seminar description
Improving the health status of residents of Melbourne
requires action to improve health literacy among the whole community, thereby
engaging them in maintaining optimal health status for themselves and their
families.
Victorian Health Priorities Framework, 2012-2022
Both the Federal and State government continue to raise issues about chronic
disease self-management, patient controlled medical records and taking charge
of your own health. There is a greater
expectation that the individual will be responsible for his or her own health
and health literacy is the key.
Health Literacy is the degree to which individuals have the
capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information to make
appropriate health decisions.
The University of Melbourne and the Royal Women’s Hospital
in partnership with the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity & Health presented Cutting your teeth on health literacy – a seminar focussing on current trends
and practice in health literacy, with particular attention paid to the
relevance of health literacy for refugee and migrant communities.
Three experts shared their findings with a large audience on Wednesday 12 October
- Maureen Johnson | Manager, Women's Consumer Health
Information | The Royal Women's Hospital
- Dr Elisha Riggs | Research Fellow, The Jack Brockhoff
Child Health and Wellbeing Program | The University of Melbourne
- Michal Morris | General Manager | The Centre for Culture,
Ethnicity & Health
Maureen Johnson, Manager , Women’s Consumer Health Information, The Royal Women's Hospital
Maureen recently travelled to Canada, USA, England, the Netherlands and Finland on a Victorian Quality Council Travelling Fellowship. Her brief was to investigate new and innovative practice in health literacy. Maureen’s particular interest is in the health literate organisation; what does it look like and how can health literacy practice and values be integrated into the daily and routine practice of a large teaching hospital?
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Dr Elisha Riggs, Research Fellow, The Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Wellbeing Program, The McCaughey Centre, The University of Melbourne
Elisha has undertaken research on preschool oral health inequalities and oral health literacy in refugee and migrant communities in Melbourne. She is a co-researcher in Teeth Tales, a culturally competent research initiative that addresses oral health literacy and dental service access issues for refugee and migrant communities. Teeth Tales aims to better understand these influences – environmental, cultural and behavioural – and their impact on child oral health. Elisha will speak about her research and the development of the Teeth Tales initiative.
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Michal Morris, Executive Manager, Centre for Culture, Ethnicity & Health
Michal travelled to the United States to develop a better understanding of how health literacy and cultural competency started and where it is headed. What she found is that while they started from a very different place, there is much to be learnt about the dos and don’ts of health literacy in Australia. Michal will speak about her trip and reflect on the current health policy environment, in particular in addressing disadvantage.
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