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Community Update 5Community Update 5
Community Update was formerly known as Community e.news.
November 2005
Welcome to November NPS Community e.news
In this issue:
- Quick update
- CQUM Program update
- Upcoming and recent events
- Presentations and papers
- Subscribe/unsubscribe
Welcome to the November 2005 issue of Community e-news promoting better health through QUM.
NPS invites you to help us promote better health through QUM by including your QUM stories and interpretations in future editions and by forwarding on this e-news bulletin to your networks.
Please contact us with your QUM stories and feedback.
Read on for the latest QUM news.
Quick update
Events for your calendar
7-9 June 2006
National Medicines Symposium, Canberra
NPS office in Melbourne
NPS staff members James Reeve and Bryn Lewis, who form the Pharmaceutical Decision Support team, are based in the new NPS office in Melbourne. The new office is co-located with the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia, in Collingwood.
QUM in the news
SBS Radio and multicultural CQUM
SBS Radio recently held talk-back radio interviews on how to 'get to know your medicines' in Italian, Mandarin and Cantonese. The talk-back program aimed to help multicultural consumers better understand their medicines through increased awareness of and access to credible and reliable information. The interviews also encouraged listeners to use Medimate.
ABC Radio National
Date: 31/8/05
Sandy McCutcheon interviews Dr Lynn Weekes, National Prescribing Service Limited.
Medical Myths. Weekes discusses the most common myths surrounding treatments for colds and viruses. She says antibiotics do not cure viruses or the common cold, and excess prescribing can induce immunity to antibiotics.
CQUM Program update
Multicultural Community QUM program and Medimate — Get to Know Your Medicines win prestigious awards
NPS, in collaboration with the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia (FECCA), are the proud winners of two awards: the Community category of the 2005 National Multicultural Marketing Awards, and the Non Government category of the Multicultural Communication Award.
The national award, announced by the Community Relations Commission was for the Multicultural Community QUM Program – the first national program for multicultural Australians to help them get to know their medicines and manage their medicines more effectively.
The Multicultural Communication Award, announced by NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service, was for the bilingual Get To Know Your Medicines — Medimate resource.
The awards recognise the program's value using best practice consultation, development and implementation processes which included community leaders, community organisations and consumers.
The program was guided by research undertaken with multicultural communities, NPS and FECCA to identify medicine issues. It has included development and distribution of bilingual Medimate booklets; a national QUM project providing support to and involving over 79 community organisations; an SBS radio collaboration including informative and interactive talkback sessions with health professionals and community service announcements; and an English as a Second Language teaching resource.
Medimate, available from NPS since 2004, is a written resource that helps consumers of medicines understand and use information about medicines more effectively. Medimate is currently available in Greek, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese and English.
Bilingual information has a number of benefits. It can increase reach beyond non-English speaking consumers to include second and third generation consumers who prefer English. It can also give community workers and health professionals an understanding of the health information content they are providing to non-English speaking clients and patients.
The partnership between NPS and FECCA brought together NPS's expertise as Australia's peak, independent, education and information provider about medicines and FECCA's expertise as the peak, national body representing Australia's multicultural communities.
Medimate can be ordered free from the consumer materials catalogue.
New chronic conditions program
A program for consumers with chronic conditions is a new NPS initiative aimed at improving prescribing and better medicines use, particularly in the areas of type 2 diabetes and pain management.
The NPS Community QUM team have also commenced an initial literature review and preliminary community and consumer consultations.
We will update you with more information on how NPS will address some of these issues over the coming months.
Seniors QUM
More than 23,000 seniors have attended over 1,000 interactive peer education sessions across Australia to better understand the medicines they are taking. Seniors learn how to get better results from the medicines they take, how to avoid medicine mix-ups, and what they can do to enjoy better health.
These interactive sessions are part of a national program — Seniors Community QUM Program — an initiative of NPS in collaboration with COTA National Seniors Partnership.
If you know of any community groups or seniors' organisations 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.
The Seniors Community QUM program is an important NPS strategy to increase QUM awareness in the community. Australians aged 65 years and over are more at risk of medicines related mix-ups as they are the greatest users, and the number of seniors in the community continues to grow. NPS recognises the commitment and contribution to QUM for seniors made by those involved in the program, including nearly 200 peer educators and nine coordinators. Their efforts to educate seniors about managing their medicines have helped address the important issues of good health and medicines use. This continues to be a priority area for NPS, and contract negotiations are in progress to ensure this work carries on in the future.
Rural QUM
The 16 community groups and health services that received support to run a Community Rural Project Scheme are in the concluding stages of local activities. Grass-roots organisations increased QUM awareness for people living in rural and remote regions, and activities encouraged consumers to better understand the medicines they are using.
Preliminary results indicate that those services involved in the scheme have progressed QUM among many population groups including isolated communities, people with chronic illness and seniors in rural and remote areas.
More than 5,000 consumers took part in over 140 community QUM events, which included culturally and linguistically diverse community groups, remote northern Aboriginal communities, seniors as well as the general community. The evaluation report is being compiled and will be made available on the NPS website.
The rural project, No More Mualagh, conducted by Multicultural Mental Health Australia (MMHA) and National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA), was launched in October at the Diversity in Health conference, Melbourne.
Indigenous QUM Program
The Indigenous population, comprising approximately 2.4% of Australians, has specific QUM and health issues in the areas of diabetes, asthma and hypertension. To address these issues and promote QUM generally, NPS is collaborating with National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) to provide independent, evidence-based information and services to Aboriginal Health Workers. Pilot activity is occurring in Melbourne, Port Lincoln and the Kimberley.
In September, Aboriginal Health Workers attended a two day workshop in Broome, hosted by NACCHO, to identify QUM issues in Aboriginal communities, review and alter program materials drafted, review existing QUM resources, and determine the best implementation strategies. Eleven Aboriginal Health Workers attended the workshop which was based on the outcomes of a two-day preparation workshop held in Alice Springs. Workshop outcomes will be fed into pilot activity occurring in Melbourne, Port Lincoln and the Kimberley.
Additional work is currently being conducted by NPS to gather information on the QUM issues of Indigenous Australians by reviewing all available literature and, where possible, conducting consultation with Indigenous Australians. A visit to Central Australia earlier in the month included attending a Medicines Day at Yuendumu, 250km north west of Alice Springs, where a brief consultation was conducted.
MedicinesTalk a well-read, valued magazine for consumers
Readers of MedicinesTalk surveyed earlier this year gave a thumbs up to the quarterly magazine developed by consumers for consumers.
The survey aimed to identify the organisations and consumers reading MedicinesTalk, to measure how often they read it and how much time they spent, what they like and dislike about it and how they use it.
Of readers surveyed, 87% agreed that MedicinesTalk provides a good source of information for a broad range of medicines issues. The preferred main topics were interactions between medicines, side effects and adverse reactions.
The spring issue of MedicinesTalk is now available, providing consumers with information on medicines for headache and migraine, and medicine use while travelling. The edition also profiles peer education and new adult teaching modules as tools to build medicines understanding in multicultural communities.
MedicinesTalk is produced by consumers, for consumers to encourage and promote 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 receive MedicinesTalk, visit our online ordering system by clicking here.
Medicines List
Medicines List is NPS's new resource for consumers to help avoid medicine mix-ups. The list provides an opportunity for consumers to record all the medicines they may be taking at any one time and any allergies or previous problems with medicines. It has space to record up to 15 medicines and also provides the Medicines Line number.
Medicines List addresses the needs of anyone who takes multiple medicines, particularly seniors and people with chronic illness, and helps consumers keep track of their medications and discuss their medicines with their doctor or pharmacist.
Medicines List:
- has a place for consumers to record all the medicines they are taking
- comes in a plastic sleeve so prescriptions can be kept with the list
- is conveniently sized to fit in a hand bag or shirt pocket
- includes space to record allergies and details of who to contact in an emergency
- includes a check list of important things to know about medicines, a list of things that can affect the medicines consumers are taking, and the Medicines Line phone number for reference
- helps doctors and pharmacists quickly find which medicines consumers are taking, when used properly.
Consumers can use their Medicines List by:
- recording all medicines they are taking (including prescription medicines, over-the-counter, and any herbal and natural remedies, vitamins and minerals) and asking their doctor or pharmacist to help with details
- keeping their Medicines List up to date at all times — adding any new medicines and crossing out any medicines no longer taken
- bringing it to doctor's visits, to the pharmacy when getting new medications, or to hospital.
Medicines List is free to consumers and can be downloaded or ordered online from the consumer materials catalogue. It is also available at medicines information sessions run by COTA National Seniors Partnership.
Common colds need common sense
The annual Common colds need common sense campaign (CCNCS) which aims to reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics for viral respiratory tract infections, and eventually antibiotic resistance, ended in July.
The campaign messages were:
- 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.
Simple messages were delivered to parents and carers of children aged two to nine years and to the adult population through general practices, community pharmacies, selected hospital pharmacies and emergency departments, childcare centres, schools, the media and the campaign website at www.gottacold.com.
There was significant media coverage, which included editorial through Good Health TV which took the campaign message and resource to an audience of 5.6 million in over 1,200 medical centres and pharmacies, and 70 hospitals nationally.
Evaluation is currently underway.
Upcoming and recent events
National Medicines Symposium 2006
The 2006 symposium, which will be held in Canberra on 7-9 June, will provide a forum for QUM issues both in Australia and overseas. To date a number of international speakers have confirmed their attendance. They include:
- Jerry Avorn, MD, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Chief of Division of Pharmaco-epidemiology and Pharmaco-economics in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital USA.
- Richard Laing, Medical Officer and Professor of Policy, Access and Rational Use, Medicine Policy and Standards, World Health Organisation, Switzerland
- Ebba Holme Hansen, Professor of Social Pharmacy & Director, FKL – Research Centre for Quality in Medicine Use, The Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Denmark
The program will include plenary presentations from a diverse range of international and local experts including consumers as well as proffered paper and poster presentations on QUM from the broader medicines community and QUM workforce. A preliminary program and call for abstracts will be distributed in November 2005.
NPS Summit: Informing Judgments about Medicines
Over 270 delegates participated in the NPS Summit: Informing Judgements about Medicines held in Sydney recently. The Summit developed a series of recommendations on how to improve access to information on medicines in Australia, and NPS will continue to work with stakeholders to move the recommendations forward.
Australian Prescriber 30th Anniversary Celebration
To mark the 30th anniversary of Australian Prescriber, 130 Australian and international guests from over 20 countries joined NPS to hear from Dr Lynn Weekes, Dr Andrew Herxheimer and Prof John Tiller about the evolution and achievements of Australian Prescriber. The event was held at the Melbourne Aquarium on 13 September 2005.
Replacing the British Prescriber's Journal in 1975, Australian Prescriber has grown to become one of Australia's most prestigious and highly regarded medical publications.
The importance and value of independent, quality pharmaceutical and therapeutic journalism was also highlighted at the International Society of Drug Bulletins first Australian General Assembly held in Melbourne during September.
Australian Prescriber is an independent peer-reviewed journal providing critical commentary on therapeutic topics for health professionals. Consumers may be interested in the Comments for Consumers section of the Australian Prescriber website which is based on articles written for the journal. Any issues raised by this page/column should be discussed with your doctor or pharmacist, who will be able to give a more detailed answer to your questions by reading the main article.
Joint planning for health professionals' and consumers' working groups
Members of the Prescribing Intervention Working Group (PIWG) and Community QUM Working Group participated in a joint planning meeting in Sydney on 18 August.
The first joint meeting aimed to identify common objectives across both programs to assist consumers and health professionals in improving QUM. Participants were provided an overview of NPS's organisational priorities, programs for health professionals (EQAP) and consumers (CQUM), the Consumers' Health Forum of Australia and preliminary findings from the August consultation forum, and the Mates program from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Working group members and NPS staff workshopped QUM issues in the context of chronic illness and ended the day considering how the two groups can interact to achieve common objectives in light of the themes raised.
Presentations and papers
Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR) Workshop and Community Development Program
Lynn Weekes, NPS CEO, was recently invited to present at the Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR) Workshop and Community Development Program in Nova Scotia, Canada, on 15-16 September 2005.
Focussing on building capacity for Canada's National Pharmaceutical Strategy the workshop brought together leaders in pharmaceutical policy research from Canada, Australia and England.
Lynn presented on our Australian experience and lessons learnt from the implementation of QUM initiatives by NPS to create an awareness, culture and environment that will support QUM among all stakeholders.
The next edition of e.news will be circulated in December 2005. Feedback on format and content is welcome.
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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.
Date published: 2005-11-01 00:00:00
Reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the date of creation. This information is not intended as a substitute for medical advice from a qualified health professional. Health professionals should rely on their own expertise and enquiries when providing medical advice or treatment. Where permitted by law, NPS disclaims all liability (including for negligence) for any loss, damage or injury resulting from reliance on or use of this information. Read our full disclaimer.
References to brands should not be taken as an endorsement by NPS.
