That's Interesting
That's interesting archive
A simple ‘nudge’ letter to GPs pointing out their antibiotic prescribing was “out of whack” with their local peers led to a sizeable drop in overprescribing, a NZMA study published in October finds. Fiona Cassie of New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa reports.
What was new about the intervention programme was the direct feeding back to individual GPs on how their individual prescribing compared with their peers.
From cultural sensitivity to cultural safety via cultural competency, it has been a decades-long journey for health professionals. New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain reports from GP21: Conference for General Practice in Wellington in August.
Changing the language of diabetes can make a powerful and positive difference to the emotional well-being, self-care and health outcomes of people affected by diabetes. It also affects community and government support for funding diabetes care, prevention and research.
Diabetes Australia encourages everyone communicating about diabetes, or about people affected by diabetes, to choose and use their words carefully to support all people affected by diabetes. This position statement is intended as a guide for people working in healthcare, the media, government and policy, academia, industry, as well as employers and the community.
Empagliflozin (with and without metformin) has been funded since 1 February 2021 and dulaglutide has been funded since 1 September 2021. Both medicines are available to people with high-risk type 2 diabetes who meet special authority criteria.
This is the first time Pharmac has specifically named Māori and Pacific ethnicities within the funding criteria, to proactively promote equity of access to these medicines.
Pharmac is actively monitoring and reporting on the number of people who are being started on empagliflozin and dulaglutide under the special authority criteria and providing monthly updates. See the latest uptake figures here.
Recent report from the Health Quality & Safety Commission of New Zealand.
Bula Sautu uses national data to show the complex contributing factors that impact on health for Pacific peoples, from maternity to end of life, using a life-course approach. The report brings together a diverse range of Pacific health and equity experts to share their views of how effectively (or ineffectively) the health system is performing for Pacific peoples.
Addressing improvement in Pacific health is challenging, but there is a way forward. This way forward involves strong and supported Pacific leadership, effective partnerships with Pacific communities, and systematic, coordinated action within all levels of the health and social sectors and beyond. Within the health sector, there are a number of key actions that organisations and individual services can take, many of them within existing resources. These actions are presented as a seven-step framework to improve Pacific health.
The Health Quality & Safety Commission of New Zealand has developed a Te Ao Māori Framework in partnership with Māori health providers, Whānau Ora providers and participating district health boards across Aotearoa New Zealand. Read more about the framework and download PDFs from the HQSC website.
PODCAST: Dr Rinki Murphy discusses type 2 diabetes management with a focus on GLP-1 receptor agonists, including how to use dulaglutide now that it has Medsafe approval. This Goodfellow Unit podcast also contains links to other useful resources.
Written by Dr Vicki Mount with expert review by Dr Ryan Paul, this Goodfellow Unit MedCase considers the place of dulaglutide (Trulicity) alongside other therapies for T2D management.
New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world using cilazapril. To avoid potential supply issues, PHARMAC is no longer funding cilazapril for new patients. Dr Chris Ellis discusses management options in this article from New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa.
The Council of Medical Colleges (CMC), in partnership with Te ORA, commissioned this report to better understand the actions medical colleges are taking to support cultural safety and health equity. It also examines how Māori fellows and trainees have experienced the training programmes and support offered by medical colleges.
The report aims to provide both a snapshot on progress and a knowledge base that will support the evolution of vocational medical training towards cultural safety. It shows that many colleges are undertaking activities with the aim of supporting health equity, and we are all on varying stages of this journey. Importantly, the report also highlights the cultural loading that Māori doctors experience consistently across all medical specialties.