contact: Kath Harrison
Phone: 4759 8700
The program has been developed to assist young Aboriginal
men locally, to identify and consider the current and emerging
challenges facing them as they strive to understand and navigate
the social, political and cultural changes that influence
and shape their role and responsibilities both within the
Aboriginal and broader community. This initiative is a direct
result of continuing to work with the local Aboriginal community
in a dynamic way to assist them to meet their cited needs.
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Minister’s
Encouragement Award
Category: Access
Justice
Health
“Capturing
Perceptions – Preventing
the Great Escape by Breaking Down Barriers to Healthcare”
Contact: Rhonda Halpin
Phone: 9289 2216
(also presented with a Director General Commendation Award)
Justice Health (formally known as Corrections Health Service)
carried out the first
Inmate Access Survey in 2001 to access inmates’ perceptions of healthcare
provision in the correctional environment. That survey provided Justice Health
with quantitative and qualitative measures of access and health service provision.
The Capturing Perceptions Project (CCP) was designed as a follow-up to identify
whether the changes implemented as a result of the 2001 survey had improved access
and service satisfaction. Both surveys used the same questionnaire and sample
methodology, thus allowing comparisons.
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