Health Insurance

The medicare levy is 1.5% not 1.8% as I suggested. The surcharge is 1%. Reaed all about it at the ATO website. I've added the link as "Medicare". When you get to the page you can follow the links to read about the income thresholds, exemptions etc.

The New Public Health Approach

One of the things you might need to do in your HSC exam is to identify how the new public health approach is applied in health promotion campaigns. You know the characteristics of the new public health are:
- empower individuals
- encourage community participation
- recognise the social determinants of health






EXAMPLE
The website for beyondblue, a national mental health initiative focusing on depression, describes many of its strategies. These strategies can be used as examples of the new public health approach eg

-beyondblue provides an online self-assessment tool for depression. This is an example of EMPOWERING INDIVIDUALS (because it provides individuals with the chance to find out about their own feelings before taking the big step of visiting a doctor, it overcomes the barrier of privacy and it gives individuals greater control over their own health decisions)

-beyondblue runs community meetings to raise awareness about depression. This is an example of COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION (because it provides opportunities for community members to be involved in health promotion action at a local level)

-beyondblue maintains a list of doctors who are interested, trained and willing to see patients who may be suffering from depression or other mental illnesses. This is an example of RECOGNISING THE DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
(because it is a mechanism for improving access to health services by informing people about where the most appropriate doctors are). Access to health services is a determinant of health.

PRACTICE TASK
Select one of the health promotion initiatives from your list. (You don't really need a list, just visit a few websites for Health Promotion Campaigns).
Read the materials to identify some of the strategies included in the campaign.
Find examples of strategies that use these three characteristics of the NPH Approach.

ACHPER Enrichment Day

ACHPER is the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation. Each year it runs excellent seminars and programs for teachers and HSC students. This year the best one for us will be run locally on Wednesday 29th July. Unfortunately some of us will be skiing at the time, but if you're not involved in the ski trip you should go to this whole day event. I will distribute info soon with all the details, including cost. The day includes a really good resource booklet. Lectures will probably cover Cores 1 and 2 and you will choose one Option. The booklet will probably include all modules.

The ACHPER website has a comprehensive list of useful web links for studying PDHPE. I've included it in the links list.

Increasing STIs

It's a worry to read in the ABC news that rates of STIs and teen pregnancies are increasing in Australia. In particular chlamydia has been mentioned as a widespread infection. 58000 cases annually and 17000 teenaged cases in 2000.It can cause infertility if it goes untreated. Teenagers are reported to make up over 25% of new cases. Teen preganancy rates are also reported to be higher than other developed nations.
Epidemiology in action?
How could you verify these reported rates of infection?
What preventative strategies could help to reduce these rates?
What strategies have been successful/unsuccessful in the past?
What factors might have lead to these reported increases?
Read the full article at:
www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/04/2560487.html

The pdhpe faculty had a brief intro session about setting up blogs this afternoon. Some of the staff were very interested and I think we'll see some more blogs up and running soon. We'll add the links as they come online. Blog sites are accessible at school by teachers, but not by students, so students will need to access from home. I hope to get some feedback from my Year 12 students soon.
The executive are also going to have a look on Wednesday afternoon. This is all part of KHS staff participating in a variety of training courses associated with Mr Rudd's "Technological Revolution".

Another example of health promotion action

This article appeared in today's Herald. I've just included an exerpt, but it demonstrates government action through the PBS to provide financial support for people with cancer. Healthy Public Policy? Supportive Environments? Either way it is an example of the New Public Health approach.

"Huge subsidy for life-saving cancer drugs"

• Kerry-Anne Walsh
• May 3, 2009

BOWEL and breast cancer patients will receive enormous financial help in the budget, with the Government set to pump $600 million into subsidising expensive medicines.

From July 1, Avastin, the drug used to treat advanced bowel cancer, will be subsidised for new patients under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) at a four-year cost to the Government of $310 million.

Patients such as Scott Gillon, 40, who has bowel and lung cancer, have paid $20,000 for the first nine treatments with Avastin, which is delivered intravenously as one of a cocktail of chemotherapy drugs.

The Sydneysider, who has a young family, yesterday applauded the Government's upcoming budget announcement, claiming the subsidy would lift the huge financial strain on bowel cancer patients.

Local HP campaign

Speaking of health promotion, the "Walk Safely to School Day" campaign is a great example of a campaign that encourages physical activity in local communities. The campaign raises awareness of this issue and empowers parents to get their kids walking to school.

It addresses risk factors for CVD, diabetes, obesity and injuries. This is a campaign that could be well worth studying and using as an example for your HSC exam. Consider how it addresses the Ottawa Charter Action Areas and employs an intersectoral approach. Read more about it at the website listed on this page.

Health Promotion

Year 12 have just got exam results back. Some happy people and some grumpy people, but lots of potential and promise. We're starting to look at Health Promotion. Yep, its Ottawa Charter time again! The WHO describes health promotion as 

" the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, an individual or group must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment. Health is, therefore, seen as a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities. Therefore, health promotion is not just the responsibility of the health sector, but goes beyond healthy life-styles to well-being."

There's a link to the WHO website in my list. I like the 'countries' section, where there are some detailed health profiles of all the member nations. There are some startling comparisons!

I notice there is some info about the "swine" (influenza A H1N1) flu outbreak. The WHO does actually focus much of its attention on infectious "outbreaks" like this when they occur, providing advice and monitoring. Apparently they don't know how long people have to be quarantined before they are no longer infectious with this disease. In Mexico the whole country has shut down to reduce the spread of the virus.

Hi there, this is my first go at setting up a blog and my dear wife is helping me get started.