The NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service (MHCS) is a state-wide health service that engages with people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds to provide health information.

The service provides multilingual health information, consultancy including provision of data, translation services, and partnerships with local community groups. They also run the campaign Multicultural Health Week, in 2022 the theme was screenings for bowel, breast and cervical cancer.

If you or a loved one need help understanding health information in your language, contact them via their website or on 02 9332 9710.

NSW Health Care System Information Booklet
This booklet provides essential information about the public health care system in NSW.

Topics include: how to call an ambulance, what Medicare can be used for, how to get medications in Australia, and how to see a specialist. It also describes key health services in NSW, and much more.

English: english.pdf (nsw.gov.au)
Arabic: Arabic.pdf (nsw.gov.au)
Nepali: nepali.pdf (nsw.gov.au)
Tamil: tamil.pdf (nsw.gov.au)

Women’s Health Week is the week-long event in Australia focusing on the health and wellbeing of women and girls run between Monday 4 September to Friday 8 September 2023.

This year’s theme is ‘Grow Your Knowledge’.

Click here for a women’s health check list guide.

Each day during Women’s Health Week there is a focus on a different women’s health topic. The below contains resources on each of these topics.

Day 1: Check Me Out

• Breast Cancer – Breast Cancer is the most common cancer affecting Australian women. It is important women between 50-74 years have routine breast screening mammograms every two years.
  • Breast Screen: Home (BreastScreen NSW)
  • Breast Examination: signs-and-symptoms-infographic.pdf (nsw.gov.au)
• Cervical Screening – The Cervical Screening Test is a preventative screening program that observes for cervical cancer. You are eligible for cervical screening if you are 25 to 74 years old, have a cervix and have ever been sexually active.
  • About cervical screening | Cancer Institute NSW
• Heart Health Checks – Coronary heart disease is Australia’s number one killer, taking 50 lives every day. The Heart Foundation is working towards reducing heart disease and improving the heart health and quality of life for all Australians. If you’re 45 and over, or 30 and over if you’re Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, you should book your heart health check today.
  • Heart Health Check: https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/heart-health-education/heart-health-checks
  • Heart Age Calculator: https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/heart-age-calculator

Click here for a women’s health check list guide. 

Day 2: Pain Drain

• Endometriosis – Endometriosis is a progressive, chronic condition affecting women’s reproductive organs. Studies suggest that it affects one in ten women of reproductive age.
  • Endometriosis information: https://www.jeanhailes.org.au/resources/endometriosis
  • Exercise for endometriosis: https://exerciseright.com.au/exercise-for-endometriosis/
  • Australia’s endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics: https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/endometriosis-and-pelvic-pain-clinics

Day 3: Hello Hormones

• Menopause – Menopause (your final period) happens to most women and the average age of menopause in Australia is 51 years. However, it’s normal to have menopause anywhere between 45-55 years.
  • What is menopause: https://www.jeanhailes.org.au/health-a-z/menopause/about-menopause
• PCOS – Polycystic Ovary Syndrome – Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is a hormonal condition that affects about one in ten women. It can cause symptoms such as irregular periods, excessive facial and body hair, pimples and weight gain.
  • PCOS: https://www.jeanhailes.org.au/health-a-z/pcos

Day 4: Making it Work

• Mental Health Tips in the Workplace – The work environment can be stressful and hard to manage at times. Following some of these tips can help reduce workplace stress and anxiety.
  • Mental heath tips in the workplace: https://www.jeanhailes.org.au/resources/mental-health-tips-in-the-workplace-managers
• A Healthy Home Workplace
  • Ergonomics for working from home factsheet: https://www.jeanhailes.org.au/uploads/Fact_sheets/Healthy-home-workplace-fact-sheet.pdf
• Menopause in the Workplace – Menopause is a normal and healthy transition of ageing. However, it can affect your mental and physical wellbeing and it is important to have strategies to help you address menopausal symptoms while at work.
  • Menopause in the workplace: https://www.jeanhailes.org.au/resources/menopause-in-the-workplace

Day 5: Food for Thought

• Nutrition Tips for Women – Good nutrition is important at all stages of life. There are also particular nutrients or food groups that you should be eating more of, according to your age of life stage.
  • Foods for your future health: https://www.jeanhailes.org.au/news/foods-for-your-future-health
  • An evidence-based diet that celebrates life & living: https://www.jeanhailes.org.au/news/the-best-diet-for-life-and-living
  • Recipes: https://www.jeanhailes.org.au/resources/recipes

Other Women’s Health Information:

Family Planning

For all family planning matters, whether that is about starting a family or utilising contraception, it is best to speak with your GP or a health professional, to determine the best options for yourself.

• Family Planning: Planning for pregnancy | Pregnancy Birth and Baby (pregnancybirthbaby.org.au)
• Contraception: Body Talk – body, relationship and sexual health info for young people

Familial Advice/Mental Health

Seeking help can seem daunting. There are a range of resources, services and information that assist in identifying what help you may need. This is for all women, of all ages and can be digital, in-person and more.

• Parental advice: MumSpace – Perinatal Depression and Anxiety Support
• Headspace: headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation

Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Resource: Transcultural Mental Health Centre (TMHC) – Transcultural Mental Health Centre (nsw.gov.au)

Concord Repatriation Hospital

Address:  Hospital Road, Concord
Phone:  (02) 9767 5000
Website

Services include:  Ambulatory Care Clinics, Bone and Joint Services, Cancer Services, Colorectal Services, Critical Care Services including Intensive and Coronary Care Emergency Department and Burns and Service, Gastroenterology, Geriatrics and Rehabilitation Medicine, Haematology Services including transfusion and Haematology Day Stay Unit, Laboratory Services, Laparoscopic Surgery, Preadmission Clinic and Day Surgery, Respiratory Medicine and Sleep Studies, X-ray and Nuclear Medicine Departments.

Canterbury Hospital

Address:  Canterbury Road, Campsie
Phone:  9787 0000
Website

Services:  General Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Aged Care, Rehabilitation and Palliative Care are among the services provided.

Sydney Dental Hospital

Address:  2 Chalmers Street Surry Hills
Phone: 9293 3200
Website

Services:  Oral healthcare is provided to CSAHS residents & people in NSW who hold current pensioner & healthcare concession cards. In addition to full range of on-site care , a network of child & adult clinics, mobile units, screening programs & education services.

Homebush Early Childhood Health Centre is located at A2 Fraser Street Homebush in the Strathfield Children’s Centre.

Child and Family Health Nurses work in the Early Childhood Health Centre and offer health, development and welbeing check for your child as well as support, education and information on all aspects of parenting. Information and support is provided regarding:

• Breastfeeding
• Infant feeding and nutrition
• Sleep and crying patterns
• Adjusting to parenting
• Children’s growth and development
• Infant and child behaviour
• Immunisation
• Safety
• Playing with babies and toddlers to stimulate and promote development
• Parental wellbeing

Child and Family Health Nursing is part of Healthy Families Healthy Children, a program of services and resources developed by Sydney Local Health District to support the best development of children and enable families to lead healthy and fulfilling lives.

To contact the Homebush Early Childhood Health Centre,

please call CHIL from 8:30am – 4pm Monday to Friday on 9562 5400.

The BreastScreen Australia Program provides free mammograms for women aged 50 – 69 years. This government funded service aims to detect breast cancer in its early stages, when treatment can be most effective.

For further questions about breast cancer and the screening process, please refer to the Breast Screen Australia website.

Family Planning NSW is the state’s leading provider of reproductive and sexual health services. They are experts on contraception, pregnancy options, STIs, sexuality and sexual function, menstruation, menopause, common gynaecological and vaginal problems, cervical screening, breast awareness and men’s sexual health.

The local clinic is located at 328-336 Liverpool Road Ashfield (02 8752 4316) and people of all ages and backgrounds are welcome, with interpreter services available on request. Further information on the Ashfield clinic, including opening times, can be found on their website.

Are you living with hepatitis B? Find out. The get tested campaign encourages people from Chinese-speaking, Arabic-speaking, Korean, and sub-Saharan African communities in NSW to get tested for hepatitis B.

Vietnamese 2023 calendar with hepatitis B messaging

The Diversity Hub has created a Vietnamese Calender with Hepatitis B messaging for 2023!

The calendar follows a suite of initiatives undertaken by the Vietnamese Hepatitis B community development project in 2022. Purpose of calendar is to let Vietnamese community know of the importance of hepatitis B and what they can do to protect their loved ones, families, partners

We are committed to increasing awareness of hepatitis B in the community and hope that our calendar will provide useful information about hepatitis B. All hepatitis B messages are in Vietnamese and encourage the community to test and treat.

The calendar also provides the phone number to Telephone Interpreter Service and the MHAHS website where the community can receive information in Vietnamese.

It includes 12 full-colour easy-to-turn pages that introduce key hepatitis B messages.

Download a copy of our Vietnamese calendar here.

For more information on the Vietnamese Hepatitis B Project, contact Wa’el Sabri, Senior Community Engagement Officer on 9515 1234 or email Wael.Sabri@health.nsw.gov.au

What is Dementia?

Dementia is a word used to describe a collection of conditions affecting the brain’s function. The impairments in brain function are significant enough to affect how a person functions in everyday life. Symptoms associated with dementia are broad and include memory loss, misplacing objects, poor judgement, withdrawal from usual activities, difficulty with speech, challenges in completing everyday tasks and changes in behaviour or personality. Dementia affects each individual differently and not all symptoms are present in every individual. Symptoms typically commence slowly and gradually progress over time, typically years.

Age is the strongest known risk factor for dementia, with the majority of cases occurring in people over the age of 65. However, it is important to note that as people age, developing dementia does not always occur, with many older people having normal cognition. Dementia can occasionally be hereditary, but this is typically rare.

Your medical practitioner or healthcare provider can assist if you or your family are concerned about dementia. They will typically ask about symptoms, other health issues and medications. Tests of memory, attention and other cognitive skills will be performed in addition to a physical examination, blood tests and brain scan. This assessment will assist in determining if dementia is present and what the possible disease causing it is. Other conditions or their treatments can mimic dementia and identifying and treating these conditions is an important part of this assessment.

One of the common questions people ask is how is dementia different to Alzheimer’s disease? Dementia describes the collection of symptoms that we see including impairment in memory and other brain functions. Dementia is caused by well over 100 different diseases. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common disease causing dementia, accounting for over half of dementia cases. There are many other conditions that can cause dementia including vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia. Unfortunately dementia is progressive and there is no known cure although very active international research looking for effective treatments continues.

For more information about dementia see Dementia Australia  https://www.dementia.org.au/

Services

My Aged Care is the entry point for access to Commonwealth funded aged care services. These services are open to people over 65yrs of age or over 50yrs if of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background. These services might be supports to help you safely stay in your own home such as meals, help with cleaning or changes to your home or exercises to reduce the chance of a fall. You can also access residential aged care facilities through this process, if you are unable to remain in your own home.

To access any of these services, you will need to have an assessment – which involves a visit to your home where you will be asked about how you manage different daily tasks. This will help the assessor understand what is important to you as you age, what supports you already have in place (such as family and friends) and work out how much support could help you to live safely as you wish to. Your assessor will assist you in accessing the services you are approved for. You might find that your needs and preferences change over time. You can talk about this with any services you have in place to see if they can be changed to meet what you need, or you may need a new assessment to get some more supports.

You can phone My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 (Monday-Friday 8am-8pm, Saturdays 10am-2pm) or visit the website at www.myagedcare.gov.au to find out more information about assessments and the services available.

Support for Carers

Are you a family carer for someone with dementia?  If so, you might like to know about the various organisations and services that are available to you that can help you cope with some of the ups and downs along the way.

• The Carer Gateway (carergateway.gov.au) can provide emotional, practical and financial help for carers including emergency respite should something happen to prevent you from continuing in your caring role.
• Dementia Australia (https://www.dementia.org.au/support/family-and-carers) is another organisation that provides education and support for people with dementia and their carers. They host the Dementia Helpline (ph 1800 100 500) and have counsellors available to help you navigate the emotional side of caring for someone with dementia.
• The Aged Health, Chronic Care and Rehabilitation service (https://www.slhd.nsw.gov.au/acrs/) consists of a multidisciplinary team including geriatricians, nurses and allied health therapists to provide diagnosis and support for people with dementia.  The service also encompasses a Dementia Counselling and Support program which can assist carers in gaining information and understanding about dementia while linking them with other local services which can help them in their caring role.  The program also facilitates a Male Carers’ group for men who are caring for a partner, parent or other relative with dementia.
• Sydney Local Health District also provides a range of support services for carers. The Dementia Support Service, accessed via My Aged Care (myagedcare.gov.au), provides flexible respite to allow carers to take a break for a few hours while a skilled support worker spends time with the person with dementia.

Caring for someone with dementia can be isolating and it’s sometimes difficult to know where to turn to for support.  Making contact with any of the above organisations can be a good first step to ensure that you have access to those programs and services that can assist you in coping both now and in the future.

Translated Resources

• Arabic: Arabic – العربية | Dementia Australia
• Hindi: Hindi – हिंदी | Dementia Australia
• Korean: Korean – 한국어 | Dementia Australia
• Nepali: Nepali – नेपाली | Dementia Australia
• Simplified Chinese: Simplified Chinese (Mandarin) – 普通话 | Dementia Australia
• Tamil: Tamil – தமிழ் | Dementia Australia
• Vietnamese: Vietnamese – Tiếng Việt | Dementia Australia

All information provided by Sydney Local Health District, Aged Health, Chronic Care & Rehabilitation Service.

Do you know what they’re vaping?

NSW Health has seen a recent spike in young people vaping.

E-cigarettes, or ‘vapes’, are not safe for young people.

They come in many shapes and sizes and can be hard to spot as they can look like everyday items including highlighters, pens or USB memory sticks.

Key vaping facts

• Many vapes contain nicotine. Nicotine can cause long-lasting negative effects on young people’s brain development, including impaired learning ability and altered mood, and can increase the risk of depression and anxiety.
• Vapes can contain the same harmful chemicals found in cleaning products, nail polish remover, weed killer and bug spray, which can lead to serious lung diseases.
• Young people who vape are 3 times as likely to take up smoking cigarettes.

The laws around selling vapes

It is illegal to sell vapes to anyone under the age of 18 years. Young people often purchase vapes online, from retail stores, or from friends and contacts on social media. You can report suspected illegal sales of vapes to NSW Health or by calling the Tobacco Information Line on 1800 357 412.

Talk to your child about vaping

It’s important to take the time to talk to your child about the risks of vaping. Try to start the conversation in a relaxed easy-going way, and remember your goal is to have a conversation, not deliver a lecture. Importantly, get the facts at: www.health.nsw.gov.au/vaping

Factsheets:

Young People - Vaping Factsheet
Parents & Carers - Vaping Factsheet
Teachers - Vaping Factsheet