Community Update was formerly known as Community e.news.

July 2005

Welcome to July NPS Community e.news

In this issue:

• Dr Karl and daughter Lola launch the 2005 common colds need common sense campaign
• Harvey hits the web
• NPS consumer homepage relaunched
• Medimate moving into Medicare offices
• NPS partnership with SBS for multicultural program
• National Medicines Symposium 2006
• MedicinesTalk
• Seniors QUM Program
• Our program partners
• Community QUM Program news
• Community QUM Program - 2006 and beyond

NPS Community e.news July 2005

NPS Community e.news is an electronic publication for consumers and community groups interested and involved in the NPS Community QUM Program. We hope that this newsletter will keep you up to date with the program activities and what others are doing to promote quality use of medicines within their community. If you would like to provide feedback or contribute to this newsletter please complpete this form. Follow these links to subscribe or unsubscribe to NPS Community e.news. 

Dr Karl and daughter Lola launch the 2005 common colds need common sense campaign

On 18 May, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki and his daughter Lola joined NPS to launch the 2005 common colds need common sense campaign. The campaign aims to reduce the problem of antibiotic resistance in Australia.

Dr Karl also launched NPS's new campaign resource, Harvey catches a cold. This book aims to help parents, carers and children understand that antibiotics won't help a common cold. The book shows the things that will help - rest, drinking plenty of fluids and treating the symptoms.

NPS is running the common colds need common sense campaign for its fifth year. This year, the campaign will run until the end of this month.

Campaign messages include:

• Common colds need common sense, they don't need antibiotics
• Common colds are caused by viruses and usually get better on their own in 5-7 days
• Antibiotics won't help your cold get better faster, won't stop your cold from getting worse and won't stop a cold from spreading to others
• To manage your cold you should take it easy, relieve your symptoms and see your doctor or pharmacist if it gets worse.

Harvey hits the web

Harvey the wombat is the newest common colds need common sense campaign initiative, showing parents and carers how to beat their children's colds without using antibiotics.

Harvey catches a cold is a fun and engaging book that portrays Harvey resting, keeping his fluids up and treating his symptoms with the help of his family. It shows that colds get better on their own after 5-7 days and has a message for parents and carers on the back cover.

Harvey catches a cold, along with all the other campaign resources, is available online at www.gottacold.com. Parents and their children are encouraged to read through the book and play with the interactive stickers on the website. The book is also available to read in childcare centres and doctors' surgeries.

Feedback to date has been very positive. Anecdotal feedback on Harvey catches a cold has also been overwhelmingly positive, with people enjoying reading the story with children.

NPS consumer homepage relaunched

NPS has launched a new-look consumer homepage on its website. It includes information on program activities and resources available for consumers. The website still contains all your favourite features, like online ordering and the CMI search engine, but we hope that the new format is easier to navigate to find what you need.

Check it out at www.nps.org.au/consumers.

Medimate moving into Medicare offices

Medimate will soon be available for consumers to collect at some Medicare offices around Australia. Medimate is a free practical guide that will help consumers find, understand and use information about medicines more effectively. Medimate is a valuable resource and it is now available in Italian, Greek, Chinese, Vietnamese and English.

Bi-lingual versions of Medimate have been distributed to selected general practitioners and will also be available through some ethnic community organisations. Ethic and multicultural communities' councils are supporting this distribution.

To help promote the availability of bilingual Medimate to multicultural Australians, community service announcements will be aired in five languages on SBS radio from 19 July.

To order free copies of Medimate, click here.

NPS partnership with SBS for multicultural program

To help promote the availability of bilingual Medimate to multicultural Australians, community service announcements will be aired in five languages on SBS radio from 19 July.

SBS Radio has joined forces with NPS and the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia (FECCA) to help multicultural communities to get to know their medicines.

SBS is promoting and encouraging people in multicultural communities to be more involved in managing their medicines by promoting bilingual versions of Medimate, available in Italian, Greek, Chinese, Vietnamese and English.

For many migrant Australians, SBS Radio is a vital source of news, information and entertainment from Australia and their home country. It is the world's most linguistically diverse national broadcaster, transmitting in 68 languages, with almost 1 million people listening each week.

SBS Radio's support of the get to know your medicines program and Medimate will help promote better health outcomes for multicultural consumers.

For more information on NPS's partnership with SBS, please contact us.

National Medicines Symposium 2006

Wednesday-Friday, 7-9 June 2006
National Convention Centre, Canberra

National Medicines Symposium (NMS) 2006 provides a forum on Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) issues both in Australia and overseas. It brings together all QUM stakeholders including GPs, pharmacists, other health professionals, academia, policy makers, industry and consumers.

MedicinesTalk

The winter issue of MedicinesTalk is now available. This issue provides consumers with information on bi-lingual versions of Medimate, advice on what to do with unwanted medicines and information to help consumers better understand preventative medicines.

NPS and the editors of MedicinesTalk would like to thank readers of the newsletter who responded to our readership survey. One survey respondent will win a $250 book voucher and the lucky winner will be announced in the Spring edition.

MedicinesTalk is produced by consumers, for consumers to encourage and promote Quality Use of Medicines (QUM), especially among people who use multiple medicines.

You can read MedicinesTalk for consumer-friendly information plus news and stories about medicines by clicking here. To sign up to receive MedicinesTalk, visit our online ordering system by clicking here.

Seniors QUM Program

NPS and COTA National Seniors Partnership are continuing to run interactive peer education sessions to help seniors across Australia get to know their medicines. The sessions cover how to get better results from your medicines, how to avoid medicines mix-ups, what to do to enjoy better health and advice on finding reliable information on medicines.

If you know of any community groups, seniors' organisations or groups that may be interested in participating in a medicines information session with a peer educator, please encourage them to contact their COTA National Seniors state or territory office.

To find out how to book a session, click here.

Our program partners

NPS Community QUM Program is run in collaboration with Consumers' Health Forum of Australia (CHF). As well as contributing to the program planning and development, CHF has been running a series of community engagements as part of the Rural Community QUM Program. To read more about CHF's work with consumers, see www.chf.org.au.

The Rural Community QUM Program is run in partnership with National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA) and Health Consumers' of Rural and Remote Australia (HCRRA). These two organisations have been instrumental in the planning, testing and implementation of the Rural Community QUM Program and resources. For more information on NRHA, see http://www.ruralhealth.org.au/nrhapublic/. For more information on HCRRA, see http://www.ruralhealth.org.au/hcrra/index.html.

Council On The Ageing (COTA) National Seniors Partnership works with NPS in delivering the Seniors QUM Program across Australia. COTA National Seniors provides support and training to a team of state coordinators and peer educators. For more information on COTA National Seniors, see http://www.cota.org.au/.

The Multicultural Community QUM Program is run in partnership with the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia (FECCA). FECCA has been instrumental in facilitating relationships with grass roots and state level multicultural organisations. More information on FECCA is available at www.fecca.org.au.

National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) is the program partner for the Aboriginal QUM Program. NACCHO will be helping NPS deliver QUM strategies to Aboriginal communities. For more information on NACCHO, see www.naccho.org.au.

A pilot Seniors Community Quality Use of Medicines Program in multicultural communities is run in collaboration with Combined Pensioners' and Superannuants' Association of NSW Inc (CPSA). CPSA is working with multicultural community organisations in the Sydney and Wollongong areas to provide support to Italian, Greek, Chinese and Vietnamese peer educators. For more information about CPSA see www.cpsa.org.au.

Community QUM Program news

Amanda Justice has joined the Community QUM Program and will be working with NPS partners - National Rural Health Alliance, Health Consumers of Rural and Remote Australian and National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) - on the rural and Aboriginal programs.

Amanda has come from AusAid and brings experience in working with Aboriginal and remote communities.

NPS is also pleased to welcome Margaret Artist back from leave after the birth of her daughter Coco. Marg is working two days a week.

NPS is currently undergoing program planning to help map the future of the Community QUM Program. We will keep you informed of the future directions and activities NPS will be undertaking when they are confirmed.

Community QUM Program - 2006 and beyond

Planning for the next phase of the Community QUM Program is underway following the Department of Health and Ageing's confirmation of refunding for 2005-09, which was announced in the May budget.

Building on the consultation process in 2004, there will be further opportunities for discussion and decision making with key stakeholders and member organisations over the next few months. The first of these is the Community QUM Working Group meeting on 8 July 2005. A Community QUM Program workshop is planned for later in the year.

For information on the consultation process and how you can be involved, contact us.

To subscribe or unsubscribe

Follow these links to subscribe or unsubscribe to NPS Community e.news. 

National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS) is a member-based organisation, providing accurate, balanced, evidence-based information and services to health professionals and the community on Quality Use of Medicines (QUM). To achieve this we work in partnership with GPs, pharmacists, specialists, other health professionals, government, pharmaceutical industry, consumer organisations and the community. NPS is an independent, non-profit organisation funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

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