Illawarra Health Research Articles

Creating active playgrounds in primary schools

To identify a model for a process that will support schools to implement environmental modifications in playgrounds aimed at increasing physical activity. Kidsafe NSW (Playground Advisory Unit) was commissioned by the former Illawarra Health Promotion Unit (IHPU) to develop playground concept designs, safety audits and detailed reports for three primary schools. Each report contained several environmental recommendations to increase participation in physical activity. During this study one school was destroyed by fire. The former IHPU supported the remaining two schools to implement environmental modifications for increasing physical activity through a process of meetings and interviews. Principals of both schools said they found the process to be valuable and it encouraged them to implement changes to their school environment for the purpose of increasing physical activity. School staff and the Parents and Friends Association felt that having a report from Kidsafe NSW increased the credibility and importance of the recommendations. Both schools made several changes to their playgrounds that were recommended in the report. The process of providing a Kidsafe NSW playground report, as well as support through meetings and interviews, appears to promote environmental change in schools.

Children and Domestic Violence: A System of Safety in Clinical Practice

The present paper provides a framework for working with children and families where there are domestic violence and child protection concerns. A model of practice developed by the St George Domestic Violence Counselling Service and the St George Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in the South East Sydney and Illawarra Health Service (NSW, Australia) is outlined. The present paper includes a discussion on a recently developed service agreement between the two services and a case study focusing on a ‘system of safety’ when working with children. The present paper focuses on the effects of domestic violence on women and children by male perpetrators. We do not ignore that men may be victims of domestic violence; however, the authors recognise the gendered nature of domestic violence and the significant number of women and children who experience and live with domestic violence.

Primary care patients' views on why they present to Emergency Departments: Inappropriate attendances or inappropriate policy?

This study investigates why some patients with apparently less urgent conditions present to emergency departments (EDs). We report on a survey of "potential primary-care" ED patients, who were asked about their reasons for choosing the ED over GPs. The sample consisted of 397 patients (with a response rate of 99% = 397/400), recruited in the former Illawarra Health Area. The three main reasons selected were: self-assessed urgency; being able to see the doctor and having tests or X-rays done in the same place; and self-assessed seriousness or complexity. The results do not appear to be sensitive to two potential sources of bias (fixed question ordering and non-random sampling). The results suggest a number of potential policy levers for encouraging some people to present to GPs rather than EDs. However, the main conclusion is that the majority of "potential primary-care" patients appear to be presenting for appropriate reasons. Thus "inappropriate attendances" do not seem to be the cause of EDs being under stress. We also argue that the results are useful for drawing inferences more broadly than just in relation to the Illawarra.

Part 2: Area Health Services

Continuing the pattern of recent years, the largest numbers of confinements in 2000 were among mothers resident in the South Western Sydney (12,541, 14.5 per cent) and Western Sydney Health Areas (10,794, 12.5 per cent). These two health areas contributed over one quarter of the State's births. Eighty per cent of confinements were to mothers resident in the metropolitan Health Areas (including the Central Coast, Hunter and Illawarra Health Areas), and 19.1 per cent were to mothers resident in rural areas (Table 20).

Searching for common ground in a local media campaign

This article describes how a local physical activity campaign, the National Heart Foundation Illawarra Physical Activity Project (located at the Illawarra Health Promotion Unit), was able to build a valuable relationship with local businesses and expand the resources available for producing a mass media campaign.

Incidence of Legionella in the urban environment in Australia

Extensive sampling of the built environment was undertaken to determine the extent of Legionella presence in different regions of New South Wales. Distribution and abundance of Legionella in N.S.W. were found to be similar to those found in Europe and North America, despite Australia's warmer climate and geographical isolation. Air conditioning cooling towers, warm water systems and spas showed the highest incidence of Legionella (32, 37 and 36%, respectively). Legionella pneumophila serotypes predominated, being present in 82% of the positive samples examined. Seasonality in isolation patterns was not detected. The Illawarra Health Region, where a major outbreak has recently occurred, was found to have the lowest incidence of Legionella, probably due to improved maintenance measures undertaken in the aftermath of the outbreak. It was concluded that the distribution and abundance of Legionella in the south-eastern part of Australia follows a comparable pattern to elsewhere in the world and that measures to prevent outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease should be similar to those currently being introduced in the U.S.A. and Great Britain.

A Patient Identification System for Area Health Records

The advent of area health boards in NSW created a need for patient identification systems to incorporate information held in several data bases. The concept of a unique health identifier system is outlined, including detail of record location, number issuing, privacy issues and implementation. The Illawarra Health Region experience of an area patient master index and an area record is described. (AMRJ 1988, 18(4), 145–149)

Hearing testing in baby health centres: pilot scheme for evaluation of a new method.

A new method of hearing testing has been evaluated on a trial basis in the Baby Health Centres of the Sydney Inner Metropolitan and Illawarra Health Regions, of New South Wales. This consists of earlier and more frequent testing with a newly devised range of auditory stimuli presented in front of the child, rather than behind the child. The reason for the change is that earlier detection leads to earlier treatment and improved speech. The new method will assess whether there is adequate hearing for speech development.