Research & Innovation Vol 10, July 2017

Research + Innovation Volume 10. July 2017

Inside this issue:

1.

NEW CLINIC FOR KNEE RELIEF

2.

ART THERAPY FOR CARERS

3.

GETTING CHILDREN SCHOOLREADY

4.

HELPING FAWKNER GO THE EXTRA MILE

Inside this issue: 2 Welcome 3 The Wellness Clinic 4 An alternative approach: art therapy for carers 4 Keeping our pets safe 5 Caring into the future 6 Ready, Set, Prep report

Welcome

Our commitment to health care isn’t restricted to providing services. We pride ourselves on being an active participant and contributor to undertaking research and evaluation.

7 Strong connection

Research and Innovation is Merri Health’s biannual publication that highlights some of our recent and current achievements in the areas of research and evaluation.

8 Bike and walkability

By conducting ongoing reviews of our programs and services, we ensure that they are based on best practice, are evidence-based and aligned to the population health needs of our community.

Connect with us Merri-Health @MerriHealth MerriHealth

© All applicable copyrights reserved for Merri Health. No part of this publication may be replicated in any manner or medium, without the permission of Merri Health, except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).

2. | Research + Innovation July 2017

Research and Innovation highlights current research and provides the opportunity to identify new opportunities for collaboration, share our learnings and contribute to evidence base for population health and wellbeing.

In this edition you will find information on our expansion to the Hume region with our Victims Assistance Program, results of our recent GLBTIQ Inclusive Practice staff survey, Aphasia project, and more.

This newsletter is aimed at current and potential partners, stakeholders, funding bodies and key players in the community, health and primary care field, such as the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Health and Ageing, academic institutions, Medicare Local, Primary Care Partnerships and other community health organisations.

(K)need relief?

Patient care is set to improve with the introduction of a community-based assessment and treatment clinic, for sufferers of osteoarthritis of the knee.

The Brunswick-based clinic will provide timelier access to osteoarthritis support, with a multidisciplinary team supporting clients in a community setting.

Experienced musculoskeletal clinicans from St Vincent’s Hospital and Merri Health will assess and treat clients, adopting nonsurgical treatment as a first option.

Patients will have access to an orthopeadic surgeon, advanced practice musculoskeletal physiotherapist, dietician, and a GP experienced in musculoskeletal medicine.

They will also be able to access care coordination and other appropriate community services to assist in managing their condition.

The Wellness Clinic New service to address the rising risk-population in our communities.

The Wellness Clinic is a new preventative clinic offering general health screening for clients, addressing physical, mental and dental health.

The clinic was established to target the rising risk-population in Moreland with the aim of minimising locals’ risk of developing chronic diseases later in life.

Clients will have their blood pressure, pulse, weight and blood sugar levels checked to ensure that any outstanding concerns are identified and addressed.

A newly developed decision aid will be used to review patients to identify how likely patients are to respond to total joint surgery. If surgery is indicated they will be referred to surgical services at St Vincent’s Hospital.

The clinic will run from Merri Health’s Brunswick site on a trial basis until December 2017.

Referrals from a GP or health professional can be faxed to (03) 9231 1072.

This is a St Vincent’s Hospital-led clinic in collaboration with Merri Health and North Western Melbourne PHN, and funded by the Better Care Victoria Innovation fund.

Community nurse, Jen Anderson, said the service hopes to reach those who have un-met health concerns and are unsure of where to go for support.

“The Wellness Clinic was started for people who don’t often visit a doctor, or who don’t feel they can talk to their doctor easily about health issues that may be concerning them, It provides an opportunity for people to chat about their health in a safe and welcoming environment, where there is time to listen and to help guide choices about how to live the healthiest possible life,” Jen said.

The Wellness Clinic started in May this year and operates out of Merri Health’s Fawkner and Coburg site on alternating Wednesdays.

To access this service, call Service Access on (03) 9388 9933.

Research + Innovation July 2017 | 3.

An alternative approach: art therapy for carers

Art therapy has been incorporated into CarerLinks North’s fortnightly workshops to help carers connect, share and reflect on their personal stories.

Activities included image association, where carers were asked to choose images that reflected or reminded them of a characteristic they had or wished they had.

The activity helped to provide a platform for discussion, with carers opening up about their personal circumstances and providing advice.

The workshops have been successful in helping carers connect, talk and express themselves creatively through different mediums.

Carers reflected on their stress levels at the beginning and end of the session and all carers reported a decrease in feelings of stress and an improvement in their mood at the end of the day.

Carers art therapy is run by the CarerLinks North peer support facilitators.

Keeping our pets safe A new program is set to support women and children leave violent homes sooner, with temporary accommodation to house pets safely.

Initiated by Merri Health’s Victims Assistance Program community educator Jo Seymour, Keeping our Pets Safe is a new program that is working to enhance and coordinate the northern metropolitan region’s response to pets in family violence situations.

Domestic Animal Management Plan 2013– 2017, under which they offered free housing for animals where needed to support women and children.

The program will focus on local councils as well as the integrated family violence service system and animal welfare agencies, such as the Lort Smith Animal Hospital.

The project team currently includes representatives from the seven northern metropolitan councils, Victoria Police specialist family violence team, and the Northern Integrated Family Violence Services (NIFVS).

Families leaving a violent relationship will have the option of boarding their pets while searching for more suitable accommodation.

Merri Health is facilitating the project, to allow all partners and networks to work through the issues and concerns together.

A recent study published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, found that one in three women delay leaving family violence situations due to concerns about leaving their pets behind.

The NIFVS’ coordination team is supporting the project by providing specialised training on animal abuse in the context of family violence to all animal management teams at local councils, and Victoria Police have also been involved in the training.

The project comes in response to these findings and to Moreland City Council’s

To find out more about CarerLinks North >> >>

Visit www.merrihealth.org.au/ events Call (03) 9495 2500

4. | Research + Innovation July 2017

“Pets are part of the family and should be considered as such by support services when a family needs to leave a violent situation.” – Jo Seymour, community educator

Healthy Mind, Healthy Life Innovative tools to help address disengagement among people with mental health issues.

As part of the Healthy Mind, Healthy Life project, two Masters of occupational therapy students worked alongside Healthy Mind Hub to develop dual tools to help increase overall health and wellbeing.

Healthy Mind Hub houses the mental health support services to help people with mental health or a psychosocial disability on their recovery journey.

Under the supervision of community mental health worker, Kate Verghese, the students conducted observations, and sought out literature reviews and evidence-based research to identify some of the barriers experienced by people with mental health issues and the detrimental impacts that their disengagement can have on their overall

health and wellbeing.

An interest checklist and community activity booklet were developed to help staff better identify the interests of consumers and identify opportunities in the local community for them to undertake these activities.

With the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) soon rolling out in the Hume and Moreland areas, these tools will support staff so that they can better meet consumers’ needs.

Due to the success of this placement, the Healthy Mind Hub team will be looking to host another placement later this year to continue the work of improving the mental health of our consumers.

Caring into the future CarerLinks North addresses the concerns of carers with a new support program.

Carer service CarerLinks North, have developed an innovative program that aims to deliver a more targeted service for carers, with a strong focus on client-centered care, choice and capacity building.

Last year, the team introduced the carer health and wellbeing coaching program in response to the increasing demand from carers to help support them and those in their care.

The program aims to enhance carers’ capacity in their role as a carer, with a focus on their personal health and wellbeing.

The program is consistent with the organisation’s holistic view of carers, by offering a combination of services to support carers within their caring role. The development and delivery of this service has provided additional support options for carers.

facilitating good health, and only collected minimal information on the physical health of carers accessing services.

The carer health and wellbeing coaching team have collected carer health data to assess the effect of health coaching support on carer health behaviour, and provide health profile information to assist CarerLinks North to better anticipate carer needs and service requirements.

Vicki Down and Kim Coyne from CarerLinks North will present their findings at the 7th International Carers Conference in Adelaide in October. The presentation will discuss the background, successes, challenges and outcomes of implementing this innovative program.

Historically, the carer support sector had not offered a service for carers that focuses specifically on assessing, promoting and

Research + Innovation July 2017 | 5.

Getting children school-ready New school-ready program responds to high levels of developmentally vulnerable children in Fawkner.

Earlier this year, Merri Health started Ready, Set, Prep; a program that has been assisting migrant and refugee families in Fawkner as they prepare to navigate Australia’s education system for the first time.

The program aims to address the concerns of Fawkner primary schools, as many prep students start school with significantly low language acquisition, putting them at a disadvantage for language growth, cognitive development, literacy and academic achievement.

Family engagement officer at Merri Health, Mary D’Agostino, said that the main problem comes from a lack of understanding of the Australian education system.

“There is a definite misconception in Fawkner that preparing for school is solely about academics, such as writing your name, counting, knowing the colours and numbers. Whilst these abilities are certainly important, there needs to be an understanding that school readiness actually refers to a much broader range of skills,” Mary said.

Ready, Set, Prep teaches self-care (independent toileting and opening lunch boxes); attention, concentration and physical skills; emotional regulation; language skills and play and social skills.

High rates of late school enrolment. A startling number of students arrive on the first day of school without enrolling.

36.6 percent of Fawkner children were assessed as developmentally vulnerable compared to the Victorian average of 22 percent.

6. | Research + Innovation July 2017

Mary D’Agostino has been assisting families with the practicalities of preparing and attending school such as enrolment, attendance and the importance of kindergarten and playgroup sessions, but says that each family’s needs are unique.

“The amount of contact has been different for all families, as well as the form of contact. Sometimes, it has been a quick phone call, other times the contact has been more in -depth and involved a few interactions,” Mary said.

Ready Set Prep has already engaged with over 30 families and is underway in four Fawkner schools; Moomba Park, Fawkner, St Marks and St Matthews Primary Schools.

This project has been funded by the William Buckland Foundation.

Sporting two new grants

Count Me In has been successful in receiving two research grants which will enable the program to be further developed and evaluated.

Strong connection App technology supports local women to stay connected between sessions.

The Urdu-speaking women’s group have embraced the use of technology to help them connect with one another.

The group meet weekly but have been using the group message mobile app Viber, to stay connected between sessions.

Set up and managed by the peer educators, the Viber group reached its capacity of 200 members this year and needed to be split into two so it could continue to grow.

Responding to the needs of the women, a Viber-only group was established, meaning they use the app to communicate but have never attended a group session.

The Viber group acts as a discussion space and, for some, a more appropriate means

of information sharing for those who are unable to attend the weekly sessions.

The success of the Viber group supports the research of Professor Sandra Ponzanesi from Utrecht University, who found that new communication technologies not only help migrant women overcome isolation and distance from their home countries, but provide them with tools for participation and integration.

There are currently 250 participants in both Viber groups.

Want to get involved?

Contact Sadia or Shabana in Urdu or English on (03) 9355 9900.

I do feel more confident in my community because I know so many more ladies in Fawkner… [we’ve] also have made a Viber group for our ladies fitness group

The pilot project aims to increase sports participation for refugee and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD), migrant children and young people, and is based on evidence that sports participation improves physical and mental health and is a useful setting to form social connections.

Count Me has received a Melbourne Engagement Grant from The University of Melbourne and a VicHealth Innovation Grant.

The grants mean the program can engage in additional research to refine the model and can continue to reach more children and their families.

Since the project begun in September 2016, Count Me In has reached 172 children from 28 different schools and nine countries.

Children have become involved in a variety of different sports, with families given the opportunity to meet and connect with new people outside of their communities.

Count Me In is a collaboration between The University of Melbourne, Moreland City Council, Merri Health, local schools and local sports clubs and associations.

– Member of the Urdu-speaking women’s group.

Research + Innovation July 2017 | 7.

Helping Fawnker children go the extra mile Active travel map to improve walking and riding paths for primary school students.

A recent audit of the streets of Fawkner will be used to create an ‘active travel map’ to improve the safety and enjoyability of primary school students and their families walking or riding to school.

Merri Health together with Fawkner Primary School and Moreland City Council, set out to audit the ‘bikeability’ and ‘walkability’ of streets that are often used by students and their families, after concerns were raised at this year’s National Ride2School Day which saw over 100 students wheel* or walk to school.

Footpaths were assessed and rated on their levels of ‘safety’, ‘comfort’ and ‘connection’ and results will be used to determine which streets and crossing points are safe, enjoyable and easy to use, and which require attention.

Results will be presented to the school community for feedback, and a checklist will be developed to start a conversation with local government about improving the ‘walkability’ and ‘bikeability’ in the Fawkner area.

Merri Health and Fawkner Primary School have being working together since 2013 to increase students’ physical activity and ‘active travel.’ Merri Health has assisted the school to participate in ride to school days, purchase a bike fleet, install a new bike rack, and start a bike education program for grade 3 and 4 students. *wheeling refers to any mode of travel with wheels that is not a motorised vehicle i.e. skating, scooting or bike riding.

The ‘active travel map’ will set out the safer and more direct routes for students and their families walking and cycling to and from Fawkner Primary school.

Brunswick

Brunswick West PAG

Fawkner

Thornbury

Chifley Drive, Preston

11 Glenlyon Road Brunswick VIC 3056

382–386 Moreland Road Brunswick West VIC 3055

79 Jukes Road Fawkner VIC 3060

298 Victoria Road Thornbury VIC 3073

Level 2, 110 Chifley Drive Preston VIC 3072

t: 03 9387 6711

t: 03 9386 3575

t: 03 9357 2444

t: 03 9484 5314

t: 03 9495 2500

Coburg

Harding Street, Coburg

Glenroy

Victoria Street, Coburg

Interchange North West

93 Bell Street Coburg VIC 3058

1st Floor, 368 Sydney Road Coburg VIC 3058

5D Cromwell Street Glenroy VIC 3046

21 Victoria Street Coburg VIC 3058

Shop 9E Anderson Street Pascoe Vale VIC 3044

t: 03 9350 4000

t: 03 8319 7400

t: 03 9304 9200

t: 03 9355 9900

t: 03 9350 4600

Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication is provided by Merri Community Health Services and is for general information purposes only. While information is current at the time of publication, subsequent changes to events may occur. MCHS ventures to provide current and accurate information and we make no representations or warranties, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, or availability, with respect to this publication. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore at your own risk. In no event will MCHS and its employees be responsible or liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or significant loss or damage, or any type loss or damage whatsoever, suffered by any person as the result of reliance on information contained in this publication.