clinical focus
also factors related to healthcare providers, whether they be doctors,
nurses, pharmacists or others. Perhaps the evidence is that healthcare
workers just don’t do as well with vaccinating adults as they do with
children. There could be an unconscious bias there and not valuing
the prevention of disease in older people as much as in infants
and also not having as much faith in vaccines for adults. It’s quite a
complicated, multifaceted problem.
Why isn’t there as much of a focus on this issue as there is on
the immunisation or vaccination rates of children or infants?
The way that immunisation has developed worldwide is mainly
as a paediatric discipline around infant vaccinations. [So] the
champions of vaccination are more often than not paediatricians
and people focused on infant health. There haven’t been enough
champions of adult vaccination. Now, we’ve got more and more
vaccines becoming available for adults and recommended for
adults, such as flu, pneumococcal and herpes zoster, shingles
vaccine … but it’s still a poor second cousin to infant vaccination.
UNIQUE
Care
®
Manufacturer of quality care products
SafeCare ® Columnless
Bed SWL 250kg
Slimline strong light weight
construction with no bulky end
columns to facilitate full view of patient
and room environment. Comes with
removable head and foot boards.
Designed and manufactured in
Australia with high quality
‘Dewert’electronics.
What role can health systems and the government or the media
play in addressing the rates of older adult vaccinations?
Positive health messaging and health-promotion messages that
stress the importance of vaccination – that it really is a low-
hanging fruit for healthy ageing, for healthy living, and it’s available
and funded by government for people in recommended groups
and that the consequences can be severe. I think carefully tailored
health messaging can make a difference, but we also need better
strategies to bring healthcare providers on board such as doctors,
nurses, pharmacists and so on, so that they make use of every
opportunity to vaccinate, and don’t miss those opportunities.
What message would you like to send to Australian adults,
particularly the elderly, about vaccinations?
What are the some of the risks a lack of vaccination poses to an
individual’s health and to public health?
For an individual, they are not getting prevention against preventable
diseases that could result in them becoming hospitalised or that
could even be fatal, including flu and pneumonia. From a public
health point of view, infectious diseases are transmissible from one
person to the next, so preventing it in one person also prevents other
people from getting infected, so you are impacting on the potential
for epidemics by vaccinating individuals.
There are vaccines that are funded and available, free of charge
… so if you are over the age of 65, if you have chronic diseases
like heart disease, lung disease, diabetes and so on. They are safe
vaccines that are proven to reduce the risk of serious infections,
so go along and have the con versation with your doctor. Flu
vaccine can be obtained at pharmacies. Make use of it and prevent
preventable diseases. ■
Designers and manufacturers of a
wide range of electric beds and
accessories for the aged care industry
Ward Bed SWL 250kg Acute Bed SWL 250kg
Unique Care Ward Bed combines
advanced safety features with the
highest quality components,
Dewert electronics and Australian
workmanship. The Sinatra Acute Bed is packed
with state of the art safety features
designed to meet
today’s stringent safety
requirements for
Australian hospitals.
Unique Steel Design Pty. Ltd.,
9-11 Point Henry Road, Moolap, Vic 3221.
(03) 5248 8369
www.uniquecare.com.au
agedcareinsite.com.au 23