news
Health bodies back
marriage equality
Marriage equality would provide
health benefits to LGBTIQ Australians,
health organisations argue.
T
he Australian Healthcare & Hospitals Association has
joined a host of leading health organisations calling on the
Australian government to make marriage equality a reality.
AHHA let its stance be known via its recently released Position
Statement on Marriage Equality and Health.
The statement read: “Marriage equality would confer societal
acceptance and would provide significant health benefits to
LGBTIQ Australians.
“Studies, such as the 2016 evidence review from the Centre for
Social Research in Health, show that the introduction of marriage
equality results in greater feelings of social inclusion along with
better health outcomes for LGBTIQ people.”
AHHA chief executive Alison Verhoeven also cautioned against
a national plebiscite on the grounds of the mental health of
LGBTIQ people. “Evidence from overseas shows that plebiscites
on this issue and others involving the rights of a social minority
have significant negative mental health impacts on the group in
question, in this case LGBTIQ people, through exposure to an
adversarial and devaluing public and social debate,” she said.
“Rather than having divisive discourse, the Australian
government and the community could be acting to reduce
marginalisation and discrimination, improve equity, and enhance
the health and wellbeing of LGBTIQ people and their families.”
AHHA was also one of 36 leading health organisations, including
the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation, headspace,
Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association, Black Dog
Institute and the Public Health Association of Australia, to endorse
the United Statement for Marriage Equality by ACON and the
Victorian AIDS Council.
Both statements draw on an ACON and University of New South
Wales evidence review of the impacts of marriage equality, and
marriage denial, on the health of lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
Verhoeven said the evidence review shows that LGBTIQ people
form a minority population group that experiences poorer health
outcomes than the general population.
“This can be attributed to ‘minority stress’, where LGBTIQ people
struggle for validation and social acceptance,” she said. “One of the
more recent examples of institutional discrimination against this
group is the exclusion of same-sex couples from civil marriage.” ■
Boost for dementia care
Dr Kate Laver. Photo: Flinders University
Researchers to investigate
improvements to post-
diagnosis dementia care.
E
vidence-based occupational therapy,
exercise and carer support will be
the key focuses of a new project that
aims to improve post-diagnosis care for
people with mild to moderate symptoms
of dementia.
8 | nursingreview.com.au
Dr Kate Laver, from the Rehabilitation
Aged and Extended Care research group at
Flinders University, said the three guidelines
focus on promoting independence,
delaying functional decline and reducing
carer stress and ill health.
She added they are relevant for up to 85
per cent of people with mild to moderate
symptoms of dementia who are living in
the community.
The research team will recruit up to 30
health professionals across Australia who
will take on the role of implementation
clinicians. These clinicians will be trained
and supported to develop and enact a site-
specific implementation plan.
Laver explained: “The implementation
clinicians will come together to form
three groups. One group is dedicated
to increasing opportunities for exercise
for people with dementia, one group
is committed to increasing delivery of
comprehensive occupational therapy
treatment, and the third group aims to
improve support and information for
informal carers. Each clinician will be
upskilled in quality improvement, which
will assist them to make changes within
their workplace, increasing the quality
of care.”
The Agents of Change project will also
involve establishing a national quality
collaborative to implement guideline
recommendations.
It is being funded through a $770,517
NHMRC grant and will involve other
Flinders researchers – professors Maria
Crotty and Monica Cations, associate
professor Billingsley Kaambwa and
associate professor Craig Whitehead –
along with experts from Griffith University
and the University of Sydney. ■