| Victorian Refugee Health Network E-bulletin February 2009 The Victorian Refugee Health Network brings together health, settlement and community services to be more accessible and responsive to the needs of refugees and asylum seekers. The E-bulletin provides a regular forum to share news and information to support practitioners and services in providing health care to people of a refugee background. News and Events 1. Refugee Nutrition & Physical Activity Professionals Network: an inaugural meeting for practitioners assisting refugees or members of newly emerging communities to improve practices around healthy eating & physical activity will be held at VicHealth, 15–31 Pelham St, Carlton South on Wednesday 1st April, 9.30am -1.30pm (includes lunch). Contact: Leah Galvin at lgalvi@cgd.vic.gov.au Ph: (03) 9239 5240 (Mon-Wed) or Hannah Kinross at hkinross@miceastmelb.com.au Ph: (03) 9285 4888. 2. The 1st Australasian Refugee Health Conference will be held at the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre, WA on September 1-2, 2009. It will be held in conjunction with the 19th annual TheMHS conference (an international mental health education forum) and the 3rd WA Transcultural Mental Health Conference. To submit abstracts (due 11 March) or seek further information go to www.themhs.org/annual-conference/2009-annual-conference/abstract-submission or email info@themhs.org or ring TheMHS office on (08) 98108700. 3. The Access to Specialist Services by Refugees in Victoria project has been recently funded by the Victorian Department of Human Services. It will document the various approaches to the provision of specialist services to refugee patients in order to determine the most effective models of care and identify possible new models of service delivery. The project consultant Maree Kulkens can be contacted on mareekulkens@yahoo.com.au or (Mob) 0430 549 516 (Tues, Wed, Fri). 4. The Refugee Health Fellows project provides support for the specialist refugee clinics at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Royal Children's Hospital to increase their capacity for comprehensive assessment and management, provide secondary consultation and facilitate professional development to outer metro, rural & regional services. The two Fellows appointed (0.5 EFT) to this project are Dr Katherine Gibney (RMH) and Dr Colette Reveley (RCH). For further information and contact details, email Louise Crowe at the Victorian Refugee Health Network on crowel@foundationhouse.org.au or call (03) 93898909. 5. The Refugee Service Coordination Support project, auspiced by the HealthWest Partnership will work with Primary Care Partnerships and Refugee Settlement Networks in areas where new Refugee Health Nurses are located (Latrobe Valley, Bass Coast, Maroondah, Geelong, Wyndham, Castlemaine and Colac) to develop referral pathways and a service coordination model to guide refugee health service provision. For further information contact the Project Officer, Natalie Smith at natalie.westbaypcp@isispc.com.au or (03) 9313 5080. Resources 6. First Foods for Babies is a brochure produced as part of the Dandenong Food for Everybody project in conjunction with the Maternal Child Health team of the City of Greater Dandenong. The brochure is available in a number of community languages including Arabic, Sudanese Arabic, Dari, Nuer, Khmer, Mandarin and Vietnamese. To access, go to the Resources page on the Victorian Refugee Health Network website or contact Leah Galvin, Food for Everybody Project Officer at lgalvi@cgd.vic.gov.au or Ph (03) 9239 5240. 7. A short video featuring Professor Peter Ebeling (Head of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine (RMH/WH), University of Melbourne) and his project on refugees and high dose vitamin D is available on on the University of Melbourne homepage. It is only available online until Friday 27th February. Be Quick. http://visions.unimelb.edu.au/episode/56 For further information about high dose vitamin D projects in Victoria contact Sally Richardson at sally.richardson@dhs.vic.gov.au or (03) 9096 7371. Research 8. The Refugee Health Research Centre (RHRC) at La Trobe University promotes the health and well-being of refugee communities through applied and foundation research, teaching, continuing education and professional development. Its website provides information on current projects, conferences, publications and research. Presentations from its seminar series can be accessed at http://www.latrobe.edu.au/rhrc/conferences.html Professional Development 9. The New Hope Migrant & Refugee Centre (New Hope Foundation) is offering a range of cross cultural training workshops in 2009 in response to requests of service providers across metropolitan Melbourne. To download the 2009 training calendar and registration form go to their website at: www.newhope.asn.au or phone: (03) 9510 5877. 10. The Alfred Hospital Education & Resource Centre (ERC) offers a free and confidential service for people seeking information about HIV, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). The Education & Training Program February - June 2009 provides education sessions/workshops including exploring risk, getting to know HIV, getting to know STI's, HIV & Tuberculosis. Bookings are essential. email: erced@alfred.org.au or phone. Website: www.hivhepsti.info Tel: (03) 9076 2637. Subscriptions and contributions to The Victorian Refugee Health Network E-Bulletin are welcome. If you would like to subscribe or send news or information relevant to refugee health please go to the Contact Us page on the Refugee Health Network website at www.refugeehealthnetwork.org.au or email: refugeehealth@foundationhouse.org.au |