Beat Autumn 2019

Autumn2019

When unexpected relationships develop Embracing the power of positive support

Farewell Richard Bowden

Handing over the reigns after a stellar career

Making mental health a priority For our customers, ourselves and our communities

Connecting our people across Australia and New Zealand

Rohana Dass

Adrian Keenan

Thank you Rohana Dass for arranging team lunches and the yoga - helping our team connect and be limber... #youmadeadifference

You made a difference! So happy that you are focusing on being a healthier you. Thank you for inspiring me to follow suit. Looking forward to our walks during breaks and having a healthier lifestyle.

Sam Nicholson, Change and Development Specialist, BMVS

Kay Damian, Hospital Claims Assessor, Customer Service

You made a difference In December, over 200 people across Australia and New Zealand showed their gratitude by sharing how their colleagues ‘made a difference’ to their wellbeing in 2018. Here’s just a small sample of the thanks shown.

Russell Shepherd You make me smile every day, with your never ending support, great ideas & positive friendly support on a daily basis.

Some people go the extra mile, Russell goes an extra 10! Thank you.

Leigh Anderson, Village Manager, BVAC NZ

Rachel Roebeck Rachel Roebeck, Senior caregiver at Erin Park is always willing to help me with verifying staff for NZQA qualifications. She is well respected by colleagues and residents. I have observed her, and upmost in her thoughts is the quality of care for our clients.

Susan Finnie, Registered Nurse, BVAC NZ

I would love to say thanks to Natalie Dreier who has been helping me out since day one. She is not only great at being a mother and wife for her beautiful family, but she also is a friend to those in need. I am thankful to be her work colleague. #youmadeadifference Hugo Crystal, Physio Aide, BVAC AU

Thank you for radiating so much passion and love into Bupa Rangeville. You make me smile just watching you make others smile.

You were an amazing support to me while I was ill and trying to move interstate. So much love xx Lisa Naumann, Business Administrator, BVAC AU

BJay Dakis Thank you BJay Dakis, your passion for health and wellbeing throughout the year has been inspiring. You have made wellness a popular topic of conversation at Eden, the wellness area that you were part of creating is amazing. Love your work #youmadeadifference Jacqueline Hall, Team Leader, Customer Service

Elvia Duran Thank you Elvia for bringing in fruit each morning for the team. It has helped increase the amount of fruit being eaten and reduced some of our unhealthy snacking #youmadeadifference Lucy Norman, Senior Hospital Claims Assessor, Customer Service

Natalie Dreier

Kylie Brown

Megan Cook Thanks Megan for kicking off “Healthy October” in the Enabling Affordability team and consistently supporting the team through all of our chosen health choices - including your own. You’re a fantastic promoter for healthy change!

Christie Jenkins Thanks for making my work day much brighter with your great insights and willingness to bounce ideas and challenges around. Turns around what would have been a very hectic and challenging day.

Ryan Ebert, Business Manager, Bupa Therapy

Tim Cox, Senior Programs Manager, Finance and Strategy RECYCLED STAMP

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Embracing the power of unexpected friendship and love

Richard Bowden | Challenge and change define a stellar career at Bupa

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Thinking clearly about mental health

Being fully present in the moment at the most important times

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Meet Roger Sharp

How passion and purpose are driving better online experiences for all

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beatcontents

Taking a break

Years of service

10 Autumn eats that look great and love your eyes

18 Caring for our communities

26 A spotlight on Bupa’s Cyber Security Resources

12 Keeping good eye health in your sights

20 A world of opportunities for nurses at Bupa

28 Bupa Bites

Please note that images of deceased Indigenous people may be contained within this magazine beat | 3

Having positive relationships to help you through life’s journey can be incredibly important, especially in times of need. And as a number of Bupa’s customers have found out recently, those relationships can arise and develop when you least expect it!

Embracing the power of unexpected friendship and love

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relationships

Daniella Bouras (far left) and Dee Donata (left) encourage each other to attend Bupa Therapy in Melbourne, with plenty of stories being told, and laughs being had, during their sessions.

Ryan Ebert (right) Business Manager Health Services, helps people feel warm and welcome at Bupa Therapy (bottom right) and wants the experience to be more like enjoying time at a local café than visiting a cold medical clinic.

“When it comes to rehabilitation and therapy, relationships are everything. Having a good rapport and positive conversations with patients beats pure skill every day because what you’re really trying to do is motivate people to continually implement positive changes into their everyday lives,” explains Ryan Ebert, Bupa Therapy Business Manager. “Patients are going on a journey that can impact every aspect of their lives and it can be very isolating for them if they don’t get the physical and emotional support they need.”

Daniella Bouras lives with multiple sclerosis (MS), and before coming to Bupa Therapy in Melbourne, had, in her own words, ‘done it all’, from personal training and tai chi to spinal therapy. “I had no success with many different treatments, and it all cost a huge amount of money when I had to start funding it myself,” explains Daniella. “A few of my friends said I should join a support group, but that’s not really me, so I tried an online group, but found that full of negative people and it was very depressing.”

After seeing a television news story about Bupa Therapy, Daniella hesitantly thought she’d try the new service. “After 19 years on this

journey, I suffer from what I call ‘ED’, which is ‘expect to be disappointed’, so I was quite negative at first coming to Bupa Therapy, and didn’t want to fill myself with false hope,” explains Daniella. What Daniella didn’t expect to find at Bupa Therapy though, was a ‘partner in crime’ in Dee Donata, who similarly lives with MS, and the two struck up a strong friendship based on their shared experiences, and they now jokingly refer to each other as ‘Thelma and Louise’ (after the fictional friends in the movie of the same name).

“We laugh, we swear and we share stories about each others families while we’re doing our exercises,” explains Dee. “And if I ever start waning about coming in to Bupa Therapy, I think ‘no way, I’ve got to go, I’m not missing out on catching up with Daniella’!”

The physical environment of Bupa Therapy has been purposefully designed to help stimulate positivity and sociability. “What we’re aiming to do is create an environment where people can build positive connections with each other, which beat | 5

(Left) Having met at Bupa in 2000, NZ rehabilitation clients Ray Lewis and Karen Renner decided to tie the knot 10 years later (below) at Bupa Rehab Whangarei (Pou Oranga).

(Right) Yvonne and Tom Baverstock-Ward hold up their wedding photo.

Picture: Rachel Mounsey

ultimately helps lift everyone up,” explains Ryan.

“We want people to feel like they are in a beautiful and warm space, that could be a café or hotel, and not a cold medical clinic.”

For Daniella, attending Bupa Therapy has been a life changing experience. “Coming here really 6 | beat

has opened up my world,” explains Daniella. “It is such a light and happy place and for the first time in many years I can go somewhere and just feel normal and that it’s really a space for me.”

Not content to just help each other with short-term goals at Bupa Therapy, Daniella and Dee have also

committed to spending New Year’s Eve together in 2019. “We’re going to help each other during the year, so when it comes to New Year’s Eve, we’re aiming to walk to the party together, as well as dance the night away,” explains Dee. One life celebration Bupa client Ray Lewis wasn’t expecting would arise from his time at rehabilitation in New Zealand, was his own wedding!

“I used to live by myself, but then required 24 hour care after a head injury in 2000, and that’s when I arrived at Bupa Auckland,” explains Ray. Also at Bupa Auckland at the same time was Karen Renner, who Ray noticed pretty much immediately.

“One of the team at Bupa saw us both looking at each other, and that’s when they decided to introduce us,” says Ray. “I believe that everyone deserves a companion, and Karen certainly did, and from that first introduction, we became very friendly. The team in Auckland was fantastic and very supportive of our relationship.”

In time, the friendship blossomed into love, and then ten years after he first proposed, Ray and Karen got married at Bupa Rehab Whangarei (Pou Oranga), where they had moved to be closer to family. “It was

a very long engagement, but I think the secret to a successful relationship is bringing everything out into the open and being totally honest with each other,” explains Ray. “Having a strong relationship is excellent for your journey, and if you make sure you keep up the communication, you’ll be fine!”

And at Bupa Aged Care in Eden on the south coast of New South Wales, two residents who first met 85 years ago found love again when they least expected it. Tom and Yvonne Baverstock-Ward were friends as young children, but then their lives moved in different directions. Yvonne was happily married for 41 years, until her husband passed away, and similarly Tom was happily married before losing his wife, and neither expected to marry again.

Becoming reacquainted as residents at Bupa Eden, Tom and Yvonne became close and then Tom proposed in 2018, asking for Yvonne’s hand in marriage.

Surprised by Tom’s proposal, Yvonne talked it over with her family. “We decided it was better to have the company of an old friend than to be alone, it was a big decision,” explains Yvonne. “All we knew is that we belonged together and that was all that mattered.”

Richard Bowden Challenge and change define a stellar career at Bupa Richard Bowden steps aside as Chief Executive Officer for Bupa Australia and New Zealand in April 2019, after 37 years with the company and its associated entities. As someone who is constantly forward looking, Richard decided the time was right to hand over the reigns to Hisham El-Ansary to lead Bupa A&NZ forward in an ever-changing health and care landscape.

As the youngest of four children growing up on the family farm in the Hunter Valley of NSW, Richard Bowden was no stranger to tackling the toughest of tasks his older siblings would kindly ‘delegate’ to him. “I still remember being the one who would have to walk across the frosty ground to feed the pigs in the middle of winter,” laughs Richard.

But it was this strong work ethic, instilled early on in life, and the ability to tackle challenging tasks ‘head on’, that has defined Richard’s career. “It really does feel like my career has moved from one challenge to the next,” says Richard. “But I have always been attracted to situations where change was required.”

As a young part-time commerce student, Richard started his working life in audit in Newcastle. “I literally fell into audit, as it seemed to be the right thing to do at the time, but I only lasted six months because it was terrible, and I was terrible at it,” laughs Richard. From there, Richard worked for an insurance business with a financial arm before moving into health insurance. But it was a desire to make a change from the finance world that saw Richard and his wife Sue move to Melbourne and ultimately opting for a people management role running a branch office of HBA.

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Richard Bowden

“The retail stores were quite big in those days, and I was the only male in an office of thirty females and it was a great learning curve in how to manage and lead.”

It was during this people management role, that Richard answered a fortuitous internal job advertisement to work alongside a Management Consulting firm, who were reviewing the financial performance of the HBA business over the previous decade. “I was very young and green, but I got 8 | beat

to work with a highly experienced consultant as we reviewed the financial return on the assets in the business,” explains Richard. “What we found was quite startlingly, with the return on assets being in the region of negative 90%. The business had diversified into many different areas, and was essentially insolvent. It was a great lesson for me, because it was clear that the core health insurance business was reasonably sound, but because they had acquired a number of different

companies in unrelated areas, and not managed them well, the overall business was in serious financial strife.”

Richard also learnt a few ‘tricks of the management consulting trade’ working alongside the consultants.

“We would have many meetings presenting our findings, and back in those days, where every report was printed on paper, the management consultants would walk into the room with the biggest pile of papers they could, even if some of the them weren’t specifically relevant to that meeting, to help highlight how much research had been done,” laughs Richard. “Of course all the research had been done, because their approach was incredibly thorough, but the stack of papers was just a bit of theatre on top!”

After the project had concluded, and the final reports presented, Richard was then asked to help solve some of the problems that had been identified. “We put together a team of six people, and moved through the business looking to implement change and get the organisation moving again, and I think that’s really where I got the bug for working in challenging situations that require change.”

From there, change in the business was a constant, as HBA moved through many different owners, from National Mutual and AXA Asia Pacific, to then Bupa.

During this time, Richard held a number of leadership positions

including Managing Director of the French-owned AXA Australia Health, to then Managing Director of the British-owned Bupa Australia from 2002-2012. “I found that the French and the British had very different styles as owners running the business,” explains Richard.

“The French were very inquisitive and ideological in their approach, while the British would have robust discussions, but then allow managers to set their own agendas and get on with it.”

Richard also helped steer Bupa Australia from being the corporate operator of a number of standalone state-based health insurance brands, including HBA, Mutual Community and the acquisition of MBF, to a master brand in its own right, that then expanded into offering more health and care services. The lessons learnt from analysing what went wrong at HBA when it broadened its core offer also held Richard in

“ It’s all about accountability, getting the right people in leadership positions and building a culture that is open to learning and adapting.”

good stead as Bupa expanded in Australia and New Zealand. “It’s all about accountability, getting the right people in leadership positions and building a culture that is open to learning and adapting,” explains Richard.

With the Bupa brand firmly entrenched locally, one could forgive Richard for wanting to stay put and lead the organisation he had helped shape. But another challenge, was just around the corner - in 2012, Richard was asked to help turn around the Bupa UK business. “Many people questioned, some more politely than others, asking ‘why are you taking that job?’, and though I knew the businesses were in difficulty, I was attracted to the role because it involved challenge and ultimately change,” explains Richard. For the next four years, Richard was Managing Director of Bupa UK, and while feeling a sense of ‘deja vu’ from earlier change management roles, he nevertheless thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

“I loved my time living and working in London and was very proud of the team we built and their belief that we could make things better in a very tough healthcare market.”

After four years in London, Richard returned to Melbourne as Chief Executive Officer in 2016, with a remit to focus on succession planning and put in place the team that could tackle an everevolving health and care landscape in Australia and New Zealand.

“Over the last two years, we’ve

strengthened what was an existing core team by bringing in some new senior people and it really feels the time is right for them to move the business forward.”

In terms of his immediate future, Richard has only one plan at the moment, and that is to do absolutely nothing for the next six months or so.

But in true country style, Richard’s 91-year-old mum had some words of advice for her youngest son as he moves into a new stage of life.

Upon hearing of Richard’s plans for the immediate future she suggested, ‘well you can’t do nothing… and make sure you don’t get ahead of yourself’!

And having also banned his family from using the ‘retirement’ word, one suspects Richard may well just heed the advice of his mum in the not too distant future!

Richard’s tips for a successful career 1 Openness ensure you remain open to new ideas and ways of thinking to remain fresh and bring your whole self to any role.

2 Persistence never give up at the first hurdle, if you believe in it, be persistent.

3 Relevance make sure you are constantly reviewing how you are being relevant, where you can add value. Fight hard to not be complacent.

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health and wellbeing

This BBQ salad is not only inspired by Autumn’s seasonal produce, but its core ingredient of broccoli contains nutrients that are good for eye health. Serve it with delicious baked salmon as it’s rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which may also help reduce the risk of certain eye problems.

Autumn eats that look great and love your eyes

Chargrilled broccoli salad with smokey paprika hummus Preparation time 10 mins Cooking time 15 mins Ingredients 1 can chickpeas, drained, reserving liquid 2 tbs hulled tahini 2 cloves garlic peeled 1 handful fresh parsley 1 tsp fresh cracked pepper 1 tbs smoked paprika 2 tbs ground cumin seed toasted 1 tbs ground coriander seed toasted 1/2 tsp chili powder 2 lemons zested and juiced 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil 1 tbs tamari sauce 1 broccoli head cut into long chunky trees 1 tbs roasted sesame seeds 20g low fat feta cheese crumbled Extra smoked paprika, lemon zest, lemon wedges and fresh parsley to serve

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Method 1 Preheat a bbq or chargrill on high.

2 In a food processor, blitz the drained chickpeas, tahini, garlic, parsley, pepper, spices, lemon juice until smooth. Add a little chickpea water if you need to loosen the consistency. Store in a jar and set aside, it should keep for up to 5 days in the fridge.

3 In a bowl add oil, tamari and broccoli and toss until thoroughly coated.

4 Char broccoli on a hot bbq for 4 minutes each side until nice and blackened in spots but still bright.

5 Dollop some hummus on a platter, pile on broccoli, sprinkle toasted seeds and finish with paprika, lemon zest, lemon wedges and parsley.

Baked salmon with parmesan and parsley crust This easy oven meal serves five people with just four ingredients.

Ingredients • 1 salmon fillet • 3 cloves garlic • 1/4 cup parsley • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese • 2 sheets aluminium foil or parchment paper Method 1 Preheat your oven to 220°C. Place the whole salmon fillet onto a baking tray between 2 sheets of foil or parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes.

2 Mince the garlic, chop the parsley and cheese and combine.

Remove the top sheet of foil or paper and top the salmon with the mixture. Bake for a further 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

3 Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

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ask the optometrist

Karen Makin, our resident Bupa Beat optometrist, talks about the importance of regular eye tests for glaucoma to ensure early detection and discusses whether using a mobile phone just before bed is bad for you eyes.

Keeping good eye health in your sights Some members of my family have glaucoma. Is it hereditary and can it be cured?

Glaucoma is quite a complicated disorder, but fundamentally it’s a disease with a number of factors that contribute to damaging the eye’s optic nerve. Ultimately, the disease can lead to tunnel vision or even loss of sight for sufferers. Unfortunately, glaucoma is a lifelong condition and is not curable, but with early detection it can be managed and the progression of the disease slowed.

increase your chance of developing the disease tenfold. Further risk factors include your age (especially if you’re over forty), whether you live with diabetes, have high blood pressure or suffer from migraines.

Finally, cultural ethnicity can be a determining factor as well.

One of the most significant risk factors is having an immediate family member with glaucoma. Glaucoma is a hereditary disease so this will 12 | beat

The final word of advice is to make sure you have regular eye tests at least every two years, or if you’re in a higher risk category for glaucoma, then every year. Your optometrist is a good person to discuss your risk factors with and can recommend how often you need to get your eyes checked.

Is using my mobile phone late at night bad for my eyes?

Glaucoma can be quite challenging to identify, but with regular eye tests your optometrist will be able to judge whether any further examinations are required and can also refer you to an ophthalmologist if necessary.

While glaucoma affects only 2% of the population, roughly half of all people with glaucoma remain undetected and it’s important to know the risk factors to ensure you have regular eye tests.

eye drops (most commonly used), laser procedures or even minimally invasive surgery.

Using your mobile phone, or any other screen-based device at night, isn’t necessarily bad for your eyes. But it might trick your eyes into thinking it’s still daytime, which can affect your ability to sleep.

Often people with glaucoma won’t experience any symptoms until the condition is quite advanced and severe, which is why regular tests are so important. But the good news is, with early detection, glaucoma can be managed with treatments including

Humans are generally hard wired to be awake when the sun is up, and then to sleep at night when it’s dark. To assist with this daily rhythm, melatonin is a hormone that your body naturally releases at night to help you get to sleep.

Exposure to blue light, which is emitted from the sun, suppresses the release of melatonin during the

day. Modern devices such as phones, tablets, laptops and even televisions all emit blue light, which is why using any of these at night might trick your body into thinking it’s still daytime.

This could then artificially suppress the release of melatonin in your body, potentially making it more difficult to fall asleep.

One way to help avoid this happening is to use blue light lenses either on your existing glasses, or buying a pair of blue light spectacles. Wearing these glasses at night while using electronic devices can cut down the amount of blue light your eyes absorb helping to maintain the natural timing of the release of melatonin.

Some smart phones even have blue light filters you can turn on to help with this, most often in settings or preferences under ‘Display’.

Of course getting a good night’s sleep is important for your overall health, as well as maintaining the ongoing comfort of your eyes and helping to avoid eye strain or dryness, so you also have to put down the devices and go to bed on a reasonable schedule even if you’re using bluelight lenses or filters.

‘Making mental health a business priority’ is a major worldwide initiative spearheaded by Bupa’s Global Chief Medical Officer Paul Zollinger-Read on behalf of the Global Chief Medical Officers’ (CMO) Network, an organisation representing 50 of the world’s largest employers. Locally, Bupa is committed to supporting the mental health of our own people, our customers and the broader community through many new initiatives.

Thinking clearly about mental health In any given year, one in five Australians experience mental health issues and almost half the population will experience mental ill health at some stage in their life, according to the Federal Department of Health.

In New Zealand, nearly 8% of adults in 2016/17 had experienced psychological distress in the past four weeks, according to the New Zealand Health Survey. Despite these figures, a major research program undertaken late last year

by Bupa indicates that the vast majority of people in Australia (85%) are not confident they’d know where to seek help if they, or one of their dependents, was experiencing

mental health issues. “This research highlights the need to help people gain a better understanding of the mental healthcare system, which has a real impact on people’s ability to seek help and receive appropriate treatment,” explains Zoe Wainer, Bupa’s Head of Public Health.

Bupa is strengthening it’s range of mental health initiatives to help people: • navigate the information, services and resources they require • gain increased access to mental health professionals, and • deliver further choices to have services and support delivered more widely in the community, not just in hospital settings.

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THRIVING

Kelly Johnstone “Our research in December really showed that people don’t know where to go for help and support for their mental health,” explains Kelly Johnstone, from Health Partnerships and Innovation at Bupa. “A key initiative to help overcome this has been the establishment of the Mental Health Navigation Service in February 2019, a national, 24/7 telephone-based service for parents who are concerned about their child’s mental health. The service is designed as a single point of contact to connect parents with the information and support that is relevant to their child’s needs.” This may include a needs assessment, options for clinical services or further information on a specific mental health condition. An email summarising the relevant information provided during the call is then sent to parents for their reference.

To help increase access to mental health professionals, Bupa is supporting the Kids Helpline at School program in Australia that allows primary schools to invite counsellors into their classroom to speak with children via video 14 | beat

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Emily Meates conferencing. Further video-based programs will be implemented throughout 2019, with psychologists and psychiatrists becoming more available to people through this technology.

“ We want to ensure people can access the right service, at the right time and the right place, and that may not always be within a hospital setting.”

To support International Students, Bupa has developed Psychology Connect, a service that facilitates access to psychologists across Australia. Students call a toll-free number and, following a brief screening, are connected to a psychologist in their local community.

If they have a Mental Health Care Plan from their GP there is no gap fee or cost for the student.

Bupa is also aiming to broaden the delivery of treatment services beyond purely the clinical environment so people can choose to access support more widely in

their local community or even in their own homes. “Ideally we want to ensure people can access the right service, at the right time and the right place, and that may not always be within a hospital setting,” explains Kelly. “We are developing a range of community based mental health services - Bupa’s Mind Care Choices - that provide person-centred support and treatment to meet an individual’s specific mental health needs in the environment of their choice.”

“We have partnered with Toowong Private Hospital in Queensland to deliver the Mobile Recovery Support Service, which provides intensive support to enable customers to live well in the community and achieve the best possible outcomes,” says Kelly.

A range of mental health outcomes measures are employed to track customers’ progress through the service. Since commencement in April 2017, 99 customers have accessed the service and to date 57% have been discharged, no longer requiring mental health services.

Bupa has also engaged Clarity Health Care in Victoria to provide a community-based hospital substitution program. Staffed by a multidisciplinary team of mental health professionals, the team actively assists customers to manage their mental health. Services are delivered from the clinic, via outreach in the customer’s home or via video conferencing. This ensures that customers can access the services they require with minimal disruption to their lives.

Emily Meates, Mental Health and Wellbeing Specialist within the

CRISIS

People Team is passionate about ensuring Bupa’s own people feel safe, valued, supported and confident to take care of themselves and those around them by working in a positive and psychologically safe environment. “As a health and care company that aims to create longer, healthier and happier lives, it’s vital that we care for ourselves and each other at Bupa, so that we can function at our best and continue to care for our customers,” explains Emily. Over the last two years, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Team, within the People Team, has been developing and managing a range of tools, support services and resources Bupa team members can access, no matter where they are on a mental health spectrum. “We recognise that people can move along a continuum of mental health, based on their life experiences and level of resilience.

We know that our people can be anywhere from psychologically thriving to experiencing a mental health crisis,” explains Emily. “So for a team member who might be feeling well and closer to the psychologically thriving end of the spectrum, they may wish to proactively access the Performance Energy program or resilience resources, to really help maintain that state of wellbeing. For our people who are struggling to cope, there is Employee Assistance Program support and a range of leadership training opportunities.

These include Mental Health First Aid and Suicide Awareness and Prevention Training, that equip our leaders with the knowledge and

“From the very beginning, we were also clear that we wanted to partner with the successful organisations, and not just be passive funders, so we could jointly learn and benefit.”

Bupa Health Foundation’s grants recipients The two recipients of the Bupa Health Foundation’s $1 million research grants were announced in March this year. One project will evaluate the use of digital platforms to help young Australians get the right type of mental health care when they need it while the second grant aims to assess the impact changing mental health providers has on patients and how improved coordination of care can reduce the burden on patients.

skills for supporting our people who are finding life challenging. It’s all about acknowledging that our people need to have choice in the support or information they access, depending on their mental health needs.”

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Team has also noticed a shift over the last couple of years in how people at Bupa are willing to talk more openly about mental health and seek support when required.

“In late 2017, we saw that our people started to feel they had a more open and safe space to share their mental health experiences and that they were comfortable putting their hand up if they were not ok,” explains Emily. “Last year, we increasingly saw people, including our leaders, use the support services available and talk about their experiences more openly. We encourage everyone to access these support services and be aware of mental health. Perhaps most importantly, every one of us has a role to play, through our words, actions, and practices, in creating workplaces that support mental health.”

The Bupa Health Foundation prioritised mental health as its focus for 2018 offering $1 million funding through its new grants program. “We asked organisations to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) for research focused on improving mental health models of care in Australia. We were delighted with the response to the EOI which was much higher than we expected, with over 4,000

Annette Schmiede downloads of the guidelines from the website” explains Annette Schmiede, Executive Leader, Bupa Health Foundation. “From the very beginning, we were clear that we wanted research from an alliance of organisations, and to partner in the successful project and not just be a passive funder. By taking this collaborative approach we have the greatest chance of success.”

The Bupa Health Foundation received 160 responses to the EOI. From there seven organisations were short listed to complete full research proposals, before the final two were selected for funding (see Bupa Bite or side panel?). “The final round also included a presentation to the evaluation committee which really helped to visualise the potential of the research, and identifty the front runners” explains Annette. “After a thorough process, It was very special to be able to make those two phone calls and inform the successful applicants they had been successful in receiving grants of $500,000 to help improve mental health care for Australians.”

Best Care, First Time Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney

Follow my journey Central Queensland Wide Bay Sunshine Coast Primary Health Network

Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre will be measuring the tangible benefits technology provides in empowering young people to access the best mental health care.

“Youth mental health is really serious, half of these young people will go on to have serious mental health problems for life. We want to test whether better coordinated care with new technology saves lives and makes more productive lives now. With this project we hope that we can show that the right coordination of primary care, specialist care, outpatient settings, can hospital care can be coordinated within districts to produce better outcomes,” said Professor Ian Hickie from the Sydney Brain and Mind Centre.

The Central Queensland Wide Bay Sunshine Coast Primary Health Network will use their funding to evaluate and improve on care delivery following the recent introduction of a stepped care model in their region. The project will provide insights about how consumers move through various stages of mental health care, and the emotional toll moving between providers may take.

“The research project will use evidence to determine the patterns of service usage across the system. It will also be heavily informed by the voices and experiences of those that use these services. As far as we know, this will be the first systemwide evaluation of the mental health system from a consumer perspective,” said Pattie Hudson, CEO of Central Queensland Wide Bay Sunshine Coast Primary Health Network.

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Compassion when it’s needed most “What we really try and do at Penrith retail store is be totally in the moment with any customer we are serving and give them 100% of our attention,” explains Blake Ford (above), Store Leader, Bupa Penrith.

“It’s important our customers know that we’re fully there for them, so I encourage the team not to be distracted by phone calls or anything else that’s happening in the store, but totally focus on the person who is with you right there and then.”

Marilyn Takoko has been a Bupa employee for 19 years, and at the Penrith store for three, and takes the notion of ‘being fully there for her customers’ that one step further. Marilyn recently impressed a bystander in the store so much they felt compelled to write an email to Blake congratulating Marilyn’s good deeds when she was dealing with another customer.

“I really try and put myself in the shoes of our customers and try and understand what they’re going through,” explains Marilyn. “I often say that if you don’t have strong feelings of empathy in our job, then basically you’re in the wrong job.”

So when a customer walked into the store late last year having recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and wanting to know what she was covered for, Marilyn knew what to do. “I’ve had a number of 16 | beat

Being fully present in the moment at the most important times Bupa’s customer-facing teams often deal with people at vulnerable times of their lives, whether that’s checking if health insurance will cover a recently diagnosed illness or perhaps supporting a family on their aged care journey. The ‘Value Conversation Guide’ (VCG) has been recently introduced as one way to support our teams to help customers find the most appropriate solution for their needs. Here’s one example of how a team member calmed a tricky situation, and another, who takes ‘being in the moment’ to another level.

The Bupa Penrith retail store

The first thing Marilyn did was to sit the customer down in a quiet part of the store, hold her hand and just be there for her as she regained composure.

family members and friends who have suffered with breast cancer and I know how scared people can be about the unknown,” explains Marilyn. “This particular customer was very upset when she came in, and although it almost made me cry seeing her distressed, I thought I could help the situation beyond just informing her of her insurance cover.”

The first thing Marilyn did was to sit the customer down in a quiet part of the store, hold her hand and just be there for her as she regained composure. “I said to her that even though I didn’t personally know exactly how she was feeling, I knew how others had felt in similar situations and I was sure I could help.” The customer enquired if her health insurance would cover the upcoming procedures, and although Marilyn was 99% certain it would, she phoned the experts just to be sure. “The last thing I wanted to do was provide any false hope, so I called the technical team to make absolutely sure she was covered to give her that peace of mind,” explains Marilyn.

Naturally, the customer was very pleased when she was informed her

health insurance would cover any upcoming procedures. “As she got up, I just instinctively gave her a hug for reassurance and also gave her a card with my email and phone number on it so she could call me directly with any further concerns,” says Marilyn.

Another Bupa member who was in the store at the time, observed Marilyn’s exceptional customer service and felt so moved by what she saw, she approached Blake to say she wanted to write a letter. “I suggested to the customer that an email would be best, and if she sent it directly to me I would make sure it was passed on to Marilyn and the wider team, both in the store, as well as further up into the Bupa support network,” explains Blake. “Marilyn’s actions are a great example of dealing with someone exactly how you would like to be treated yourself, and that’s something we all strive to do every day at Penrith.”

As for Marilyn, she’s not quite sure what all the fuss is about. “That’s just who I am and I was absolutely stunned that someone would take the time to do something like write an email to Blake. It was lovely that she did, and I was very touched, but at the end of the day, I was just doing my job.”

Calming a tricky situation with a ‘value conversation’ Daniel Caulfield (above right), Sales and Service Consultant at Bupa’s Albury retail store in NSW, recently had a customer arrive quite agitated about a letter he’d just received from Bupa. “I invited the member to have a seat and he was instantly on the back foot and was very angry and upset,” explains Daniel. “I instantly jumped on my computer to start checking cover options, but then had a lightbulb moment, and thought I better use the value conversation guide or this discussion was going no where.”

Firstly, Daniel let the customer

‘vent’ and simply listened. Daniel told the customer he understood the way he was feeling and that his questions were totally valid. That’s when things started to change for the better.

“I sought the customer’s permission to then start asking him some questions about his family, his job and what he did in his spare time,” explains Daniel. “It turns out he ran marathons as a younger man and played rugby, so he is concerned about joint, hip and knee replacements. One of his sons is trying out for the Western Sydney Giants and his other children are ‘sports mad’, so he’s worried about accidents, and that they might need braces in the future. But I also discovered he worked for a company that entitles his family to a 5% discount.”

With a much fuller picture of the customer’s concerns and needs, Daniel was able to reassure him that his current cover was the most appropriate for his family, while also helping find a discount through his employer.

“At the end of our discussion, the customer told me he was absolutely happy with Bupa, shook my hand and thanked me for my time and for making sure he had the best cover for his family,” explains Daniel.

“I felt a greater sense of purpose after that customer interaction, and it might have been a short conversation, but it made my day.” beat | 17

Our Reconciliation Action Plan is helping to support health equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Through the launch of our Dr Evelyn Scott Scholarship supporting the next generation of female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders.

We are helping to eradicate rheumatic heart disease by supporting community led models of care (left).

And our internship and traineeship programs have employed more than 100 students to date.

Caring for our communities Did you know, in 2018 we invested almost $4 million in research, health programs and social initiatives across A&NZ? At Bupa, we want to play our part in a world where people feel well and stay healthy. Where differences are celebrated, and communities thrive in clean, green environments. Where, working alongside others, we help people live longer, healthier, happier lives. Helping to create this world is part of who we are, not an add-on. It’s what we do alongside our customers, our people, our partners, suppliers and wider society. It makes good sense and it’s good for business too.

We celebrate diversity and encourage everyone to bring their true selves to work, to reflect our customers and the wider community.

Our people created our Bupa Pride Network, with more than 100 employees now actively involved (right).

Our Accessibility Network has helped to introduce new mentoring and internship programs, creating a more inclusive workplace.

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And we’re showing our support for our local communities.

Offering premium relief to drought impacted farmers and flood impacted customers.

Helping to build a Men’s Shed for the community at our Bupa Kyneton Aged Care home.

Offering free flu vaccinations to Big Issue vendors and employees.

We know that to have healthy people, you need a healthy planet.

We’re continuing to reduce our carbon emissions year-on-year.

More than 1000 pieces of IS equipment has been diverted from landfill through recycling or repurposing (right).

Around 27% of our electricity now comes from renewable sources, including all our NZ care home and retirement villages.

We reduced our air travel by more than 35% in 2018, compared to 2017, and emissions were reduced by almost 2000 tonnes.

2019

And we want to create a bigger impact in our communities in 2019, to show Bupa cares.

We’ve got a big ambition, to work towards investing 1% of our profits back into our communities.

We can’t achieve this without the support and passion of our employees and leaders.

We’re making a difference in mental health.

By supporting Kids Helpline to deliver free wellbeing programs in primary schools, helping thousands of school children to be healthier and happier. The program focuses on emotional wellbeing, resilience and dealing with stress, anxiety and bullying (above).

By providing more than one million dollars in funding through the Bupa Health Foundation for research to improve mental health models of care.

Through volunteering, community grants, fund matching and supporting our partnerships.

Join the movement and help us make a difference!

Search ‘Corporate Responsibility’ on Workplace today

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For ambitious nurses, the choice of where to undertake placement, or gain that first position, can be somewhat daunting, with so many options available. Bupa wants to make sure it’s at the top of the list, and has created scholarships and management programs to attract and retain the best nurses, as well as joining a global initiative, ‘Nursing Now’, that aims to raise the status and profile of nursing overall.

A world of opportunities for nurses at Bupa

Kathryn Ridley When Kathryn Ridley, Clinical Education Consultant, was completing her Bachelor of Nursing degree in Sydney, she felt a certain pressure to go down a specific path after university. “A lot of people around me kept pushing acute care as being one of the only options available for graduate nurses to consider,” explains Kathryn.

After witnessing first‑hand the care and compassion shown by aged care nurses to her ill grandfather, Kathryn discovered the path she was destined to head down. “Since I was a child, I always wanted to do a job that helped people, and when I saw how aged care nurses helped my grandfather, and how it truly made a difference to not only him, but also our wider family, I knew that was what I wanted to do.”

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After seeing an advertisement for Bupa’s Graduate Nurse Program, that offered a transitional path from studies to aged care nursing, along with ongoing education and support, she was hooked.

“The opportunities outlined in the advertisement were very appealing and because Bupa also has such a strong reputation for its quality of care, I just wanted to be part of it all,” says Kathryn.

Jan Adams, Bupa’s Global Chief Nurse and Managing Director of Bupa Villages and Aged Care, feels that this alignment between Bupa’s purpose and values, and why many people go into nursing in the first place, is what makes Bupa such an attractive employment option. “Bupa is a company with very strong values, and I think these resonate with nurses along

Jan Adams

Nursing Now is a three-year global campaign run in collaboration with the International Council of Nurses and the World Health Organisation.

The campaign aims to empower nurses globally to help build stronger economies, improve health globally and contribute to improved gender equality – considering the majority of nurses are still women.

Bupa is one of 19 global partners of the campaign, which also has Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge as its Patron.

with being able to identify with our purpose, in terms of putting our customers first and delivering the very best outcomes for them,” explains Jan. When Jan took on the role of Global Chief Nurse in 2016, one of her ambitions was to create further opportunities for Bupa’s nurses, and this included the development of a global scholarship that offered extra mentorship and financial support. “We launched the Bupa Global Nurse Scholarship in 2018 and awarded five nurses £10,000 each to help solve a specific business problem in their own markets, as well as connecting with each other and our leaders globally, and taking on further study and mentorship,” explains Jan. Kathryn Ridley heard about the Global Nurse Scholarship early in 2018, but was initially a little reluctant to apply. “My manager suggested the scholarship might help with my leadership capabilities if I was successful, so I decided to go for it,” explains Kathyrn.

After the round of interviews, Kathryn surprisingly discovered that

she’d been successful in securing a scholarship in July 2018. “I’ve always wanted to explore leadership positions, but I realised there were a few gaps in my skills and that I wasn’t quite ready for it yet, but hopefully the global scholarship, along with the further study I’m undertaking in Clinical Leadership and Management, will help.”

Kathryn’s project as part of her scholarship is to explore how training and education can become more ‘sustainable’ in aged care homes, with a more structured approach to upskilling Managers to deliver this ongoing knowledge.

“My project kicked off in February, and required the help of General Managers from Care Homes to be part of the pilot,” explains Kathryn.

“It was really important that the GM’s self nominated themselves to be part of the pilot, as distinct from being told to do it, so I was delighted when I received nominations from six people keen to be involved.”

“ I’ve always wanted to explore leadership positions, but I realised there were a few gaps in my skills and that I wasn’t quite ready for it yet, but hopefully the global scholarship, along with the further study I’m undertaking in Clinical Leadership and Management, will help.”

One of the further attractions for nurses to work at Bupa, according to Jan Adams, is the ongoing investment in education, training and support that is offered so widely throughout the business.

“We have access to resources, both locally and globally, and Bupa supports nurses in a variety of ways to help them achieve their aspirations,” explains Jan. One program that was successfully trialed in New Zealand in 2018 was the two-day ‘Management Essentials’ course for nurses

that is due to be rolled out more widely from August 2019. “Nurses can quite quickly get in a position of having people reporting to them, and we felt there was an opportunity to provide guidance and tips around leadership and human resources that might not have been part of their formal training,” explains Jan. Cheryl Rickafort, is a Registered Nurse at Parkstone Care Home in Christchurch, New Zealand and at times is rostered on as Duty Leader, and recently was given the opportunity to be an Acting Unit Co-ordinator. “The hardest aspect to managing others, is providing an environment where people can work to their strengths, while also being supported when doing tasks that challenge them,” explains Cheryl. “Ideally, I’d like to help establish a workplace that is open to everyone’s opinions so a foundation of trust is built up between myself and the other team members.”

Cheryl undertook the twoday intensive ‘Management Essentials’ program in 2018 and the main learning for her was the value of effective communication. “The program made me realise the importance of being clear on expectations and then how to communicate these properly,” says Cheryl.

“Every manager should also have an open mind, be a good listener and be able to step out

of their comfort zone.”

And it is the final management trait, being comfortable stepping out of your comfort zone, that might hold Kathryn Ridley in very good stead for future leadership positions. “I’ve really tried to challenge and push myself at Bupa and I’ve learnt a lot,” explains Kathyrn. “I feel very privileged and am so grateful to be part of an organisation that has a global vision for nursing, with such impressive people to help support you. It’s been a great journey so far, and I’ve never regretted my decision all those years ago to step straight into aged care as a young nurse.”

Cheryl Rickafort

Global Bupa Nurse Fellowship The Global Bupa Nurse Fellowship is aimed at helping Bupa nurses from around the world to connect and raise their profile. By being part of this group you will have an opportunity to apply for a £10,000 scholarship, sign up to the global mentoring programme, and receive the quarterly Nurses’ Voice newsletter.

Email nursing@bupa.com to sign up today

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Meet Roger Sharp With a stellar background in public affairs, honed through advising Cabinet Ministers in Tony Blair’s ‘Cool Britannia’ government, and corporate affairs, handling the reputation of global brands, Roger Sharp returns to Bupa as the new Director of Corporate Affairs, Australia and New Zealand.

As a self confessed ‘corporate punk’, Roger likes challenging conventional thinking by bringing prevailing customer, stakeholder and community attitudes to the table and shaking up the status quo. On weekends, Roger will be either coaching his daughter Zoe’s soccer team, watching his beloved Melbourne City Football Club with son Jack, or cooking up a storm in the kitchen with one of his 300+ records playing on the turntable.

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Why (back at) Bupa?

Bupa’s people and its purpose are definitely the reasons why I’m back, having worked at Bupa previously from 2010 to 2012. And this is the first time I’ve returned to any organisation, but I especially enjoy people-focused sectors that have a meaningful connection with the community and the population at large. As my career has progressed, I’ve also increasingly realised that it’s not really about what you earn, it’s more about what you are able to achieve through working with good people, who you trust and respect, and who have the right ethical and moral compass. I also have a strong personal connection with Bupa’s purpose, as my father lived with dementia at the Bupa Glenburn Care Home in Auckland, New Zealand for five years, and I saw first hand the excellent care he was given. My mother was so grateful for how he was treated that she invited the Bupa Glenburn team to my father’s funeral last year.

What is the role of Corporate Affairs at Bupa?

Fundamentally, Corporate Affairs is about promoting and protecting the corporate reputation of Bupa. We do this by using the full breath of skills and capabilities at our disposal, such as internal communications and media relations, community and government engagement, building on corporate responsibility and sustainability initiatives as well as having a direct connection with the customer and their attitudes. This link with the customer is especially important, because I believe it’s the role of Corporate Affairs to ‘bring the outside in’, to challenge the established thinking that often develops in organisations, sometimes in isolation to what the broader community is thinking or feeling.

I learnt from my time working for the Blair Labour Government in the United Kingdom, where thousands of civil servants might simply be saying ‘yes minister’, that it’s critically important to have someone in the room that can be constructively critical to established mindsets, and say ‘you might just be making a mistake’. Corporate Affairs is all about supporting the leadership 100%, but also calling out things that need to be said when appropriate.

Love of ‘football’ I’m a huge soccer fan, as both my parents were English, but having being born in New Zealand I also love rugby. Football though, as I call it, is my first passion, and I love playing it, watching it, and also coaching it, for my daughter Zoe’s Under 12 team.

I find being involved is such a great stress relief, and I’ll literally watch any game of football, even if it’s just three kids playing in the park! I also have a bit of a love of hopeless causes and like to support the underdog, so when I lived in England I chose to follow Manchester City, who at the time weren’t successful at all, unlike now.

Then when I moved to Melbourne and Melbourne Heart changed to Melbourne City, I thought that was a sign that the stars were aligning and I jumped on board to support Melbourne City!

More than just running for fun I love keeping fit, but I also need a bit of a target when I exercising, so I’m currently training for the Queenstown Marathon in New Zealand in November, although I’m not running quite as much as I know I should be just at the moment! I ran the London Marathon in 1999, so hopefully at the end of this year I’ll be able to say I’m still as fit as I was 20 years ago!

Reaching for success Deep down, I’m a fairly competitive person, which I think comes from being the youngest of three boys and learning how to hold my own at a very early age against some stiff competition!

In terms of Corporate Affairs, I also believe it can and should be measured, especially in areas such as corporate reputation, where there are some very sophisticated benchmarking tools we can use to give Bupa an indication of how successfully we’re tracking. When it comes to Corporate Affairs, I also feel that John F Kennedy’s quote that ‘the best time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining’ is highly applicable, as often Corporate Affairs is brought in late to try to fix things when an organisation is in the midst of a storm, rather than being involved early and helping to prevent the crisis occurring in the first place!

Ideal weekend Ideally I’d like to have a little bit of a sleep in, not that our two cats will let me – they demand to be fed at 6am!

After that, maybe a run to help with the marathon preparation, before heading out to coach Zoe’s football team. Then ideally I would chill for a bit, play a bit of PS4 with Jack and Zoe, before attempting to cook up a storm, with both of my two junior Masterchefs helping. Finally, I might bring out the turntable I bought myself for Christmas, open a nice bottle of wine, and put on one of the 300 vinyl records I’ve collected over the years before subjecting my kids to the beauty of ‘real music’. For me, the ritual of listening to a physical ‘LP’ is so much more powerful than simply streaming a song, letting an album grow on you over time, rather than the immediate fix of a downloaded single track.

Secret Punk Passion I’m a lover of punk and heavier rock music, with established favourites such as The Clash, newer punk bands like Rancid and Anti Flag or folk punk acts like New Model Army. I will go and see live acts whenever I can – I was at The Jesus & Marcy Chain gig only last Tuesday evening. During my university years in New Zealand, I played bass guitar in a punk band as well, and just as we started to get some paying gigs, I had to sell my equipment to fund a move to London. Something I always regretted!

Finger on the pulse I love using the app, Flipboard, which is a social media news aggregator, and I’ll plug in a wide range of topics such as US and UK politics, indie music, English sport, or titles like The Economist, The New Zealand Herald, Guardian etc and it basically builds my own newspaper on a daily basis. Having lived in London for nearly 16 years, I’m quite used to public transport, so I commute into Bupa on the train each morning and use this time to look through my Flipboard stories as well as digest world news, because I think having a global outlook and perspective is very important.

The power of being progressive I regard myself as very much a progressive. I think that both at work, and in your personal life, you should take what you’re given and try and improve on it, and if you’re doing that, then you can confidently look yourself in the mirror at the end of the day and feel good in saying, ‘I tried to make things better’. beat | 23

everyday hero

Having seen first hand the value of making websites accessible to people with a disability, Megan Bouchier is a passionate advocate for ensuring everyone can use Bupa’s online resources.

For many people, browsing the web is a part of their everyday routine, perhaps staying up to date with the latest news and current affairs, checking out online sales or seeing what friends are up to on social media.

But not for Megan Bouchier, whenever she’s online, Megan will routinely dive straight under the hood to see if web sites are making themselves accessible to all users. “One in five Australians have a disability and that is a substantial statistic,” explains Megan. “Independence is extremely important for everyone and having access to information and services online is critical in supporting this.”

Megan is a front-end developer with the Digital Team and joined Bupa in 2016 to help create the new myBupa online ‘self service’ platform for members.

“Before my job interview, I checked out the existing Bupa website to see if the functionality was accessible,” says Megan. “So when I asked in the interview whether accessibility was important to Bupa, because I’d found ways that I thought I could help, I was delighted with the positive response, which at the time wasn’t always the case with other companies I’d worked for.”

Megan first understood the 24 | beat

How passion and purpose are driving better online experiences for all

How being ‘accessible’ benefits everyone

“ The interest and traction we are getting from the broader business to address initiatives around accessibility is really exciting...”

importance of online accessibility in 2012, when working for a small digital agency. They were tasked with building a new festival program website for Arts Access Victoria (the state’s leading arts and disability organisation), that had to achieve a ‘AA’ level of compliance as a minimum. “We were really thrown into the deep end, as we were all brand new to the standards, but I loved the challenge from the outset,” says Megan. “When it was finished, we saw the impact of inclusion first hand, and it was just so inspiring to see the value of building features that cater to all needs.”

With a desire to work on bigger projects that could positively impact more people, Megan decided she needed to move from the small digital agency to a larger corporate environment. Bupa felt like a natural fit, being a health and care company whose values aligned with Megan’s as well as matching the careers of her wider family, with mum working in aged care and a sister as an Occupational Therapist.

So starting with a clean slate to ‘re-platform’ Bupa’s web applications onto a modern platform, Megan and her colleagues took the opportunity to put accessibility at the heart of myBupa’s coding and design.

“We had people on the team with

practical experience in accessibility and this was especially important considering myBupa is highly transactional, with lots of intertwining parts and actions that are dynamic and heavily reliant on visuals and user interactions.”

At the very beginning, the team put the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the global standards for websites to follow, at the heart of the development process and aimed for ‘AA’ level compliance. “I was concerned that the WCAG guidelines wouldn’t support the complex requirements of myBupa,” says Megan. “But I’m delighted to say they did, and that shows how great they are. Most find the WCAG guidelines quite dry, but I love them!”

As the project progressed, the team constantly performed manual testing, including using only the keyboard for all actions rather than a mouse, and using a ‘screen reader’, to hear how the content sounded when it was read out aloud. “We kept asking ourselves, ‘does the tab order make sense?’ or ‘if I open a pop up, will my keyboard focus move to the opened content allowing me to continue seamlessly?’ or ‘do I even know I’ve opened a pop up on the screen if I can’t see it?’.”

When the project was at certain level of functionality, with a variety of features ready for further testing, the development team called in the experts. “At a fairly early stage of the development process, to ensure we hadn’t gone too far, we reached out to Vision Australia for further support,” explains Megan.

“We received very positive feedback from Vision Australia, which gave us confidence in our approach.

This validated that we were on the right path, and being early on in the project meant we could apply any fixes and enhancements across all future development.”

With myBupa now up and running, and closely following the guidelines set out for Level AA, the team are kept busy building new features and enhancements, all designed with accessibility at the heart of the process. And as a further point of validation, further areas of Bupa, not necessarily associated with the digital team, are reaching out for support and advice on accessibility. “The interest and traction we are getting from the broader business to address initiatives around accessibility is really exciting, giving us opportunities to keep developing new and diverse ideas and broaden the scope much further throughout all of Bupa,” says Megan.

While the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are designed to help people living with a disability to navigate the online world, Megan Bouchier says they also help improve the overall digital experience for everyone.

“The guidelines are broad and overarching, but with the digital space changing so rapidly, they are becoming more and more relevant to everyday experiences,” explains Megan.

“For example, requirements for high contrasting colours are designed for people with a vision impairment, but they also improve the online experience if you’re out and about and using a web application on a mobile, with the sun glaring on the screen.”

“Captions are helpful for people with hearing difficulties, but they’re also handy for quietly watching video content on a crowded peak hour bus or train.”

“And ensuring content has context and meaning is critical for people using screen readers, but this is also what Google will use to rate the content on a website for search term relevancy,” says Megan.

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A spotlight on Bupaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cyber Security Resources Cyber crime is estimated to cost Australia upwards of $1billion per year, according the Federal Government, and a number of recent high profile data breaches have also shown the importance of businesses protecting their information. At Bupa, the recently restructured and expanded Cyber Security Operations Team proactively searches for any threats to Bupaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s network and data and jumps into action if any risks are identified.

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cybersecurity

The cyber crime problem

Why information security and privacy matter

In 2017, 88% of US ransomware attacks were targeted at the healthcare industry

On average, Bupa receives 10.5 million emails a month… 74% of these are blocked as malicious

90% of hacks and data breaches stem from phishing

Attacks are typically undertaken by hackers, who use their skills to access, often illegally, personal information to establish fake identities and then secure credit cards or open phony bank accounts.

$6 trillion is the predicted annual cost of global cyber crime by 2021… up from $3 trillion in 2015

How we can all help The fight against cyber crime could simplistically be described as a classic ‘goodies versus baddies’ scenario. But unlike a Hollywood action film, this battle is anything but harmless fiction.

According to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, the private health sector reported the most breaches of all sectors between 1 April to 30 June 2018, with the majority of these breaches being malicious or criminal attacks. At Bupa, 74% of all external emails across the globe are blocked as being malicious, with most data breaches stemming from this form of ‘phishing’.

Attacks are typically undertaken by hackers, known in the technology world as ‘black hats’, who use their skills to access, often illegally, personal information to establish fake identities and then secure credit cards or open phony bank accounts. Tens of thousands of students graduate from computer courses each year in Australia and New Zealand, but there is also a claimed IT skills shortage, which highlights how many people are tempted

to the ‘dark’ side of the web. But thankfully, there are computer experts known as ‘white hats’ who navigate and ‘hack’ the dark web to find possible security breaches for legal and ethical purposes, and these are exactly the kind of specialists you’ll find within the Cyber Security Operations Team, along with layers of top class systems and tools, to help keep Bupa’s information safe.

The Cyber Security Operations Team at Bupa is split into six groups, with the first line of defense being the ‘Cyber Intelligence and Hunting’ team, who as ‘white hat’ experts, use the tricks of hackers to search for the ‘unknowns’ within the Bupa network, as well as the wider ‘dark web’, to identify any potential breaches or threats.

The role of the ‘Security Operations Centre’ within the team is to review all ‘security events’ that occur and determine whether they should be escalated to the level of an ‘incident’. In November 2017, there were 22 events that month deemed important enough to be escalated as ‘incidents’. Fast track 12 months later, and that

number had risen to 210 incidents in November 2018, mainly as the result of improved detection, but also an increase in overall attempted breaches.

If an event is deemed to be concerning, it will be escalated to an ‘incident’, which is generally around 90% of all events. It’s at this point that the ‘Cyber Incident Response Team’ (CIRT) jumps into action and uses clearly defined criteria to determine the priority level of any incident, with 1 being the highest priority, and 4 the lowest. Depending on the nature of the risk, and whether it’s highly technical in nature, the CIRT team might then call on ‘Cyber Forensic Investigations’ to help rapidly close it down. Thankfully, there have been no priority 1 incidents at Bupa to date.

And just to make sure Bupa continues to be heavily protected, Information Services is introducing a new Security Transformation program in 2019 that will focus on using our existing resources and introducing new tools to uplift the way we manage and protect our information and customer data.

Without everyone at Bupa being vigilant and reporting things that just don’t seem right, the Cyber Security Operations Team are unable to act on these events. It’s a sad truth that majority of attacks on data in larger companies stems from successfully targeting employees. That’s why it’s important to remain cautious when dealing with external e-mails and networks, and handling information with care.

This is a top priority for Bupa and this isn’t just down to the Cyber Security/IS teams alone.

It’s down to all the people who work at Bupa day in and day out.

So it’s up to all of us in our day-to-day lives to know what the right thing to do is, and to do it. The top ways you can stay secure are explained in our ‘Information security and privacy at Bupa’ booklet attached with this edition of Beat, or by searching ‘keeping information safe’ on Workplace. beat | 27

BupaBites Information and insights to keep you up to date on Global, Market and Business Unit news.

Our hearts are with Christchurch We were all shocked by the horrific shootings in Christchurch on 15 March 2019.

All Bupa employees, residents and patients in our Christchurch care homes, villages, dental practices and support office were safe and quickly responded to show support for those directly impacted.

At Bupa Parkhaven Care Home in Christchurch, young students from the local Muslim school, Zayed College for Girls, had been visiting residents for more than two years, and when the school cancelled their regular visit due to the March attacks, the residents decided to go the school instead. “We were determined to organise a van so we could visit our friends at the college and let them all know that they are in our thoughts at this sad time,” said Afioga Sadiq, Activities Coordinator at Parkhaven. This was the first time the residents had visited the Muslim school and wearing traditional headscarves as a sign of respect, the Parkhaven visitors were joined by a heavy NZ Police presence during afternoon prayer.

Please reach out for support if you need it. Our Employee Assistance Program is free, confidential and available anytime on: 0800 327 669 – New Zealand BVAC 0800 360 364 - New Zealand Dental Corp 1300 574 167 – Australia 28 | beat

bupa bites

eek Bupa W ay M 19-25

Aged Care Royal Commission The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety commenced in January 2019.

Bupa’s newest business: ADF Health Services Bupa has been awarded the contract by the Australian Government to deliver quality health care for approximately 85,000 Australian Defence Force (ADF) members over the next 6 years.

Bupa will commence running the business on 1 July 2019, caring for the people who care for our country.

In partnership with our sub-contractors, Bupa will be offering a range of health services for eligible ADF members. The ADF operates nearly 60 bases, where ADF members work and are eligible for health and care services. The on-base network consists of approximately 1200 health providers who Bupa will oversee.

Bupa will also co-ordinate the provision of all hospital, allied health and specialist services from community-based providers across Australia.

Greening our Bupa laundry vans Bupa NZ recently received funding from the Government for three electric vans and public charging stations to be based at Bupa Parkhaven and Bupa Sunset both in Auckland and Bupa Cashmere View in Christchurch.

Replacing our current diesel vans, the electric vans will run laundry pick-up and delivery services across four to six sites each, travelling up to 100km per day.

At Bupa, we’re always looking at ways to reduce our environmental footprint and take positive steps towards making a sustainable difference for our residents, employees and communities in which we work.

Bupa welcomes the work of the Royal Commission. The Royal Commission will hold public hearings on a regular basis throughout the year, in different locations across Australia. We expect the Royal Commission to publish its final report in April 2020.

We are proud of the hard work and commitment of our people working in our care homes. Where Bupa has not met the standards we set for ourselves and the standards our communities expect, we are committed to putting things right as soon as possible. We are also committed to assisting the Royal Commission to identify opportunities through which the Australian aged care sector can be improved, for the benefit of all Australians.

To find out more, search ‘Royal Commission’ on Workplace or visit the Royal Commission’s website agedcare.royalcommission.gov.au

Coming together for Bupa Week Every year, we celebrate Bupa Week.

We unite across market units, cultures and borders to celebrate why we love working at Bupa. This year, from 19 – 25 May, we’ll be celebrating with the theme ‘together’.

We’ll be asking everyone across the globe to show us what they love about their team, how they work with other teams, and why together, we are better.

More information will be available on Workplace soon. beat | 29

Taking a break The Bupa team members featured in this issue of Beat tell us what they’re reading or listening to at the moment to help maintain that sense of balance in their busy working lives.

Emily Meats Any Ordinary Day

Kelly Johnstone The Fix During normal working weeks, Kelly will do a lot of Bupa-related reading, as well as consuming the odd ‘homework reader’ to help her school-aged child! But on holidays, Kelly likes to devour at least 15 books, and will read two a day, all being psychological and crime thrillers, and her last novel was David Baldacci’s ‘The Fix’.

Emily is tackling the challenging book, “Any Ordinary Day”, by journalist Leigh Sales who interviews a number of people who have experienced very difficult life events, and writes about their resilience. “It’s not exactly the most uplifting book in the world, but it does help put many things into perspective!” explains Emily.

Ryan Ebert The monk who sold his Ferrari Ryan is listening to the audio book, ‘The monk who sold his Ferrari’ by motivational speaker Robin Sharma, which is a fable about fulfilling your dreams and reaching your destiny. The story is narrated by character Julian Mantle in a conversation to his friend John, describing his experiences during a Himalayan journey he took after selling his holiday home, and a Ferrari.

Annette Schmiede Becoming Annette is an avid reader of current affairs, particularly the New York Times, and also confesses to having two years worth of The Economist still waiting to be read! Annette has also just started Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, which is a personal reflection on the former First Lady’s childhood, early years as an executive and then her time spent at the White House.

30 | beat

Roger Sharp Flipboard Roger uses the social media news aggregator, Flipboard, which helps him keep up with the latest on US and UK politics, indie music, English sport and highlights from The Economist, The New Zealand Herald and The Guardian. Flipboard was launched in 2010 and now has reportedly 145m users globally.

Celebrating the people that help us shine.

years of service

A very happy anniversary to these colleagues who continue to make a difference for Bupa customers.

52YEARS

25YEARS

15YEARS

10YEARS

10YEARS

10YEARS

Gordon Barrett

Glenys Bondzulic Maria Collins Elizabeth Gilbert Ann McCue Marilyn Dowrick Tonia Plunkett Desma Eleftheriou

Nooroa Akatapuria Monique Bourke Wini Bulger Maria Dakkour Deidre Edgar Mary Fitzgerald Kerry Johnson Naho Murphy Nayoma Nagahawatta Sholeh Callaghan April Victoria Plant Glenys Plews David Powrie Deepak Sharma Cynthia Smith Kim Tio Conrad Warren Athula Abeysinghe Angela Edwards Diana Ridington Paola Larenas Joanne MacAuley Nasi Moa Lorraine Pennell Fiona Clarkson Shyma Kumar Ami Tareh Wendy Campbell Janine Kasik Tamara Young Nicki Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;augello Christopher Wallace Toni Canil Panna Leaver Merv Richards Caryn Walsh Christine Hoare Margaret Street Tanya Luhrs James Walduck Litara Tolu Maiva Fielding

Malaga Ali Mohammad Alizadeh Rachelle Cannon Jessica Cook Kaylene Crane Marcela De Colo Sarah Dodd Uinise Fonua Melanie Foran Patricia Freeman Violet Hollis Thiphakorn Johnson Chen Li Selvamalar Logeswaran Chalermsri Maneeob Jaikirat Singh Mankoo Sarah Singh Murial Mokan Jane Cora Moore Fay Morgan Luisa Partridge Parbati Raut Thapa Stu Rose Bishal Shrestha Prosper Sithole Sindhuja Fernando Marie Lauaki Camelia Strugaru Kesang Wangmo Ana Weston Fiona Yu Daljeet Kaur Kazuko Hayashi Sebastian Mathew Nancy Obura Meskerem Weldemedhin Loretta Hargreaves Binu Paul Victor Paunovic Jose Santillan Sheila Marie Abrillo Arthur Gillham Lurline Russell Veronica Thurgood

Robyn Coad Melissa Klaaysen Linda Thomson Robin Noorbergen Monita Subrata Chris Warnest Hiran Rathnayaka Maria Kramer Rojina Maharjan Shobha Poudel Sanju Rana Della Aspinall Hector Keil Maude Ngametua Edgardo Lluvido Tasi Tavita Carmen Dunn Clarivel Celeste Sadana Deo Uma Kumar Ana Tonga Lycinda Tyrrell-Baxter Jeanette White Sarah Forde Tracy Beazley Vilma Twentyman Anice Mathew Nicola Prangley Kalolaine Tuipulotu Cheryl Milligan Jan Bliekendaal Beth McDougall Jolanda Van De Vorst Pieter Hanekom Melissa Galland Anthony Millen Brian Morrison My Phu Sharon Shreeves Dawn Barry Diana Black Jaime Tan Belinda McGhie Chris Siatras Sharon Schooley

Joseph Saunders Letty Simeon Yvonne Holmes Janelle Marschke Jason Hester Philip Manson Euan Ferguson Jennifer Taylor Cameron Ridler Daren Purvey Amber Westwood Shiufong Lowe Diana Atanasovski Jenna Halls Nicole Sunderland Corinne Anderson Fidelis Badelles Patricia Wong Bernadette Nahon Penny Stevenson Carin Holloway Linda Thompson Janine Correia Kathryn Spain Debbie Hartwig Natalie Stirling Edward Butler Leanne Watson Maria Gaviglia Michelle Pymont Alison Miranda Kim Sutherland Kelly Logan Sara Tong Lesley McInnes Tanya McGovern Rebecca Stiles Noemi Barclay Kathy Mendes Janice Ward Nanotaake Tabeti Belinda Hutchison Archana Giri Janet Cobby

48YEARS Valda Tyack

42YEARS Barbara Dixon

41YEARS Irene Dawson

40YEARS Graeme Morton

35YEARS Anne Marie Kargas

30YEARS Julie Bojarowski Sharon Graham Naseem Bano Lynda Walker Diane Edwards Deborah Cesare Sharon Simpson

20YEARS Florence Amituanai Alexandria Bailey Maria Daquel Esmeralda Goncalves Catherine Goodman Angela Pepping Edna Sulitas Deirdre Dallas Maya Lingam Arsenia Collyns Connie Simpson Raewyn Branch Marion Fuata Beverley Te Pou Bethesda Goldfinch Tanya Kramer Sandra Notarangelo David Sheahan Tania Ciottariello Jan Summerell

beat | 31

Smile

Stay well this winter

Book your flu vaccination Search â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Flu Vaccinationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; on Workplace smileprogram@bupa.com.au