At Bupa, we recognise that to have healthy people, you need a healthy planet. To help our people and our customers live longer, healthier and happier lives, supporting the health of our environment is critical.

That’s why Bupa is committed to building sustainable, future-proof communities that support the health of our people and customers while minimising our impact through innovation in health and care.

Small actions can improve the environments where we work and live. With many of us working from home, I thought I’d share eight tips on how to improve your sustainability@home.

1. Get local - support your independent and local businesses. You can:

• Have a dedicated night getting take-away or going to a local restaurant.
• Buy items from independent shops with locally or nationally made products.
• Look for companies that have pivoted such as those in the arts and entertainment sector. An example I love is from Stage Kings who have turned from making stages, to producing home office furniture.

2. Get energy smart. You can:

• Review your electricity and gas rates. If you live in Victoria, you get paid $50 just for checking how your electricity and/or gas compares to other rates in your area.
• Be strategic. Run the dishwasher, washing machine and clothes dryer off-peak (typically 11pm to 7am) or at the weekends. Off-peak is cheaper, sometimes by as much as 40 per cent.
• Be mindful of how often you need to wash your clothes. Try airing them outside for a day or two first (under cover). Dry your clothes in a north or west facing area that gets sunlight.
• Don’t overwork your heater. Dress for the temperature inside by wearing jumpers, beanies, slippers. Keep your feet warm too – they cool down more quickly than other areas of your body because they are hairless and their blood vessels easily dissipate heat. Your head is responsible for up to 10 per cent of your heat losses.

3. Get water smart – your water bills are going to rise. You can:

• Get to know your washing machine. The short cycle may give you the same clean clothes outcome as longer cycles. It uses less electricity and less water. Think of it like your dishes – do you have oil caked on your clothes (longer wash with more detergent) or breadcrumbs on a plate (quick rinse with minimal need for detergent)? Give it go.
• If you run the shower to let the water get warm, use a bucket to capture this water and use it in your toilet or garden.
• When you rinse your fruits and vegetables, save that water and use it on your houseplants.

4. Get gardening – by connecting with nature you can help improve your mental health and benefit from getting more active too. can grow:

• Herbs in small pots on your window sill.
• Vegetables in containers such as lettuce, radishes, broadbeans, carrots even potatoes.
• Carrots, bok choy and leeks can be regrown by replanting the ends (and in some cases, you can eat the leaves too). Check out these tips…

5. Get indoor plants. These release oxygen, may help remove some indoor air pollutants and caring for your indoor plants can help you feel more relaxed. Here are a few varieties that don’t need direct sunlight:

• Devil’s Ivy
• Zanzibar Gem
• Peace Lily

6. Get composting – there are a myriad of composting systems out there, even for apartment dwellers. You can:

• Buy a composting system at a reduced rate from Compost Revolution.
• Donate your waste to someone with spare capacity via sharewaste.com/.
• Compost your scraps by digging the scraps into your soil to replace the nutrients (trench composting). You may even get an unintended (vegetable) outcome from it….

7. Get upcycling – this is where you change the use of something that you don’t need or use and make it into something you do use. You can:

• Turn a torn pair of jeans into a draft excluder or door snake.
• Use plastic supermarket food containers or a takeaway coffee cup to grow seeds in.

8. Get your biodiversity going. You can:

• Avoid using chemicals such as herbicides and insecticides in the garden.
• Use native and Indigenous plants in your garden.
• Create an insect hotel to support beneficial insects such as solitary bees (pollinators) and wasps (garden pest control).

More details on the above and other great resources can be found at the Sustainable Gardening Australia website.

Media reference number: 20/064

From the big things, like juggling workdays with home-schooling duties, to the smaller stuff like morning coffee routines, we’ve all had to quickly adjust to a new way of living within our homes’ four walls.

Yet amongst all this chaos, I’ve discovered a silver lining to the lockdown – and it’s come in the form of a furry cat named Jack.

My partner’s been speaking about us getting a pet for years, but I’d always find an excuse to shut down the idea by arguing that – between work and travel – we didn’t have time for one. But then COVID-19 hit and suddenly I had nothing but spare time to spend at home.

It didn’t take us long to find five-month-old Jack on a rescue pet website, and since arriving on Good Friday, he’s been doing a great job at keeping my partner and I entertained – even if that’s sometimes involved him clawing the side of the couch.

Jack’s also taught me some valuable lessons during this challenging time.

1. Don’t let stress consume you

It’s always important to show pets affection, but even more so during those times when you’re consumed with stress. Focusing your energy on your furry friend with a cuddle, a walk or even a little chat can help shift your focus away from social media, work hassles – even the general moodiness that comes with being cooped up at home.

1. Remember that pets are part of your family too

Regardless of whether you’re a human or an animal, healthcare is healthcare and every living being has the right to receive medical attention when they need it. This means having your pet insurance sorted, looking after any nicks and niggles, and caring for their teeth. Having a pet isn’t just a reason to get back onto Instagram, but it's also an exercise in responsibility.

1. Get excited about the years ahead

While you may have decided to get a pet during a pandemic, it’s important to remember you’re in it for the long haul. When this difficult time finally passes, don’t view it as your chance to revert to your pet-free life. See it as an opportunity to enjoy your pet’s companionship in a post-COVID-19 world.

While the uncertainly and loss of routine that’s come with the lockdown may continue, Jack, like all pets, keeps adding a welcome and familiar presence around the house. Thanks Jack!

Media reference number of 20/059

However, it seems two of the most deeply affected human values have been how we view our health and wellbeing, and how we view our personal finances.

Where we once thought an apple a day kept the doctor away, now we hope 30 hand washes a day keeps the doctor away. Where we once felt secure in the Australian economy, a recent McKinsey study^[1] on COVID-19 consumer habits suggested 64% of Australians are worried their families’ income will be impacted by COVID-19 to a level where they won’t be able to make ends meet.

As a health and care organisation, understanding how our members are experiencing and responding to COVID-19 is extremely important so we can engage with them meaningfully and effectively.

This means throwing out the pre-COVID-19 playbook and thinking about how we can respond to our customers' needs now and into the post-COVID-19 future. There are three things that we, and all customer-focused organisations need to do in a post-COVID world. They are:

1. Engage with customers in a different way
2. Put ourselves in our customers’ shoes and see what else organisations can be doing to be more meaningful and relevant, and
3. Accelerate the digitisation of businesses to improve convenience and engagement for customers

Our commitment to helping customers live longer, healthier and happier lives is unchanged from years gone by. However, the ways in which we help our customers achieve those important goals will never stop changing.

^[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/survey-food-retail-in-australia-during-the-covid-19-pandemic

I started my career about 25 years ago with my undergraduate degree in dentistry at the University of Sydney. My initial roles as a dentist enhanced my critical thinking skills and provided me with mentors for whom ethics were a primary driver.My personal values in natural justice and the protection of people then led me towards the dental regulators on New South Wales. My career as a dentist also led me to work in large corporate practices which strengthened my principles around corporate and clinical governance. I currently maintain a position as the Deputy President of the Dental Council of NSW and the Clinical Director of Bupa Dental Corporation.

2. How have you balanced your personal life with your career?

Three kids under the age of four meant that I required significant family support to ensure a happy work life balance. My partner and I were lucky enough to be able to alternate our working days when our children were young to maintain a healthy balance. Dentistry as a profession enabled me to set my working hours to suit my personal life.

3. Why do you think it’s important to have diversity at all levels?

Diversity around gender, race and religion provides for the fabric of our society. Diversity brings in varied thinking based on cultural norms, upbringing, family values and personal experiences (be they positive or negative).One would and should expect that the diversity in views and opinions are appropriately shared at all levels so that we do not unintentionally discriminate against people who have valid but different opinions.Diversity at the higher levels can only lead to better conversations and outcomes at every level in an organisation.

4. As a leader, how do you advocate for women at Bupa?

Advocation for women is best done through action and demonstration of one's ability. Success and authority in senior roles can inspire generational change in thinking and provide inspiration that gender is not a limiting factor in breaking through the glass ceiling.

Personally, I prefer to celebrate success and mentor up-and-coming young women trying to demonstrate their critical thinking skills and ambitions.

5. What advice would you give other women aiming to progress into senior roles?

Never be afraid to take up a new opportunity - being scared is not a good enough reason to say 'No'.

Even the youngest among us can experience issues with their mental wellbeing, with Kids Helpline suggesting that the number of children seeking help is growing year on year.

In fact, according to a report issued in 2018, Kids Helpline has seen the number of children aged between 10 and 14 contacting them in 2017 more than doubling, to seek help for a whole range of things including family relationships, emotional wellbeing, counselling and issues with dating and partners.

Getting support for mental health issues early is important, and that’s one of the reasons why we’ve partnered with Kids Helpline to sponsor the Kids Helpline @ School Wellbeing program. The program is a free counsellor-led session, delivered in the classroom to primary school students around the country.

WATCH:

“In the first 12 months of the program, we’ve been really pleased to reach more than 15,000 students across Australia, with about 200 schools participating so far,” shared Kate Driessen, Bupa Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Manager. 

“Teachers are telling us that their students are far more likely to exhibit better choices and decision making in the future as a result of the program”.

The program is designed to increase resilience and encourage help seeking by children, using early intervention to help set children up with the tools they need to look after their emotional wellbeing into the future.

“Importantly it has allowed us to increase the number of students we can have conversations with, to promote help seeking, to promote early intervention, to promote the idea that it’s ok to reach out for help if you need it and that’s a great thing in our book” said Tony FitzGerald, Virtual Services Manager Kids Helpline.

To find out more about the school program, or to get your school involved, you can visit Kids Helpline.

As a parent, if you need some guidance or are worried about the mental health of your children, we also offer the Bupa Mental Health Navigation Service to our Health Insurance members. The service is available 24/7, nationwide, to all Bupa members who have an active Hospital product that covers themselves and their children. It’s designed to help identify your child’s needs, and then help guide you to the next best step to take.

To find out more about this service, please visit our Mental Health Navigation Service information page.

And of course, if you have an emergency need for support, you can contact:

• Lifeline: 13 11 14, or
• Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800

There’s no denying that we all have a responsibility to take care of our own health and wellbeing. However, we spend a significant amount of our time at work, and organisations have a valuable role (and wonderful opportunity) in not only the prevention of mental health conditions but also in reducing stigma, raising awareness, encouraging early intervention and providing support throughout a recovery process.

Importantly, as an organisation we also have a legislative obligation to prevent harm (including psychological harm) to our people.

What is psychological safety at work?

Psychological safety is present in a work environment when people feel safe and comfortable being themselves and can openly speak up without any fear of judgment.

It’s an environment that facilitates trust and respect amongst team members and their leaders.

These qualities allow people to feel comfortable to reach out for help, which can prevent issues from occurring or escalating, or admitting if a mistake has been made. This gives an employer the opportunity to rectify errors as quickly as possible and gives our people the opportunity to learn and grow.

Life can present us with many unexpected challenges. At Bupa we work to ensure our people feel valued for who they are, supported for their unique needs, and safe because Bupa has the right systems in place to protect them.

What can workplaces do to actively create a psychologically safe working environment?

It’s important to remember that we all have a role to play in creating a psychologically safe working environment.

There are a number of ways that workplaces can create psychologically safe environments:

• Make information and resources easily accessible to help employees better understand mental health, how it may impact someone, and the workplace support available.

• Arrange and participate in activities which raise awareness of mental health to reduce stigma surrounding mental ill-health.

• Encourage employees to share their own experiences of mental health with others as another way of reducing stigma surrounding mental ill-health.

• Encourage employees to do their own research and upskill their own mental health literacy. This can support people to understand what someone who is struggling with their mental health may be experiencing.

• Encourage employees to speak up when something isn’t feeling right or if there is a better way that a workplace may be able to support them.

Leaders can effectively foster psychologically safe environments through a number of simple practices:

• Know team members as individuals with unique needs. Everyone’s experiences of mental health are different and knowing what someone’s ‘normal’ looks like (i.e., their usual behaviour within the workplace), can help us to quickly identify when something has changed. These changes are often an indication that someone may not be coping, and recognising changes gives us an opportunity to open a conversation and offer support early.

• Talk openly and respectfully about mental health. Talking openly as a leader can demonstrate that you are confident and comfortable to discuss the topic and increases the chance of team members speaking openly in future.

• Provide role clarity and purpose to ensure team members experience minimal stress and team conflict and are feeling satisfied in the contribution they are making within their role.

• Set a standard of acceptable behaviours. Behaving appropriately within a workplace contributes to a positive workplace culture and environment.

• Recognise and celebrate achievements, to improve morale, feelings of being valued and job satisfaction. A lack of recognition is a risk factor for psychological distress at work.

• Be a positive role model. Engage in practices and activities that support overall health and wellbeing and encourage team members to do the same.

• Be open when times are tough. Acknowledging the reality of challenging times within a workplace ensures team members feel confident that as a leader, you have a clear grasp on not only the situation but what they as team members may be needing in response. This acknowledgement may provide people with an opportunity to feel safe to speak up.

• Offer support at every appropriate opportunity. Take time to regularly check in with team members, to maintain an open communication channel. Extending offers of support, even if it’s as simple as having a caring conversation can support people regardless of their mental health.

   

What's Bupa doing to help create a psychologically safe worplace?

Over a number of years, we have worked to ensure that there are a variety of initiatives to support and enhance mental health and psychological safety.

• We have made a broad range of information and resources available to our people on various mental health topics, so that they have opportunities to enhance their understanding, take care of themselves and understand the signs of someone who is not coping. This has also included endorsing avenues of appropriate support, both inside and outside of Bupa.

• Bupa raises awareness of R U OK Day each year to reduce the stigma surrounding mental ill-health and encourage people to be brave and have open, caring conversations.

• Bupa recognises Mental Health Month each year in October, where we interview some of our employees to share their experiences and encourage others who may be struggling to speak up and access support. We also run a number of internal competitions encouraging blogging on our intranet about personal experiences of health and wellbeing. We have an employee health and wellbeing program called Smile, which really focuses on our people’s holistic health and wellbeing.

• We have designed and delivered a number of initiatives aimed at enhancing leadership capability to support mental health and psychological safety, including a “Supporting Mental Health Guide for Managers”, numerous online learning modules, training programs and certifications such as Mental Health First Aid and Suicide Awareness and Prevention Training.

• We have also developed fun, practical and simple resources for teams and individuals to understand how important it is to take care of themselves both inside and outside of work. We have created resources increasing education around reducing the stigma associated with mental illness, as well as increasing education around bullying and its impact on mental health and wellbeing.

   

What is Bupa doing for R U OK Day?

This is the third year we have jumped on board the R U OK Day campaign. Following the success of previous years, we have created ‘activation packs’ for individuals wishing to raise awareness within their local working environment and teams. The packs include a variety of R U OK merchandise to create visibility of the important campaign, information on available support at Bupa, and some key messages to share on the day. Importantly, those raising awareness will be provided with guidance on what to do if someone is not okay, including internal avenues of support.

How teams raise awareness on the day is up to them, many choose to hold a morning/afternoon tea, a team lunch or a walk outside the workplace to meaningfully connect.

We are also expecting to see lots of photos, stories and experiences shared on our intranet throughout the day!

If you reach out to someone on R U OK Day, and you realise they’re not OK, what should you do?

The R U OK Day steps are both simple and effective. Firstly:

• Prepare yourself to ask the question (make sure you’re in a good headspace, have time to listen and be prepared that they may not be okay).
• Have the conversation in a place that’s private and informal where you can listen without judgment (give the person time to think and take what they say seriously).

In a case where you find a person isn’t okay, the next best step is to encourage action. Asking questions like, “What would be a good first step we can take?” or “How can I help you with this?” can prompt someone to identify what they may be needing.

Other good avenues for support may include talking to trusted family or friends, a GP, or an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) through their work, if this is available.

If someone is needing more urgent support, that is, if they mention that they are thinking about taking their own life, encourage them to call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.

Importantly, remember to check in on the person in a few days’ time, to see if they have accessed any support or found ways to better manage their situation.

If life is ever in imminent danger, contact 000.

Tell me a bit about your role and your purpose at Bupa?

I’m a Psychological Health and Safety Specialist within Bupa’s Wellbeing, Health and Safety Team. As a team, our approach to wellbeing, health and safety is underpinned by Bupa’s purpose; to help people live longer, healthier, happier lives.

Bupa is a global health and care business and our people are our greatest asset. We are all responsible for doing everything we can to protect our customers, patients, residents and each other from harm, and to promote wellbeing.

The Psychological Health and Safety Team works to increase Bupa’s capability to prevent and manage psychological risks through leadership practices, people processes and policies. My role involves designing and managing mental health initiatives to support the mental health of our people, as well as the provision of psychological advisory to the business both proactively, to support positive mental health outcomes and reactively, to mitigate the impact of activities that threaten to cause psychological harm to our people. We work to ensure that our people feel safe, valued, and supported for their unique needs.

Asking R U OK is a simple question, that has such a powerful impact to someone who might be needing to connect and talk through their worries or concerns. Be brave and ask the question, not only on RUOK Day, but every day.

Also, remember to check in with yourself throughout the process of supporting others, practising self-care enables us to be the best version of ourselves and helps us to support those around us even better.

Read more from people working at Bupa

Plastic isn’t inherently bad; however, every piece of plastic produced remains in our environment for thousands of years.

The problem comes from our behaviours and the throw away mentality that many of us have. Plastic Free July is about rethinking those behaviours.

We can each make a difference by avoiding single-use plastics as much as possible, or reusing and recycling anything we cannot avoid. It can take a little forward thinking to remember shopping bags, but collectively that difference can have a real impact.

If you’re still not convinced, traces of a plastic container you threw away last year may be in the next pint of beer you drink.. We’re seeing the formation of gyres, large patches of garbage, forming in the oceans. As these ‘trash vortexes’ degrade into the ecosystem they’re consumed by wildlife, causing traces of plastic to make their way into our food chain.

That’s not just uncomfortable to think about, it can lead to serious health issues for both humans and wildlife.

Is it possible to completely remove single-use plastics from our lives?

Many people don’t realise we’ve only been mass producing plastic for the past 70 years or so. Our lives have become much busier, and so we have adapted to the convenience of plastic.

In some cases, plastics enable people to lead more independent lives, particularly those living with disabilities, who rely on pre-packaged foods or straws to feed themselves with minimal assistance.

It’s not realistic to completely remove single-use plastics from our lives, but we do need to look for sustainable options, and particularly those that can be reused.

It’s quite exciting to see new biodegradable materials being produced, but ultimately it will require behavioural change from all of us to adopt those options.

What role does Bupa have to play in reducing the negative impacts on our environment?

Like any business, Bupa has a responsibility to its customers to remain commercially sustainable, but we also have a responsibility to think and act in environmentally sustainable ways.

The digital revolution is exciting and brings countless opportunities to innovate. At the same time, we’re learning that the systems we have created and inherited are significantly changing the environment.

Bupa is aiming to future-proof health and care by reducing our environmental footprint and taking a sustainable approach to growth and development.

In Australia, we recently made digital cards available to many of our health insurance customers. While this change was initially made to improve the claiming experience for our customers, it also carried a side benefit – removing around 5,000kg of plastic from the environment annually. The great news is our customers are getting on board, and the number of claims processed digitally is growing each week.

Similarly, our aged care homes make up 83% of our greenhouse gas emissions footprint, but as one of the largest private rooftop solar owners in Australia we’re able to produce 12 per cent of our electricity sustainably, and by installing over 36,000 LED lights we’re making that power work harder for us.

How can businesses ensure they’re making meaningful change, rather than just ‘greenwashing’?

There are many reasons for businesses to act sustainably whether it’s cutting down operational costs, getting some positive publicity, or simply being motivated to do the right thing.

However, if your sustainability claims are unsubstantiated or misleading you might be criticised for greenwashing, and rightly so.

To avoid this, it’s important to first create a culture within your organisation that is resilient to change and invested in sustainability as a strategy.

The reality is, social media brings greater transparency. A business that markets itself as green while producing goods in a country that has more relaxed environmental regulations can be exposed by anyone with a smart phone within minutes. In this landscape, a proactive and genuine approach will always be rewarded.

There is no plan(et) b, as they say.

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The third year of medical school is also the first clinical year taught in the hospital setting. It has been both exciting and terrifying to complete procedures such as cannulation, catheterisation and venepuncture on real patients. Luckily most people are supportive and enjoy helping to educate medical students.

My hope was to complete my placement at Frankston Hospital, so I could stay close to family and I was fortunate to get my first preference when I started my rotation in February. The days are quite long, ward rounds start at 7am followed by classes until 5pm, but I have really enjoyed my first three rotations.

When I am not on the wards I help to mentor two first year postgraduate medical students. It’s an intensive year covering content from two preclinical years, and having completed it myself last year I understand that it can be difficult, especially when placed away from family. They both share my interest in obstetrics and gynaecology and we aim to meet at least once a month.

I was also voted in as site representative for Peninsula Health, and work with other site representatives to coordinate events such as an upcoming R U OK day fundraiser. I have also used the position to help educate my peers about NAIDOC week by organising workshops and educational activities. Outside of university I have commenced a research project alongside doctors and researchers at the Department of Health to investigate women’s health issues in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, an important cause that is close to my heart.

It’s now second semester, and I’m at the Alfred hospital for a rotation in renal medicine, trauma, and urology. I look forward to further improving my procedural skills and to continue building on my medical knowledge.

I am incredibly grateful toward Bupa and the Dr. Evelyn Scott Scholarship for helping to support me through my medical studies. Without the stress of daily living costs I have been able to move out of home to be closer to my placements. I believe the reduction of financial stress has helped me maintain a high distinction average in my assignments, which would not be possible without the scholarship.

I also wanted to say another thank you as the scholarship has allowed for me to organise a voluntary medical placement in the Torres Strait, on my mother’s home of Thursday Island. The placement will allow for me to learn from other doctors, whilst also further educating me on my culture.

Today while sitting in my office at Bupa’s Mt Gambier store, I could hear lots of laughter coming from out the front. A regular customer and his wife were just passing by and stopped for a chat. These customers have been with us since they married and, now both aged 83, they’ve each had their own cancer journeys and health issues.

Last year Mrs K was unwell and in hospital after being diagnosed with bowel cancer, waiting to be transferred to Adelaide by air ambulance for treatment. Her husband was understandably lost, and unsure what he needed to do, his first thought was to make the trip to our store.

He just needed to talk. We listened and then helped him find accommodation in Adelaide close to the hospital, so he could be near his wife.

It’s so wonderful that he knew he could come to us and we would be able to help. As a manager I couldn’t be prouder of my team and the relationships they build in the local community. The K’s have no family here; all their children have moved away with their own families so it’s nice to know we could be there in some way.

We have travelled the cancer journey with them, helping with providers and aids, helping with forms and just being a listening ear.

We are truly lucky to be able to get to know our customers, pick up the conversation from their last visit and check in, add their partners and new born babies to their policies and watch them grow.

We also get the privilege of crying with them when a loved one has passed away and holding their hand.

There are times like today, when Mr and Mrs K come in to have a laugh and catch up. Other times they’re upset, it's a difficult journey they’re on. In those moments we have this opportunity to sit down with them face to face and just talk. Or help them navigate through whatever they are concerned about. It’s an amazing part of the job that we get to have this opportunity to connect in this way with our customers.

With two thirds of Australian adults now overweight or obese, there is a growing amount of information available online. A new website, The Obesity Evidence Hub, was launched last week to distinguish which information is most up-to-date, from a trustworthy source, and based on the best available evidence.

The initiative was born out of The Obesity Collective, a modern movement aiming to drive more action on obesity in Australia. What makes this movement particularly unique is that it brings together diverse individuals and organisations who collectively are committed to addressing this major health issue.

Bupa are represented among the 104 organisations who have already signed up to the collective.

In alignment with one of its principles - to be informed by evidence - the Obesity Collective put forward the need for a single resource where those with a role in obesity policy, care delivery, research and communications, can access and share up to date data.

The solution, The Obesity Evidence Hub, is an engaging and easy-to-use platform which summarises and presents the growing evidence on obesity in simple statements and sharable graphics.

To ensure credibility among users, all the data is referenced, and content authors include topic experts representing academia, clinical care and policy, who take a systematic approach to evidence review. The website also builds off the credibility of the three organisations who partnered to deliver the project; the Cancer Council Victoria, the Obesity Policy Coalition and our own Bupa Health Foundation.

As one of Australia’s leading charitable foundations dedicated to health, the Bupa Health Foundation is committed to building partnerships with the health research and healthcare communities to improve the health of the Australia Community. We are excited to see this partnership lead to a valuable resource for everyone who has an interest in improving outcomes for Australians living with overweight and obesity.

The next phase of this project is working to increase awareness among its potential users that this valuable resource exists. This will ensure as a community we are consistently using the best available evidence when communicating on obesity both within our individual organisations but also externally. Ultimately strengthening our collective voice on the importance of tackling this important public health issue, which will benefit all of society.

I recently had the opportunity to concierge for the flu vaccination service at The Big Issue as part of my role in Bupa's Corporate Wellness team.

I had always seen people selling The Big Issue around the city, and I am friends with a freelance writer who has written a few articles for the magazine, but as I walked to the site, it dawned on me how little I knew about the organisation. In 1996, The Big Issue began in Australia to aid the increasing homeless population. Since then, The Big Issue has provided opportunities to disadvantaged people from various backgrounds to earn an income by selling the magazine at numerous locations around the country.

The first thing that caught my attention was how busy the building was. There were a few rooms from which people were bustling in and out. I met Helen, the nurse, and we promptly got started. I went out to the main area, braced and ready to convince everyone of the importance of the vaccinations, however, it wasn't long before a small crowd formed of people who were waiting to receive their vaccination. While they were waiting in line, some of the vendors were happy to have a chat and share their stories. It was great to see how many people were already aware of the dangers associated with the flu virus.

With the help of some of the staff, the consent forms were distributed and filled, and we vaccinated almost 30 people throughout the day.

We were there on the day of their fortnightly meeting where all the vendors were briefed on their sales, were informed of any updates and could purchase the new issue of the magazine to sell. It was great to see the level of support the vendors received from The Big Issue. The vendors were offered a hot meal and the chance to pick from a range of knitted scarfs, hats and mittens to keep them warm during the cold season.

I have been very fortunate to be a part of the Bupa Wellness flu program, organising flu vaccination services around the country. I feel even more fortunate to have been able to actually witness a service being executed; to have been able to see the direct impact of organisations like Bupa and The Big Issue in helping people that need it most.

There is a fundamental misconception that IT and the business are separate entities. There shouldn’t be a separation of business and IT - IT departments are part of the business and in today’s world there is no business without an IT department. We all have the same responsibility to make sure our organisation delivers the best service for our customers. We’re here to deliver the company’s purpose, not deliver the technology.

Service Management is generally seen as a support activity, and IT’s focus on service management often starts only after a project hands over to the support teams. So, most of the IT department’s actions around service management are reactive, technology focussed, completely detached from the business and the customer priorities, and are very inefficient. The absence of a foundational, effectively running IT service management strategy is the loss of opportunity, innovation, and successful outcomes.

Most of the projects within a company are being initiated by the business and IT is just an enabling function to deliver these changes.

However, if IT can see their role broader than just a support function, they can play a more active and driving role in these initiatives, and provide thought leadership. This requires significant mindset and operating model changes as most of the IT department has not been setup to operate at that level.

In reality, based on ITIL’s definition, service management is a non-stop journey covering Service Strategy, Design, Transition, Operations and Continual Service Improvement. IT should take a leading role in all these steps.

In my mind, there are a few key pillars that, when embraced fully, can lead to an effective IT service management strategy:

Define the services and own them

Firstly, you need to define the critical Services and allocate roles in IT as Service Owners. These are the people who will own the service from strategy to delivery, including running these services on an ongoing basis. The business facing roles in IT need to change from managing relationships through to managing services with end-to-end accountability.

Stay close to the business

Effective service management requires IT to work very closely with business. Understanding the customer needs and pain points, market trends, consumer preferences, and being aware of the technological developments are all must haves. Service strategy and design should be aligned with the business and customer needs. Without IT understanding the business, there is no chance for IT to contribute to strategy and design discussions, or the prioritisation conversations. Staying close to the business is the key behavioural change that will support a more proactive IT service management strategy and enable proactiveness.

Be proactive, not reactive

Not being close enough to business and not owning the service end-to-end positions IT to respond to changes reactively and minimises IT credibility as a forward thinking consultant for business. In today’s world, our businesses desperately need our leadership in this area as most services and business models rely on technology.

IT departments should reflect on how much they are interacting with business, and the role they play in these interactions. So, go outside of your department and immerse yourself in the business.

Innovate

Innovation is the key differentiating factor in a successful IT service management strategy. Embed the process to allow you and your team to keep innovating. With anything, the most successful players are the ones that embrace innovation and continuously improve process. This needs to be embedded in your daily activities, however it is a challenge to develop this mindset in organisations. Organising hackathons and ‘inspire’ days are useful practices to start making time in businesses for innovation and creativity.

In the IT service management space, it’s also important to innovate around how to best monitor, identify and work through new opportunities and trends. Consider adoption of automation for certain tasks , freeing up our IT professionals for more value-add work and give them time to reflect and strategise.

Be agile and flexible

Imagine creating huge programs with hundreds of requirements and milestones that will take months, with nothing delivered until everything is perfectly ready. This generally ends up with delays, you go over budget, there are lots of frustrations, and when you finally deliver the program, it’s way too late and not what your customers are expecting from you. Sound familiar? You can change this story.

Kill all the big projects, keep regularly checking the priorities with business, identify what to deliver next, split your deliverables into small pieces and deliver them end-to-end with Agile methodologies, and keep repeating this process. This will allow continuous delivery of changes to market, experimentation of new ideas quickly, and allow an ability to adapt and respond to changing market conditions and customer expectations.

Project funding to service capacity

Based on the approaches previously mentioned, stop funding initiatives project by project. Instead, create your service strategy and allocate your funding for each service depending on the criticality. Allow the Service Manager and the function to define the road map for the service. The outcome of this will be a more strategic and effective service management strategy that is aligned with the business reality and changing customer needs.

Service management is much more than a support activity. It is linked to business strategy, market reality, customer needs and preferences, commercial reality, design, project delivery and off course support. IT departments that involve all these activities proactively will be in the best position to deliver exceptional results aligned to business expectations and goals. It’s time to think about our leadership role in business differently and take a much bolder approach to delivering great services.

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Friday 17 May is when we celebrate IDAHOBIT. It may sound like a trilogy or a long acronym, but it stands for something so great that’s it’s worth sharing.

Ever since I was a young boy I have enjoyed activities that were culturally and socially considered ‘not masculine enough’. For my parents’ generation, it wasn’t considered ‘right’ that I wanted a Barbie car for my birthday or to listen to the latest album of Delta Goodrem. My mother and father didn't treat me any differently though. They loved me. But sadly, other parts of society vilified and shunned me.

When I was at high school there were days when I cried. There were days when I was kicked, shoved, called names and continually told I was someone I shouldn’t be. I recall a day such words were even marked all over my school bag in textas and I was pushed to the point where I had had enough. It was the same day those people threw my books in a giant puddle. The day they tried to peg bocce balls at me. All because I was different.

At the time I was too scared to speak up or be proud of who I am. I let them win. There was no one else in sight.

That may sound like a surreal experience but for most of early high school life, that was the case.

After I changed schools and moved states I began to find new ways to hide the true me. I pretended to be the person society pushed me to be based on historical stereotypes. I forced myself to do things considered ‘the norm’. To not listen to that pop CD, to not mention I was disinterested in cars or manly things as others proclaimed was the only way. It wasn’t something that I enjoyed. I was hiding my true identity.

The difference was that I was gay. It was a word I was labelled with and teased with and because of that, I hid away from it.

But after a while, I realised I was not alone. I discovered the stories of other people who went through greater challenges. Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person elected to public office in the USA. A person who was harassed, beaten up and in the end killed for standing up for their and others identity and equal rights. And Audre Lorde, the warrior poet who used their words to inspire people to challenge society norms, to ensure the rights of women, the LGBTI+ community and people of colour. Without these people, these fighters - we’d not be here today.

It was only on 17 May 1990 that the World Health Organisation stopped classifying homosexuality as a mental disorder. This label would have been hurtful to many people including Harvey and Audre. But that did not stop them. They knew that equal rights were important, and that justice was key. That love over hate would triumph.

That’s exactly what IDAHOBIT is all about.

I’ve trekked 100km over muddy terrain, but the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do was to not be true to myself. To hide my identity. To not be who I am.

Post continues after video

As courageous as writing this might be, I know for many young people and older Australians out there, that being open about their sexual orientation or identity is something they fear.

I was once in their shoes and I can still be, depending on the situation I’m in.

However, I cannot stand idle and let what happened to me happen to others who are different. I cannot say to myself, honestly, that if I keep quiet the world will change. If we are to make any difference to someone’s life, we must speak up and we must be heard.

There are some that may argue that LGBTI+ awareness isn’t important, or pride is an agenda. But what I say to these people is, all anyone wants in this world, is to belong, to feel loved and to be supported.

When you look up and see that rainbow flag peering through a restaurant window or a badge showcasing support, you know you will belong, get fair treatment and that you do have an ally out there who will stand up against bullying or discrimination.

It’s startling enough to know that nearly half of all LGBTI+ people in Australia hide their sexual identity in the workplace and that 6 in 10 will experience verbal abuse. We also know from research that those who are open about their sexuality at work, see productivity soar. After all, who wants to live a dual life?

This week at Bupa we held IDAHOBIT events across our organisation as part of our Pride Network. We do this to celebrate diversity, but we also do this so that our people know that we do value them and want them to bring their true selves to work. To find out more about what the Pride Network has been up to, click here.

IDAHOBIT stands for International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia. It’s a day to reflect on where we are today, celebrate all things diversity and a chance to demonstrate how we can make a difference to others who feel different, no matter their gender, race, sexual orientation or religion.

Next time you hear or see something that’s not right, let it be known where you stand. Showcase your love and support where you can. It’s the little things that can make a difference to someone’s life. Because that’s what being an ally is all about.

Read more from people who work at Bupa

• Jerusha Mather has spent her life working towards her dream of becoming a medical doctor
• Despite having completed her Biomedical Sciences honours year and undertaking a PhD into brain stimulation, difficulty handwriting has made med school entry requirements like GAMSAT near impossible, “…there is an unrealistic expectation for me to be able to complete the GAMSAT in my head.”
• Ms Mather has urged universities and ACER to take immediate action against what she feels is discrimination against people with disability.

My name is Jerusha Mather. I am a prospective medical student with disability working hard on ways to enter medical school.

I was born in Sri-Lanka on 15th December 1994. At birth, the doctors gave my parents a diagnosis that I had mild-moderate severity cerebral palsy (CP) – chorea-athetoid. This meant that my chances of surviving and living a decent life would be a bare possibility.

With the hope of greater opportunities (especially for me) my parents immigrated to Australia when I was two years old.

The Australian medical system, being more advanced, enabled me to access rehabilitation therapy which helped to improve my speech and motor functions, as cerebral palsy affects my movement and speech to a moderate degree. I went on to successfully complete mainstream primary and high school.

During high school, apart from my growing love for neuroscience and biology, I was part of the T-ball team, raised funds for 40-hour famine and attained a place in the Kwong Lee Dow Scholar Young Achievers Program.

This seminar raised awareness and discussion on common feminine issues. I also carried out an initiative to send uniforms to an orphanage in India.

One of the highlights of my years was when I was able to procure sporting equipment for my school following a proposal to Fairtrade Australia. During my free time, I could be found reading and expanding my fervour for piano and singing. Presently I still enjoy playing the piano, singing, listening to music, occasional writing and have a good time travelling around the world with my family.

After high school, I completed my Bachelor of Science (Biomedical Sciences) at Victoria University and afterwards, completed my Biomedical Sciences honours year at RMIT University, whereby I conducted a systematic review on maternal biomarkers for fetal brain damage and designed a clinical trial based on the outcome of this review. I am currently undertaking a PhD at Victoria University where I am investigating how, and if, strength training and transcranial direct stimulation can improve motor outcomes for adults with spastic cerebral palsy.

My study will utilize a non-invasive brain stimulation methodology, called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to deliver low and constant electrical current over the scalp, to increase the strength of signals sent from the brain to muscles prior to training sessions.

It is expected that this will lead to faster and larger strength gains following training. This, in turn, will enable us to better examine the impact of strength gains on function, which we expect will improve.

My study will also use functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to understand the impact of both tDCS and strength training on brain activity in individuals with spastic hemiplegia CP.

This research is expected to influence interventions for young adults with spastic hemiplegia CP, who are currently underrepresented in CP research.

Despite the perceived challenges, I have lived a relatively normal life, applying myself to my studies and excelling at both my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

I have a sense of empathy unmatched by my colleagues, understanding of life with a chronic health condition and remarkable patience. As a patient I have experienced the spectrum of health care professionals, good and bad, and feel motivated to be part of a generation of doctors where communication and compassion are paramount skills.

I have experienced significant barriers on my journey to becoming a doctor. And today, I am going to openly share them with you. I am are also going to share some insight on overcoming them.

Firstly, we must acknowledge the laws; the Disability Discrimination Act and the Equal Opportunity Act that were created to protect the civil rights of individuals with disabilities in the education and employment sector. However, we still have a long way to go to manifest these laws into our education systems.

Particularly in medical education, we see a lot of indirect discrimination occurring. Even so, it is time we showed zero tolerance to discrimination and seed the value students with disabilities can bring to the medical education.

Some of the barriers upon entry are the inflexible admission requirements and a lack of special consideration. Moreover, the barriers during medical school are inadequate support in preparation for clinical exams, inflexibility during clinical exams, and insufficient support during clinical placements.

Most students with a disability fear if they disclose their disability in their application, they will get discriminated against. In fact, students have openly shared stories of experiencing discrimination when expressing interest in studying medicine to medical schools. Medicine is a highly competitive degree. This high level of competition makes it harder for students with disabilities to compete with their able-bodied peers.

However, we must understand that disability does not equal inability. A person with a disability can still complete the task but in a different way.

As evidenced by the LIME network, most medical schools have alternative pathways for indigenous students and readily accept indigenous students without a GAMSAT score.

A similar initiative must be made available for prospective medical students with disability.

Currently, we have few medical students with a disability in Australia. A study completed by Western Sydney Medical School showed that less than 1 percent of medical students had a disability in their yearly cohort. We are among the lowest represented in the medical profession. This is not okay.

Also, if an alternative entry scheme or pathway was implemented, disadvantage could be considered.

Whilst external bodies such as ACER do provide adjustments, these are not enough for students with handwriting and reading disabilities.

For someone like myself, sitting the GAMSAT is brutally challenging.

The GAMSAT is not like typical university exams, they are not testing prior knowledge. It's testing problem solving ability and the nature of the test being written and timed causes great challenges for someone like myself to successfully complete it.

Furthermore, possible discrimination could occur in the admissions interview whereby one could easily judge me based on my disability and underestimate my ability.

The establishment of an alternative entry scheme or pathway would make it somewhat easier for the student to disclose their disability in a comfortable manner. This would also mean the medical school can prepare for the student’s journey ahead of time.

The incorporation of a structured interview method in the alternative entry scheme or pathway as opposed to the multiple mini interviews would greatly reduce the risk of bias and discrimination and ensure that reasonable adjustments such as additional time are made during the interview processes.

Some reasonable adjustments that medical schools could use to accommodate for medical students with a disability include:

• Additional time during exams (with rest breaks)
• Multiple-day testing
• Additional doctor - patient sessions to troubleshoot strategies for clinical skills
• Clinical assistant to help students with clinical tasks
• One on one time with academic staff
• Working with an occupational or speech therapist on developing clinical/communication strategies / skills

Some technologies and adaptable medical equipment that have been used in the past for medical students with a disability are:

• Dragon Medical – Speech to Text Software
• Vein Viewer – enables you to visualise someone’s veins in an enlarged form
• Electronic Medical Forms
• Amplified Stethoscopes
• Automatic Pressure Machines

Everyone is different and therefore, reasonable adjustments should be implemented on a case by case basis. More adjustments that a medical school could use can be found in The Guide to Assisting Students with Disabilities: Equal Access in Health Science and Professional Education by Lisa Meeks.

Medical schools also need to develop inclusion policies. Hence when a medical student with a disability gains admission, the school demonstrates the best tendency to provide an inclusive environment for the student.

There are quite a few doctors with a disability registered with the Australian medical board. They are working within major hospitals and clinics. However, most of them acquired their disability after entry into medical school. There are also plenty of training specialty colleges such as pathology, oncology, radiology, medical administration; general practice and rehab medicine that are willing to open their doors for doctors with disabilities. Thus, why then cannot medical schools open their doors?

Dr Thomas Strax who lives in New York has cerebral palsy. He had severe speech and mobility concerns. However, he became a rehabilitation psychiatrist and contributed greatly to medicine. He served six deans in three medical schools as a department chair, training hundreds of residents. Fourteen went on to become professors. He was a chief medical officer. For years, he was the consultant for our National Board of Medical Examiners. He was at the White House for the Americans with Disabilities Act signing. Nonetheless, he may not have been able to study medicine in Australia in 2019 due to the inflexible and biased admission requirements.

Lastly, let us open doors, think laterally about tasks, and see the possibilities inside a person. When we give someone with a disability a chance to become a doctor and support them, we all win because we are producing caring and compassionate doctors that I bet will make a great mark in medical history.

I hope you can join us in our journey to making medicine more inclusive for students with disabilities, please sign the petition for alternative pathways for prospective medical students with disability.

• A new local therapy service in West Melbourne is open to meet growing NDIS demand
• Dear Carers, you are not invisible
• Disability care - designed by those who use it

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Unfortunately for thousands of expectant mothers in Victoria, this is far from reality. Can you imagine coming home with a newborn baby and not having the money to care for them at a basic level, let alone purchase toys, cots, car seats or other fundamental items?

That's where St Kilda Mums steps in. The charity was established in 2009 to help provide women in the local area with the necessities to look after their children. Their main service is to recycle unwanted (and often brand new!) products such as prams and car seats as well as package up and provide bundles of clothes and other essential items. Local social workers and welfare staff work with St Kilda Mums to then provide the goods to local recipients, often who are in safe or temporary housing.

There is no doubt it's a great cause that really tugs at the heartstrings. That's why myself and a group of team members from Bupa Wellness decided to use one of our Bupa volunteering days to lend a hand to the lovely ladies at St Kilda Mums.

As part of our volunteer day we were required to donate $800 to contribute to the ongoing funding of the charity. While it sounded like a lot, with a small bake sale and Bupa matching our donation it was easily achieved.

When we arrived at St Kilda Mums they gave us a tour of their expanding factory and gave us an overview of how they came about and how they operate. I must admit, I was both shocked and in awe at the number of donations they have, but also saddened to know that it was still not enough to go around. One of the things I was most impressed by was how beautifully they packaged up the donation bags for presentation to the mums. In particular, the clothing and packs of bedding. Each 'kit' is lovingly put together by a volunteer, with a range of matching, fresh, clean items such as shoes, underwear, socks, clothes and of course a small toy.

The rule was 'if you wouldn't put your children in it, then it's not good enough'. I loved this way of thinking - why should someone in need deserve less? I can't even imagine how thankful the recipients must be to give their children clothes and toys they would be proud of.

I must admit it was a long day and my feet were definitely sore from standing all day. I guess a decade in a desk job isn't great for stamina! Despite this it was a really great day, for a great cause and looking at all the adorable clothes was so fun - have you seen how cute baby socks are?

If you want to know more or donate any of your own baby related items, please make sure you check out stkildamums.org

I would encourage you all to get a group together and volunteer for a day at St Kilda Mums.

You will have a great time with your team and feel good about it at the same time knowing you have helped a family's day get that little bit brighter.

Written by Erin McLean, Bupa Wellness Manager.

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Just what the ‘dogtor’ ordered

Lending a helping hand

What is gum recession you ask? Great question! Gum recession is when the gum wears away to expose the tooths root which can often be sensitive and increase bacteria build up. Find out what can cause gum recession below.

What’s so good about this new pin hole surgery? Another great question and to start with, I’ll explain what is so unique about this specific treatment.

The pin hole surgery is scalpel and suture free and to date has proven to be very stable and more reliable and predictable than traditional grafting procedures.

This technique was developed by Dr John Chao in the USA in 2006 and was established to address gum recession, a common problem particularly as we get older.

Traditional treatment for receding gums involves grafting. This involves cutting a piece of gum from another area, usually the palate and then burying this graft under the gum in the affected site.

This can be a very painful procedure with poor long-term results, often needing to be redone over the years.

That’s where this new pinhole treatment comes in - the revolutionary new technique works where the gum is actually pushed back up to cover the exposed root surface, by gently loosening the gum allowing it glide over the teeth.

Patients quite often report significantly less pain and discomfort than grafting, needing only mild pain relief the following day.

Benefits of pin hole gum recession surgery:

1. Corrects multiple areas in a single visit with the procedure only taking two hours - in many cases.

2. Minimal discomfort and swelling

3. Pinhole sites heal in 24 hrs in most cases

4. Can prevent tooth loss and so the need for other costly procedures such as dentures, bridges or implants can be avoided

5. Reverse the appearance of looking long in the tooth associated with ageing

6. Most patients report they are back to normal light activities within 24-48 hours after the procedure

What can cause gum recession?

1. Periodontal disease. This is the result of bacteria causing an inflammatory response causing the supporting bone of teeth to be lost resulting in the gum shrinking away from the teeth. There is a genetic component to this disease, which is why some people get this disease even though they have good oral hygiene

2. Aggressive tooth brushing at the gum level

3. Smoking is a contributing factor as it causes a change in the nature of the plaque and changes to the gum blood circulation

4. Grinding and severe clenching may be a factor

5. Crooked and misaligned teeth and lip and tongue piercings

Consequences of gum recession:

1. As the gums recede the tooth root becomes exposed. This porous exposed root surface is more susceptible to the ill effects of decay causing plaque. In some people this can result in rapid deep decay, increasing the likelihood of the need for endodontic (root canal) treatment or loss of the tooth.

2. Increased sensitivity: people will often experience sensitivity to hot, cold changes, some foods and such things as tooth brushing.

3. In severe cases, especially in the back-molar teeth, this may lead to increased and complex gum disease

4. The exposed root is softer and more susceptible to erosion and wear from acidic drinks, foods and tooth brushing. Increasing sensitivity and the formation of grooves or notches in the neck of the teeth. These groves can become very severe wearing into the nerve and making the teeth weak and prone to breaking at the gum level.

5. Food will get stuck in these areas which can lead to the problems already mentioned

6. Looking older than what we may be, the “long in the tooth” look.

Blog written by Bupa Dentist, Dr Don Kelly from Face Dental in Brisbane.

Find out more about Face Value Dental in Brisbane.Read more dental news

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Why you need to care about antibiotic use and resistance

Free dental check-ups with Members First Platinum

Read more dental news

Awareness of antibiotic resistance is important to encourage best practices amongst the general public, health workers and policy makers.

If you’ve ever had a bacterial infection, you’re probably familiar with antibiotics, which are medicines that kill bacteria. They’re essential for successfully treating and preventing serious infectious diseases. Over the past century, access to effective antibiotics has saved millions of lives, and enabled major medical and surgical breakthroughs. However, during this time, we have also misused and overused antibiotics and this has resulted in antibiotic resistance.

The number of infections where bacteria are resistant to at least one antibiotic has been increasing and that includes within Australia. We've seen the emergence of bacteria that are resistant to almost all of the easily available antibiotics, for example, MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphlococcus Aureus), multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE). These can cause serious, life-threatening illness and are difficult to treat. As our antibiotics become less and less effective, infections become harder to treat.

Without action, we could return to the days of not being able to treat common or life-threatening infections, resulting in prolonged illness, disability and death. It could also impact many of the medical advancements we take for granted, like organ transplants, cancer treatment, diabetes management and major surgeries.

What is antibiotic resistance?

Resistance develops when potentially harmful bacteria change in a way that makes them immune to antibiotics. Resistant bacteria survive, multiply and spread, causing more harm.

How does antibiotic resistance happen?

Drug resistance is a natural evolution. When people take antibiotics for a bacterial infection, the antibiotic kills off the “weaker” organisms. However, there may be some organisms that are resistant to the antibiotic, so they aren’t killed off. This allows them to multiply and spread, meaning that the next generation of the bacterial infection will no longer respond to (or be killed off by) that antibiotic.

Why is antibiotic resistance a problem?

Antibiotic resistance is a problem because standard treatments become ineffective. An antibiotic that used to work on certain infections no longer does. People are unable to recover from infections and may then spread those infections to others.

In Australia, the prevalence of resistant- and multi-drug resistant bacteria (also known as ‘superbugs’) is increasing.

My personal worry is we don’t want to get any closer to creating a superbug that would be capable of beating every antibiotic we have.

What can you do to reduce antibiotic resistance?

1. Only take antibiotics in the way they have been prescribed to you

2. Don’t ask for antibiotics to treat viral infections like colds and the flu. Antibiotics have no effect on viruses, and won’t speed up your recovery from viral infections

3. Clean your hands often! It is possible to pass on antibiotic resistant bacteria to others, so prevent the spread of germs by practicing good hygiene

Blog written by Nirasha Parsotam, Pharmacist and Bupa’s Head of Healthcare System Strategy and Integration.

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For those who don’t know; Kids Helpline is Australia’s only free, private and confidential 24/7 phone and online counselling service for young people aged 5-25.

I’m bursting with pride that we can play a part to support a service so important for the wellbeing of Australian kids and families.

Experienced Kids Helpline counsellors, Jessica and Tony, shared their insights into how young people feel about bullying and anxiety, and provided valuable ideas and support for our parents and carers in the room, me being one!

For anyone out there who’d love to get the ball rolling, our Bupa Family Challenge gives you free and fun weekly inspiration, to make the most of the everyday moments to talk, connect and improve family wellbeing.

And for those with kids in primary school, check out the Kids Helpline Wellbeing at School program.

Thanks to Bupa’s support, the free program connects over 10,000 primary school students across Australia to personalised virtual classroom sessions covering topics like bullying, resilience, friendship and safety.

Kids Helpline is Australia’s only free, private and confidential 24/7 phone and online counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25 – call 1800 55 1800 or visit kidshelpline.com.au

October is Mental Health month and I’m so proud to be part of an organisation that connects our customers and our people to better health and wellbeing.

Written by Jane Power, Chief Marketing and Customer Officer at Bupa A&NZ.

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Have a caring conversation this R U OK? Day

Over the past year to 18 months, on a global basis we have witnessed a real recognition of the importance of good mental health. I have seen this in both the public health arenas and increasingly in the business sector. I recently visited Kaiser Permanente in the US, one of three US healthcare providers, and it described this recognition of the importance of good mental health as “putting the head back on the body”.

For far too long, society has seen health as almost completely synonymous with physical health and mental health was seen as a weakness, or something to “get over”. We have made great strides in reducing the stigma around mental health but there is still more that can be done, which is why it’s important to continue these conversations.

Over the years I have had bouts of depression which have never been easy, but that’s me. I wouldn’t want to lose that aspect of myself or I wouldn’t be me. Yes, I want to be able to cope with those challenging periods in my life, but I don’t have a disease that needs to be exorcised.

A report by Public Health England last week looked at the issue of physical health in those with severe mental illness. It found that those with this condition experience higher levels of physical illnesses and this occurs relatively early in their lives with the highest rates being in the 15-34 age group. This report confirms previous research and once more reinforces the need to support the whole of an individual. This is further emphasised by a recent study by mental health charity Mind. The study of 44,000 UK workers into workplace wellbeing found widespread levels of poor mental health at work with nearly half of all respondents surveyed saying they had experienced a mental health problem in their current job.

Mind has subsequently developed an online mental health gateway for employers. This provides information, advice and resources to help employers support their staff.

I’m proud that Bupa is advocating for better mental health support and awareness. The role of the manager is crucial in these situations, as staff are much more likely to raise issues and seek support from managers who can spot mental health issues in their team. That is why we have created new training aimed at building confidence in managers in how to have helpful conversations around mental health with their teams, and some of our managers at Bupa UK have trained as mental health first aiders. We have also created a Mental Health hub for our UK employees, which brings together all of the resources available to them and directs them to support available.

For World Mental Health Day, we have also launched a global campaign across Bupa focusing on the Power of Conversations. We have created a short video of employees talking about times when a good conversation has made a big difference for them. We have also partnered with Dr Bill Mitchell, a clinical psychologist, to create a new series of podcasts looking at how you can support a colleague at work with mental health in mind and how to support a child’s mental health.

Meanwhile, earlier this year Bupa UK launched a new feature in our business health insurance policies - Bupa Business Mental Health Advantage, providing employees with support and treatment to manage mental health issues.

From my perspective if we can help employers to all become aware and supportive of their employees then we will have taken a huge step, and can reflect on World Mental Health Day this year from a much better position than ever before, a position of hope. There is still a great deal to be done, so let’s all put the head back on the body and make everyday a good mental health day.

About Paul Zollinger-Read

Paul became Chief Medical Officer of Bupa in July 2012. He has led a distinguished medical career within the UK’s National Health Service, both as a GP and as CEO of a number of Primary Care Trusts. He has previously been the Medical and Primary Care Advisor at the King’s Fund. Paul leads the Bupa-powered CMO Network.

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Australia launches biggest global music therapy trial

Working at the United Nations Human Rights Council was a life-changing experience where I learnt about the paramount importance of human rights, and the challenges the international community face in protecting them.

My mentors and colleagues at the Australian government mission showed me what a career in international relations looks like, whether that be in Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or a non-governmental organisation, and demonstrated the skills and diplomacy required to successfully fight for those most in need.

While attending council, I witnessed evidence of many human rights abuses and saw the UN’s response to unfolding humanitarian crises. Early in the sessions, we witnessed reports regarding Myanmar, where ethnic cleansing in the Rakhine State had decimated the Rohingya population. The images were sobering, but they highlighted the need for the United Nations, and Non-Government Organisations, to intervene on behalf of the Rohingya people’s human rights.

One issue that particularly interested me was the abolition of capital punishment. I was inspired to see the progress the international community has made in this regard, to the point that Africa was heralded as the ‘next abolitionist continent’. Nonetheless, public executions are still used in many states, not for justice, but to create fear in the population and thereby consolidate authority. It continues to be a prevailing issue around the world; however, I felt proud seeing the Human Rights Council stand up for its abolition.

As part of the internship, I played a role in drafting resolutions that took took shape through meeting various state delegations, where we would workshop draft resolutions paragraph-by-paragraph, ensuring that they satisfied all states wishing to see them adopted. While some of these meetings could be quite laborious, it could get more intense depending on the issue being discussed. All the hard work paid off, as Australia’s resolutions were passed by the council.

Australia was commended for its policies for people with disabilities by the Special Rapporteur, and so I was able to thank the Special Rapporteur for their positive words and share Australia’s initiatives with the world.

Another issue I care deeply about is the rights of Indigenous peoples. The Council examined various issues facing Indigenous people globally, including dispossession of tribes in South America, neglected poverty in United States and Canada, and the universal struggle for respect and recognition in the face of cultural erasure. Hearing the Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, give an acknowledgement of country at the very start of the council, before this global stage, made me grateful for the steps Australia has taken to recognise Indigenous Australia, but also mindful of the further work that needs to be done.

Throughout my time in the Human Rights Council, I became aware of the various challenges in protecting human rights. Certain issues seem at times too overwhelming for the international community to handle, such as climate change, or the many millions of displaced people. Ideological, religious and political differences complicate how human rights are framed. For certain governments, it will always be in their geopolitical interest to ignore human rights (which is why it is critical to have multilateral institutions such as the UN holding them to account).

Nonetheless, I remain firmly convinced that the world’s major humanitarian issues can be resolved if we listen and cooperate with one another, and I am inspired by all the Council was able to accomplish while I was there. I appreciate the skills and knowledge that I gained while over in Geneva and look forward to applying them in my work at Bupa and in life more generally.

Jayden is currently working as a paralegal at Bupa and started in 2017 as a CareerTrackers intern.

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If you have let your nutrition slip a little this winter and are looking to boost your energy and hop, skip and jump in to the new season, here are my top tips.

1. Fill up on vegetables – at least 5 serves a day.

They’re full of fibre. Fibre has 0 kilojoules, and it keeps us fuller for longer. A chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomato, carrot, onion, bean shoots and mushroom has almost exactly the same amount of kilojoules/calories as a plain chicken sandwich. Only difference is that the fibre in the first sandwich will keep you fuller for longer and will slow the release of the carbohydrate in to your bloodstream, giving you a longer lasting form of energy. This might mean you actually need a much smaller portion of food to feel satisfied. Not to mention, those low kilojoule veggies also have a heap of micronutrients which help your body repair and flourish. Challenge yourself to add veggies to all your main meals. Extra points for a veg based snack too!

Check out which veggies are in season this spring. Google some recipes and try something new.

Other ways to up your fibre include enjoying wholegrains, beans/lentils/legumes, fruit and nuts.

2. Make sure you’re getting a variety of foods from all the food groups. Think vegetables, fruit, wholegrains, dairy, meat and fish and/or alternatives. If there’s something you don’t like eating, make sure you’re replacing it with a food that gives you similar nutrients. For example, if you don’t eat red meat, ensure you’re getting enough iron from iron fortified cereals, wholegrains, beans, lentils, nuts and spinach. If you don’t like cow’s milk, ensure your almond or soy milk is calcium fortified.

3. Swap processed snacks to whole foods.

Instead of a chocolate bar, try a few dates and a handful of almonds. Instead of ice cream, try some blended frozen banana. Hot chips? Try some baked sweet potato with some herbs. By doing this, you’re going to get much less sugar, salt and saturated fat, and way more micronutrients and fibre.

4. Hydrate!

I can’t say it enough. We often mistake thirst for hunger, and reach for a snack when we actually need a big glass of water. One of the first signs of dehydration is feeling a little flat. Keep a drink bottle on you. Every little bit helps.

5. Stop non hungry eating.

We all do it. But if it’s getting in the way of you reaching your health goals, it needs to be addressed.

• We tend to finish everything on our plate, whether we need it or not. Could you have a smaller portion size and be satisfied? We get the most pleasure from the first mouthful. So instead of a huge piece of cake, are you happy with a few bites? There is no food you can never have, it’s all about portion and moderation.

• Bring your attention to eating, rather than snacking while checking emails or watching TV.

• Slow down the eating process, and stop eating when you start feeling full.

• For more info, check out ‘Non hungry eating: why we do it and how to manage it’

6. Move more whenever you can, in ways that you enjoy.

You don’t need to go to the gym 5 days/week or force yourself to do exercise that you don’t like to be in good shape. If you have a standing desk, start each day standing for a few hours. Take the stairs or get off the tram early. Instead of meeting friends for dinner, organise to meet for a walk or go bowling. Get outside at lunchtime.

Try something new. Check out our 10 ways to be more active for inspo.

7. Avoid fad diets, the ones that promise quick, easy and miraculous results.

They’re usually short term and have lots of rules. Anything that severely restricts the amount of food you eat can lead to nutrient deficiencies, low energy levels, dizziness and a compromised immune system. These types of strict diets can also be damaging to our mental health and our relationship with food. On that note, weight does not indicate health, so forget those scales. Bring the focus back what foods you need to be eating every day to nourish your body, and focus on how they make you feel.

UP NEXT:

Breaking waves and barriers for women surfers

What's with all the fuss about gut health?

Long story short, it’s super important, and we are only just starting to scratch the surface and understand all aspects of gut health. The gut contains trillions of different types of microorganisms, mainly bacteria, which collectively make up your ‘gut microbiota’. They help your body digest foods and work alongside your immune system to help protect you from disease. Just like our fingerprints, everyone’s microbiota is slightly different.

The aim is to have a healthy, stable balance, and also a wide variety of gut bacteria. Think of it like a colony of organisms living inside your digestive system, all working together to keep your gut healthy. You need all sorts of good people to make a balanced well-functioning society- teachers, lawyers, doctors, builders, chefs, artistic people, scientific people, nurturing people and forward thinking people. Your gut is the same! And the foods and drinks we consume can make a big difference.

What can make our gut health better?

You might have heard of the term ‘probiotics’. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations classify probiotics as “Live bacteria that confer health benefits when consumed in adequate amounts’. They do so by increasing the type and number of good bacteria in the gut.

What about probiotic supplements?

There is no clear evidence at this stage to say whether taking a probiotic supplement for general gut health is beneficial if you are already eating a healthy, well-balanced diet. If the probiotic can’t survive the journey through the digestive system to the colon, it can’t technically be called a probiotic as it can’t perform its function and improve the health of the gut. This may be the case for probiotics added to foods like smoothies. Because the probiotic is not in its natural state, we don’t always know how well the probiotic survives or functions. If your diet isn’t where it should be yet, it won’t hurt to take a supplement, in fact it may even help. However a supplement won’t replace a healthy diet- so this is the best place to start.

Prebiotics

Those ‘good’ bacteria in your gut need to eat something! Prebiotics are mainly the non-digestible fibres found in the plant walls (cellulose). Because we can’t digest plant walls, they linger in the gut where they act as food sources for the bacteria in your gut, helping them to flourish. Rich sources of prebiotics include fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, beans, lentils, legumes, nuts and seeds. The added benefit to this fibre is that it can help lower your cholesterol levels, and it keeps you fuller for longer than other foods, assisting with weight management.

What can make our gut health worse?

Top tips for improving your gut health:

• Up your fibre intake- eat 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of veggies each day

• Include some prebiotic foods like yoghurt or kimchi

• Choose wholegrains, legumes, lentils and beans- add some soup mix in to a soup, add beans and lentils to Bolognese sauces

• Limit processed foods and alcohol

• Ensure that your red meat intake doesn’t exceed 455g cooked meat each week

• Variety is key! Eat a rainbow of coloured fruit and vegetables

• Drink plenty of water to keep your body (and gut) hydrated

Gut healthy meal ideas:

• Hearty vegetable soup with lentils and legumes

• Stewed fruit topped with Greek yoghurt

• Poke bowls with fresh veggies, salmon and kimchi

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I had been working as an OT in Singapore for six years, and moved to Australia four years ago.

If that’s what you’re thinking right now, don’t worry, my parents still don’t fully understand. They still think I am a physiotherapist - one things for sure, I can tell you that we’re neither recruiters nor masseurs.

So, what’s the answer to this million-dollar question? To answer this, one should understand the definition of occupation in the OT world.

According to the World Federation of Occupational Therapists, occupations refer to the everyday activities that people do as individuals, in families and with communities to occupy time and bring meaning and purpose to life. Occupations include things people need to, want to and are expected to do. These occupations can range from simple tasks like brushing your teeth and showering, to complex tasks such as maintaining social participation and engagement through work or school.

My own personal OT journey

To be honest, I never thought I was going to be an OT. When I was 18, having finished my “A” levels in Singapore, I had to decide what course to pursue in University. Having pretty average grades, all the posh courses like law, medicine, engineering and physiotherapy were beyond my reach. So, I did what an 18-year-old would do, I casually listed the top three courses that my grades entitled me to (that included occupational therapy, nursing and dental therapy. I remember showing up the first day of OT school thinking, “I have no idea what OT is and what I will be doing. If this does not work out in the next few months, I’m going to sign up for the navy.”

Over the first two months, I started to have a better understanding of what an OT is and what they do. I started to understand the concept that occupations are a fundamental part of everyone’s life and how its close integration with the environment (physical and social) can lead to occupational performance. I could see myself working as an OT, helping to reintegrate occupations into someone’s life and helping them return to meaningful lives. I decided to stay and finish the course.

Since then, I have come to fully appreciate the role OT plays in a person’s life. My career has seen me mostly involved in working alongside adults with neurological or physical conditions. Don’t get me wrong, I do like spending time with my friends’ kids (for a few hours anyway), but to be working with them on daily basis was just not my cup of tea.

I truly enjoy the challenges that comes with working with the adult population, every day is never the same nor dull.

My OT journey has seen me working with people with all walks of life, helping others achieve ordinary things in extraordinary ways and across two different countries. It has been an amazing journey of learning for me, having to adapt to different cultures and work experiences (which is another story on its own!).

Do I regret being an OT? Definitely not!

For further explanation of what OTs do and where we work, visit the Occupational Therapy Australia website.

Or come by Bupa Therapy and have a chat with the team.

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All you need to do is look at recovery drinks, or messages in the media talking about protein and exercise, and you’ll see the focus is on that period of time immediately after your workout.

While protein intake within the first 60 minutes after exercise is very important, protein’s role in optimising recovery and gains doesn’t stop there!

The recovery period after a hard gym session actually lasts 24+ hours post-workout. During this time, making the right nutrition choices, especially the timing and distribution of protein, is crucial.

Let’s start by looking at the science behind hitting the gym, and what happens within the body during the recovery period.

The body is in a constant flux of muscle protein synthesis (muscle building) and muscle protein breakdown – the balance between muscle protein synthesis and breakdown is referred to as net protein balance.

To promote muscle growth, we want to maximise muscle protein synthesis so that it exceeds levels of muscle protein breakdown to achieve a positive net protein balance.

Resistance training (weight training) is the first piece of the puzzle, providing a stimulus that causes a spike in muscle protein synthesis, however this is accompanied by an equally significant increase in muscle protein breakdown.

It’s been suggested that in the early stages of recovery after the resistance training, the net protein balance is focusing on muscle repair which is achieved by that initial hit of protein post workout, but as the recovery period continues, maintaining a positive net protein balance stimulates muscle growth further emphasising the importance of making appropriate dietary choices during this time.

During the recovery period the body is more sensitive to repeated consumptions of protein, which results in increases in muscle protein synthesis to promote muscle growth.

There has been a lot of research into optimal timing and dose, and the consensus is that the optimum response is seen with consumption of 20-30 g of protein every 3 hours, for the 24+ hour period following resistance training.

Let’s look at what this means in terms of food.

Post-workout you don’t necessarily need to reach for a protein shake, as your requirements can be met with a high protein snack or your next main meal if you’re eating within an hour after your session. Sure, protein shakes are convenient, but they don’t contain any special ingredients that you’re not able to get from real food.

From here, I find most people consume enough protein at lunch and dinner (even consume more than necessary in some cases), but may choose low protein snacks, and depending on what they’re choosing for breakfast, can consume insufficient amounts of protein at breakfast.

Protein content of some foods:

• 150g tub plain Greek yoghurt (low fat) = 15g protein
• Cup of low fat milk = 10g protein
• ½ cup cottage cheese (120g) = 12g protein
• 2 slices reduced fat cheese (40g) = 12g protein
• 1 large egg = 6 g protein
• 95g can tuna = 16g protein
• 150g lean beef (raw weight) = 30g
• 150g chicken/turkey breast, no skin (raw weight) = 32g
• 100g firm tofu = 12g protein
• 100g silken tofu = 8g protein
• 125g serve 4-bean mix = 6g protein
• 220g can Baked beans = 10g protein
• 30g nuts = 6g protein

Putting this all together: (this is a guide to demonstrate protein distribution across the day, and is not intended to be used as a meal plan)

Breakfast:

• Scrambled eggs with cheese
• Smoothie made with milk, yoghurt, and frozen berries

Lunch:

• Salad with a can of tuna and a serve of 4-bean mix
• Wrap with grilled chicken and salad

Dinner:

• Beef stir fry, with good mix of vegetables a serve of brown rice
• Vegetarian tofu curry

Snacks:

• Rice cakes with cottage cheese and shredded turkey, topped with tomato and pepper
• Tub of plain low-fat Greek yoghurt with fruit and a serve of almonds

Even if you’re not a gym junkie, spreading your protein intake out across the day can still have benefits for you.

Eating that little bit more protein at breakfast may help you feel fuller for longer, which can have benefits for weight management.

Recent research suggests a protein-rich breakfast can decrease ghrelin levels (a likely hunger signal) more strongly over time than a carbohydrate-rich one.

This may allow better appetite control, which could help to reduce impulsive snacking.

Nick Green is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Accredited Sports Dietitian

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Written by Caitlin Bennett

This year’s theme for Naidoc week is about celebrating the amazing, strong, credible and loving women in our lives today.

With over 40 years of celebration, 2018 will be the first-time commemorating indigenous women with the theme titled "Because of her we can."

I spoke to Carol Corzo, Bupa’s Head of Inclusion last week and I said to myself, how will I even be able to talk about just one amazing woman in my life who inspires me every day? because I have many.

I had a long hard think about these important women in my life.

Sadly, I lost my great grandmother Amelia Rosabell Watego in September 2016 and I really wanted to write this about her. She was a woman that has always aspired me to be proud of who I am, never shy away from my culture, never give up on what I truly believe in, put my education first and always take every opportunity I can. Through all the many hardships she encountered she was always the one to never give up faith no matter the situation.

As I was growing up my great grandmother had lived in Tweed, NSW. The trips down there were always great with the occasional "are we there yet!" When we would show up we would have the "My you've grown" even though it wasn't even too long since we'd seen her last and we hadn't even changed. She would tell us many stories of what her and her family had encountered.

She was of Aboriginal and South Sea Islander decent which made it very tough for her growing up as well as her parents and children. Unlike Australian Indigenous history not many people are aware of the history of Australian South Sea Islander people, South Sea Islanders were forced to move from Melanesian countries such as Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands to Australia. They were then enslaved and worked on the states cotton and sugar plantations from Bowen down to Tweed. My great grandmother was always passionate about telling us about our ancestors, she would explain that they came over to Australia from Tanna Island Vanuatu and split up all over Queensland but mostly Tweed.

When she would tell me these stories I was always excited to know more. Unfortunately, as the years went on and her memory wasn't the greatest she found it very difficult to continue telling us about our history.

Sadly, at the end of 2005 my Pop (her son) was diagnosed with Cancer and was told that he would only live for 2 more years, from then I would always remember my great grandmother telling me to always have faith. As time went by I would always see her praying, my Pop lived a year longer than doctors had given him and he passed away in 2008.

The reason I chose my great grandmother Amelia is that I would not be able to be telling my story of who I am and where I'm from if it wasn't for her to pass this down to me. Being such a strong advocate for education and religion, her children and even some of their children went on to be pastors and/or teachers. Since she always showed me the importance of education I believe she has paved the way for me to get to where I am now. I am currently in my last year of my bachelor's degree which has helped me gain this internship with Bupa.

My great grandmother lived 89 amazing years, passing only months before she turned 90.

By Caitlin Bennet

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“Education and empowering our young Indigenous women, will ensure they become our leaders of tomorrow," - Dr Jackie Huggins

Indigenous women within Australia have been the backbone of Aboriginal culture and its survival throughout history.

They are our mothers, our elders, our grandmothers, our aunties, our sisters and our daughters.

“Because of her, we can!” is theme for the 2018 NAIDOC week celebrations nationally. It is the first time in over 40 years of celebrating NAIDOC where women have been the central theme. 

In our current political climate, there is need for social change and gender equality within Australia.

One Indigenous female leader, who is leading the way for our people within this space, is Dr Jackie Huggins. Dr Huggins is a proud Bidjara (central Queensland) and Birri-Gubba Juru (North Queensland) woman who has worked tirelessly in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs for over thirty years.

More recently Dr Huggins has been the co-chairperson for the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples. Dr Huggins delivered an intervention at the United Nations in New York on April 19 during the 17th Session of the United Nations Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Dr Huggins believes in the power of education and the places it will take you. She is an Indigenous Australian author, historian and Aboriginal rights activist who for many years has fought for Indigenous rights and to rectify the wrongs of histories past.

She attributes her success to having three key Indigenous mentors who have helped shape and pave the way for her strive for our equality. Her mother, Freedom Rider Charles Perkins and her dear friend, the late Dr Evelyn Scott.

The key characteristics of these three leaders helps guide Dr Huggins to strive for a greater political will to achieve Indigenous success. “Mentors are there the ones who have done the hard yards, unpack their wisdom” Dr Huggins shares with me the importance for our young Indigenous youth to have a mentor figures they look up to.

Dr Evelyn Scott holds a special place not only within Dr Huggins' heart but Bupa’s too, as she spent her final years at our Mt Sheridan Bupa care home.

Dr Huggins describes Dr Scott as, “a gracious woman, with such passion” -the two worked together on the ‘Bringing home report’ back in 2000, in which six recommendations were made.

To this day sadly, only one of those recommendations has been achieved.

To coincided with the theme of this year’s NAIDOC Bupa will be launching a scholarship next month in which I worked on creating earlier this year in the memory of the Late Dr Scott.

A scholarship of $10,000 will be awarded each year to an Indigenous to a female university student who embodies Evelyn’s will and determination for change.

This scholarship will not only help the lucky student who it’s awarded to but also her community who will feel the positive influence of seeing a student kicking goals and most importantly completing a bachelor. Dr Huggins says, “It’s great to see Bupa fostering Indigenous females and being a leader in change, Evelyn would have loved to see it”

Each year around the time of NAIDOC we start to articulate more and more ideas of what we can do not only as individuals but as originations to ‘Close the Gap’?

I asked Dr Huggins how Bupa can improve within this space, as something she addressed to the UN earlier this year was Indigenous Australians are still nearly 10 years behind within there life expectancy compared to non- Indigenous Australians within our country.

“Bupa could look at ways they tackle Indigenous health issues and bring a more vocal approach drawing attention to the areas in which our community needs knowledge on” she also stresses the importance of Bupa working with the health minister to make private health insurance more accessible for our people. This would help lead the way and help bridge the health gap within Indigenous communities.

To go with the theme of this years NAIDOC I also asked Dr Huggins what her key advice for our young who need some inspiration to start their own educational journey “from your heart with integrity and passion and you’ll achieve great things”.Dr Huggins represents the essence of this year’s NAIDOC weeks focus “Because of her, we can”.

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Australia collects a lot of health data but we don't use it as best we could.

A recent Federal Government enquiry identified many reasons for this including the delay of governments to make health data available for research, reporting in one instance, a period of six years for the Commonwealth to provide data for a research project.

Sharing health data between the States and the Federal Government is only in its early stages. Concerns around privacy and other legal issues were also cited as contributing factors. What this now means is Australia stands out among developed countries as one where health information is used poorly.

At a recent event I attended at Parliament House in Sydney, a panel of data experts discussed reasons why we need to change our approach to using data in Australia if we are to make better informed decisions of benefit to Australians regarding their health and healthcare.

One of the speakers was Prof Emily Banks who is one of Australia’s most respected and experienced data scientists. She started out as a public health doctor who specialised in epidemiology which is the study of how often diseases occur in groups of people and why. Her most well-known and important work is the Sax Institute’s 45 and Up Study, which collects information on the health of people in NSW who are over 45.

I'm pleased to say I have been part of this study, and gave permission for them to use data collected by both the Commonwealth government and state government about my use of the Australian health system. I also answered an extensive questionnaire about my health history and lifestyle so they could better understand how my lifestyle and health history related to my use of health services. All the information I provided is deidentified, which means anyone using the information does not have access to my name, address or any other detail that links this information to me. My information, along with that of the other quarter of a million study participants, is made available to the research community following very strict protocols around security.

At Bupa we are keen to learn more about the people we insure to better support them in maintaining good health, helping them navigate the health system and alert them when it is time for health screening and vaccinations. A good example is breast screening and pap smears for women and bowel cancer screening for both men and women.

The Bupa Health Foundation is supporting two projects to help overcome this challenge of better understanding the health journey of individuals. The Health Insights Study is a pilot project we are undertaking with The Sax institute, who also undertakes the 45 and Up Study I talked about earlier.

The aim here is to better understand the health and lifestyle of a sample of our Bupa policy holders and if they would allow this information to be then linked with their use of health services, both those funded through Bupa and those funded by government. This information would be deidentified before it was made for research purposes.

The other project is with the University of Melbourne and the Victorian Collaborative Cancer Centre, a grouping of 12 hospitals across Melbourne treating cancer patients. This study has collected information that links primary care and hospital data for many cancer patients in Victoria. The aim is by linking the information across the cancer journey from the time you see your GP, get a diagnosis, treatment and follow up care, there will be learnings that could lead to improved care and outcomes.

As these projects progress we will share more stories of how the bringing together of disconnected data can help improve our understanding of the patient journey to ultimately improve their experience and outcomes.

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As a child, I had healthy teeth but they didn’t all fit in my mouth in a straight line and I always knew that at some point I would need braces.

I also didn’t get wiggly teeth, the adult teeth would just grow around my baby teeth and so I ended up having most of my baby teeth removed by the dental nurse at school.

When I was 12 years old I went to see my Dad’s dentist who removed my last four baby teeth and four of my adult teeth to create a bit more space in my mouth.

I will never forget being numb and dribbling orange juice all over the carpet!

One week later I had my braces put on.

When I finished high school, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do in the future. I liked maths and science, but I also really enjoyed my hard materials classes where I got to use tools and be creative. I also really enjoyed being around and talking with people.

I left Christchurch and moved to Dunedin where I studied first year Health Science at the University of Otago and applied to dental school. I was lucky to be offered one of 68 places in my dental school year.

It was cool to realise I could be a dentist and help people to feel confident in their smile- just like I did from my first extraction to having my braces off.

So, to answer the question of why I became a Dentist I think there are probably two reasons; The first because it combines many of the things I enjoy doing; science, using my hands, creativity, learning, problem solving and being around people. The second is I get to try and make peoples happiness and healthiness with their teeth as positive as possible, just like the opportunity I had growing up.

Sally Woods was awarded one of five New Zealand graduate positions with Dental Corporation in 2013 and began working at McKeefry Dental at the start of 2014.

Early in the week I was invited to speak at a Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Conference in Sydney on how Bupa has been contributing to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander reconciliation in Australia through our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). The room was filled with professionals leading D&I strategies within their own organisation all keen to learn from what other organisation are doing.

Initially what struck me was that across a full two-day conference (with a line-up of some of the biggest organisations in Australia), there was only one segment on Inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the workplace - Bupa’s segment.

Specifically, I spoke about the work Bupa is doing on improving employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through:

• driving sustainable and scalable change with our Indigenous Employment Strategy
• listening to the voice of our people to empowering Indigenous people in the workforce, and
• developing strong partnerships for high impact talent programs.

This week is National Reconciliation Week (NRW). It's a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

On the back of my research on our strategy and impact, I understand more than ever how each one of us can contribute to reconciliation in Australia.

Across Bupa, we’re deeply committed to closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage and to improve employment opportunities throughout every stage of our employment process. As a result, our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment strategy was developed as an Australia-wide commitment of our business, our leaders and our people to help support this.

There are two key organisations who we partner with to contribute to our employment strategy. One of them is CareerTrackers – a not-for-profit organisation running an Indigenous Internship Program, creating unique opportunities to help prepare Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students for the workplace. Bupa signed an agreement with CareerTrackers committing to the placement of at least 10 interns per year over a 10 year period.

The other is Maxima – a national leader in helping the business community achieve Indigenous employment targets and build a stronger and more diverse workforce – which places students nationally across our Health Insurance Retail Centres.

The impacts of these partnerships go beyond the agreements. Indigenous students in some communities face huge hurdles to finish year 12, let alone getting to university. Closing the gap in employment opportunities is critical to Bupa’s reconciliation employment strategy, as we know that individuals who successfully complete Year 12 studies are more likely to find employment when they leave school. However, only once an Indigenous student finishes their tertiary studies is the employment gap levelled. There is huge vulnerability for students in a traineeship, navigating their studies, work and home lives, where they might not have a role model to help find the right career path.

Through our partnerships with CareerTrackers and Maxima, Bupa is working to support trainees and interns equally through enabling education attainment.

Not only has Bupa supported every trainee who has come through our program to date in completing their studies, we have made a significant impact in creating the right support through the work environment in helping them realise their dreams.

There are so many inspiring stories that had a profound impact on me in preparing for the conference. One of these stories is about Keisha Nash.

Keisha Nash joined us through the CareerTrackers Internship program, after previous placements in other organisations. Keisha had two intern placements at Bupa, in the Medical team, where she delivered high quality projects aligned to Bupa’s purpose and her interest in a future career in Medicine. During this time Keisha was finishing her undergraduate Science Degree at Monash.

In December 2017, Keisha was accepted into postgraduate Medicine at Monash University and will join one of over 260 Indigenous medical professionals when she graduates.

Out of 85,000 medical professionals in Australia, less than 0.3 per cent are Indigenous.

Two days after the conference I was hosting the first internal Gender Agenda networking series of the year with Bupa’s Global Chief Customer and Corporate Affairs Officer, Alex Cole.

Gender Agenda is a pro-active, tailored development program – now in its fourth year – was designed to ignite and support the personal and career opportunities of women across Bupa. The networking element of the program this year is expanded the focus on Bupa A&NZ’s Inclusion Strategy, placing a spotlight on leaders both internally and externally sharing their own stories with a focus on multilayered identities, recognising that there are many elements that make up our identities.

The care and wisdom Alex shared, reflecting on her career journey through her multilayered identity with the 40+ Bupa women in attendance, was not only authentic but genuinely relatable to the diversity of the audience.

That same day I was making final refinements to a proposal on a new leadership immersion program focused on our culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people. A step towards supporting our CALD people through their leadership journey in Australia. Helping them to identify multiple leadership opportunities for them right across Bupa.

Rounding out the week I was moved to tears at the first D&I panel that was hosted by our Head of Inclusion, Carol Corzo, as influences from a variety of roles ranging from Bupa Global Executive team members, A&NZ Directors and General Managers to Alysha Waye, Bupa’s Intern through the Australian Network on Disability, who shared their personal and (inspiring) stories of why inclusion is so important to them. The week really showcased how #caring Bupa is, not only as a place to work but as an organisation that genuinely cares about making a difference to our customers and residents.

Bupa’s holistic view of Inclusion is understanding and responding to the needs of our customers is best accomplished when Bupa represents the diversity of the communities we serve. And that, we engage and empower our people to deliver to our diverse customers.

Written by Stephanie Carman, Head of Change and Capability at Bupa.

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When I'm worried about something, it's often comforting to know I'm not alone, that what I'm feeling isn't unusual. 

I had a realisation like this recently when our research to identify how we could make a difference to family health and wellbeing found that almost half of all parents were worried they don't spend enough quality time with their kids. That's me!

This thought crosses my mind daily, usually as my head hits the pillow after a full day of meetings, kid taxi-ing, dinner time battles, chores and work calls – the 'functional parenting mode' my wife and I call it. As our kids grow up in what feels like the blink of an eye, I find myself questioning if I'm spending enough quality time with my kids, am I doing a good job, and trying to find the answer to the age-old question, how do we find more time in the day?

Bupa's research also told us parents care most about the emotional wellbeing of their kids. Yep, me again, because the one thing I care most about when it comes to my kids is that they are happy and healthy. Like all parents, I want my children to feel safe, secure and grow up to be resilient and well-adjusted.

Selfishly, I find this research reassuring for the fact I'm obviously not alone in judging my own parenting abilities, and a wealth of insight out there also says we shouldn't put added pressure on ourselves as parents to find more time to plan bigger gestures.

In contrast, we should be making the most of the little everyday moments we already have together as a family to connect, talk and laugh; these are some of the best ways to nurture family connection and wellbeing.

This week, Bupa launched our Little Moments Matter campaign.

Little Moments Matter is an integrated three-year program of work which supports our ambition to make a difference to families by facilitating one million moments of family connection.

In case you're wondering, my favourite little moment that I cherish with my kids is our inventive story time together – we replace story books with a 'choose your own adventure' style story that we create together.

It's amazing to see where their imaginations take them, and it's a great way to see how their minds are developing and the world they are experiencing.

What's your family's favourite little moment?

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But when Australia’s biggest health reform since Medicare came alive in the middle of last year, we knew we could make a seriously positive difference for people living with disabilities and their often selfless carers.

We knew the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) would more than double the number of Australians receiving funding for their health and care by around 2020. We also knew that many people who didn’t, or will never qualify for NDIS funding, were also demanding better standards of care.

So, if Bupa’s purpose is about helping people live Longer, Healthier, Happier Lives, then this was surely a no brainer.

So started the Bupa Therapy journey.

Hundreds of hours of interviews, more than 5000 information and data points from people with disability, their carers and clinicians and some brilliant advice from our consultants Kristy Trajcevski and Dale Sheppard were critical in developing this new service.

Today, purpose got real and we opened Bupa Therapy. Located in Abbotsford St, West Melbourne, Victoria, it will initially deliver physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech pathology to adults in a co-ordinated manner.

It’s one of the few facilities in Australia to offer this integrated approach under one roof. It’s what people who need this these types of care told us to do. The one-stop therapy experience caters for those with neurophysiological conditions including, but not limited to:

• Acquired brain injury & disorders
• Spinal cord injury
• Stroke
• Multiple sclerosis
• Motor neuron disease
• Cerebral palsy
• Parkinson’s disease

It has a dedicated welcome area, several treatment rooms and a gymnasium for individual and group therapy. It will also cater for carers and other family members, with lounges, wifi, internet terminals, refreshment areas, good old daytime telly and desk space if work needs to be done. Carers need a break too – probably more than anyone else on earth!

So on days where your purpose gets very real, I think it’s OK to feel proud of having a small hand in it.

This article was first published on LinkedIn

Get to know some of Bupa Therapy's experienced clinicians, Physiotherpist Vicky Cook, Occupational Therapist Jacelyn Goh and Speech Pathologist Kirsten Toll.

Up next: Dear Carers, you are not invisible.

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Antibiotic Awareness Week is an annual, global event to raise awareness about the serious health issue of antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria change to protect themselves from an antibiotic. This can make bacterial infections much harder, if not impossible to treat. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics is increasing the problem of antibiotic resistance. We are all part of the problem and the solution.

Our body is designed to fight all types of infection, from viral and fungal to bacterial, and generally it is excellent at doing this.

Unfortunately all battles take time, so you may feel unwell for a few days or more, before your body starts to win the war on infection.

Antibiotics are ideally used when your body is struggling to win the war fighting that particular bacteria. This may be because your immune system isn’t strong enough (someone on a prescribed drug like steroids has a less effective immune system), you weren’t vaccinated against that organism.

Antibiotics aren’t free from risk, they can have serious side effects including hearing loss, and allergic reactions that can led to death. In some cases using antibiotics causes more harm than good.

The more antibiotics we use inappropriately (e.g. unnecessarily or not completing a full course) the faster the world will be overcome by bacteria that no longer responds to our medicines. This means organ transplantations, chemotherapy and surgeries such as caesarean sections become much more dangerous.

What you can do

Think twice before taking antibiotics:

Ask the question – do I really need antibiotics?

• Don’t demand antibiotics if your health worker says you don’t need them.
• Always follow your health worker’s advice when using antibiotics.
• Don’t share or reuse antibiotics - Only take antibiotics prescribed for you, by your doctor for that illness – each bacterial infection is different, and will respond to different types of antibiotics. This means taking antibiotics designed for a urinary tract infection, for your cough won’t work, and will only increase antibiotic resistance.
• Be patient. Not all infections are bacterial, and even when they are caused by bacteria this doesn’t mean your body won’t be able to fight it off. More often than not you need time, rest and fluids, not antibiotics.

Prevent the spread of infections:

• preparing food hygienically,
• avoiding close contact with sick people,
• practise safer sex,
• Wash your hand regularly and cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing - Regular hand washing (using soap and running water) keeps your hands clean and can help stop the spread of all infectious bugs, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Get vaccinated – this helps reduce the spread of infection and helps protect those around you who may not have the strongest immune system to fight off infection.

Spread the word, not antibiotic resistance…

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The number of Australians aged 65 and over is projected to be around 7 million by 2054-55, double today’s estimated 3.5 million, according to the AIHW Intergenerational Report 2015.

It will drastically change the shape of our country and economy, we need to talk about it as a nation and plan for it now because it will affect us all.

A significant portion of Baby Boomers will eventually need aged care.

The latest Aged Care Financing Authority report estimates there will need to be an additional 83,500 care home places over the next decade to meet growing demand.

This is almost triple the amount of new places created over the previous decade and will need to be supported by around 614,000 new care workers by 2050, as estimated by the ‘Future of Australia's aged care sector workforce’ report.

How do we prepare for this as a country? Australians expect and deserve high-quality health and aged care.

These questions are especially timely with the Government’s current inquiries into aged care quality and David Tune’s upcoming Report.

Bupa’s submission to Nick Xenophon’s Senate Inquiry on Aged Care Quality Assessment calls for urgent funding reform to ensure Australians can continue to access high-quality aged care. Much like the Living Longer, Living Better reforms, the next wave of aged care reforms need to be developed in a bi-partisan way.

It is understandably complex with no easy solution, but it will shape our country and should not be a short-term issue nor should it be politicised.

The recent changes to residential aged care funding – particularly the indexation freeze and changes to the Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) complex health care (CHC) domain – are making it increasingly difficult to provide the high level of care required for residents with complex care needs, within the aged care home.

This follows sustained cuts since 2013, including the loss of bond retentions, removal of payroll tax exemptions for some providers, and the removal of dementia supplements.

These cuts have impacted our most vulnerable community members, those with complex care needs such as severe dementia or other chronic conditions.

Where care cannot be delivered in the aged care home, due to inadequate funding, people will increasingly need to be transferred to the more-costly hospital setting.

This is a very poor outcome for the resident, their family and the health and care system.

More broadly, it is more costly and places unnecessary strain on a system already under stress. The average revenue available to provide care in the residential aged care sector is approximately $260 per day, significantly less than the private ($1,239) and public ($1,400) hospital sector. ⁽¹⁾

Australian Government aged care expenditure is expected to be $17.5 billion in 2016-17 and, according to ACFA, increase to $20.8 billion by 2019-20. Bupa recognises it is not realistic to expect the government to significantly increase funding to the industry in the current budgetary environment.

At the same time, we need to avoid a situation like that of the United Kingdom, where ongoing reductions to aged care funding have resulted in approximately 25% of acute care beds in hospitals being occupied by people with dementia and aged care facilities continue to close.

The current Government focus on aged care reform is welcome and presents a great opportunity to look at innovative ways to help Australians plan for retirement and better meet the demands that will come from our ageing population.

While it is a sensitive topic, Bupa believes we need to reconsider the Productivity Commission recommendation in 2011 to move to market-driven aged care funding, where people who can afford it contribute more to the cost of their personal care, and those who cannot afford it continue to be heavily subsidised. This would be consistent with research by the Council of the Ageing (COTA) which found that consumers don’t mind if people are being asked to pay more if they can afford it – so long as they also get better choice and a better quality system.

At Bupa, we are committed to delivering high quality health and care for our nearly 7,000 residents, as well as advocating for a more sustainable system.

We will continue to work with the Government to prepare for the huge challenges associated with an ageing population so that we can deliver the best care outcomes for our oldest Australians. They need it and deserve it.

Jan Adams is Bupa’s Global Chief Nurse and Acting Managing Director of Bupa Aged Care Australia.

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^{(1) NSW Auditor-General’s Report to Parliament, Managing length of stay and unplanned readmissions in NSW public hospitals, 2012-13}

Blog by Annette Schmiede, Bupa Health Foundation Executive Leader

The Bupa Health Foundation held a lunch in Sydney recently for over 100 leaders from across the health sector. It was a very diverse group from government, providers, both public and private, industry and consumer associations. I am pleased to say it was a very successful event so I thought I would share some of my short talk that set the scene for the day’s discussion which was the Future of Healthcare.

On all measures, Australia’s health system comes up in the top group of health systems in the world. I have heard many senior people say if they had to choose any country in the world in which to be sick Australia is the one.

Despite this endorsement our health system is facing many challenges related to the increasing longevity and frailty of older Australians, the emergence of many people with multiple chronic diseases related to our modern sedentary lifestyle and diet of processed foods.

Ken Hillman, a professor of intensive care with many years of experience running ICU’s across Sydney, recently gave an interview on ABC Radio that summed up the stark change he has seen over his professional lifetime.

When he began his career in the ‘80s, most patients in ICU were young people with life threatening conditions that were reversible, such as trauma or infections.

Today, he said the majority are patients in their 80’s, 90’s, and even over 100, who are often receiving complex and invasive life prolonging treatments, when all they want to do is die at home in peace with their families.

This is because our health system is not really a system.

We have multiple funders, including PHI, multiple providers from single practice GP’s right up to the most complex teaching hospitals.

Donald Trump had it right when he said: “Nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated.”

Governments in Australia have a history in Australia of undertaking national reviews of the health system, usually about every decade.

The last national review in 2008 was chaired by Prof Christine Bennett AO who was the chief medical officer of MBF at the time. Some of their recommendations around primary care and hospital funding and governance were taken up, but many were not.

We rarely undertake big system-shaping national health reform in Australia and this task is made even more complicated with our Federal-State structure.

Health reform is daunting because of the complexity. Any change must consider the reality of our current structures and arrangements: the public/private mix; how we finance healthcare; the role of private health insurance; how we pay for services; the under-resourcing of prevention; priority driven research; the list goes on.

It is further complicated when different stakeholders are focused on their needs and interests which may not be in the best interest of the system overall.

If we can reach consensus across a diverse group of stakeholders on this fundamental principle, we are far more likely to give the government courage to act on complex and sensitive reforms.

The Bupa Health Foundation’s recent lunch included former Health Ministers Nicola Roxon and Michael Wooldridge sharing their expertise and outlining their vision for the future.

They both believe the health system needs to be re-shaped, but we are still grappling with identifying the exact problem that needs fixing, and what success looks like.

Ms Roxon pointed to our major health reforms – like Medicare, Medibank, and tobacco controls – as successful because everyone wanted the same thing.

“Governments can’t make it happen if there isn’t enough agreement amongst these very difficult stakeholders,” she said.

Dr Wooldridge said Australia had some catching up to do in several areas.

“I would like to see an environment where there’s far more incentive to innovate than exists today and I’ll just give you one example. In 2000, we led the world in health IT. Today in 2017 health IT is an absolute unmitigated disgrace in Australia,” he said.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has widely consulted across the entire sector as he develops his next wave of health reforms.

Bupa has been working with Minister Hunt to address affordability, which is our customers’ number one priority.

As a diverse health and care company operating in health insurance, aged care, dental, optical and many other areas, we have a broad view of our health system, and we see there are many opportunities to make the system more efficient by reducing duplication and eliminating waste as a start.

The Bupa Health Foundation is funding several research initiatives with a focus on health system sustainability starting with children in their first 1000 days to ensure they have a strong foundation to a healthy life.

A flagship project is the NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council) Partnership Centre on System Sustainability administered by Macquarie University and the Australian Institute for Health Innovation that began this year.

This is a multimillion dollar project that will focus on reforms across many areas of the health system with the aim of improving affordability and thus long term sustainability of the whole health system. The Bupa Foundation was instrumental in the establishment of this project and have invested over $2 million.

We are all part of Australia’s changing population and health needs – funders, frontline service providers both public and private, academics and researchers, advocacy groups, consumers, professional organisations, start-ups.

We all need to have a voice in discussions about the future of healthcare and agree on a way forward.

The Bupa Health Foundation is one of Australia’s leading corporate foundations dedicated to health and has invested $30 million over the last ten years, including $13.5 million to the university sector through 49 projects across 17 universities.

The Bupa Health Foundation’s 2017 Annual Report can be read here.

September is World Alzheimer’s Month and as such seems an appropriate time to have a discussion on a topic that most people would prefer to ignore, but affects more Australians than ever.

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, accounting for about two-thirds of dementia diagnosis. But it is just one just form of dementia, there are around 100 different types of dementia.

For many people living with Alzheimer’s disease, their biggest fear is losing their sense of self and ability to express that to others. However, to support someone with Alzheimer’s there are things we can all do to help them be at their best.

From the many conversations I’ve had with people living with Alzheimer’s over the years, here are five things people have shared with me and want others to know:

1. I am still the same person I’ve always been. People with Alzheimer’s still have the same likes and dislikes as they did before their diagnosis. For most people living with Alzheimer’s it’s so important to them not to be defined by their condition, rather they should be defined for the person they have always been. They have the same sense of humour, value the same things in life and want to be treated like they always have been. Over time as their condition advances, you will notice changes in how they act, react or behave, they will become more forgetful or possibly distant, but it’s important to focus on the things that make them who they are. For example, if they like jazz music, listen to their favourite songs with them, or if they enjoy gardening, go out and sew some seeds.

2. I can live well with Alzheimer’s. Staying physically and socially active is key to ensure the wellbeing of a person living with Alzheimer’s. Seeing people socially and staying involved can prevent someone becoming isolated and depressed. Regular exercise can help to keep them fit, but may also help them to form good sleeping habits so they – and their carers – are more rested. While staying physically and socially active can be beneficial, it’s important not to force it. It’s important to let the person with Alzheimer’s be who they have always been. So, if the person living with Alzheimer’s has always been introverted, the person who’s caring for him will need to balance the benefits of social activity with the fact they may find it quite distressing to suddenly change their social habits.

3. Focus on what I can do rather than what I can’t. For people living with Alzheimer’s disease, the focus is usually on what they can’t do rather than what they can do. They may stop being asked to babysit their grandchildren or do the little things like make a cup of tea when there is no good reason. This can feel disempowering, especially if they’re still able to do these things. There will be things that are challenging for a person living with Alzheimer’s, especially as the disease progresses, but it’s important to focus on the things they can do and support them with the things they can’t.

4. I can still have meaningful relationships – don’t be shy around me. During the early stages of Alzheimer’s people are still able to communicate as they did before their diagnosis. As the condition progresses, their ability to communicate becomes more difficult. However they can still show emotion and affection, so you’ll still be able to have a laugh together, or share a heart-warming moment. Just make sure you keep your conversation with the person simple: instead of saying ‘would you like to go outside or stay in today’ just say ‘would you like to go outside?’

5. I still need companionship, even if I don’t remember that you’ve been here with me. If the person is in the later stages of Alzheimer’s, they may not remember you visited them, or know who you are - but in the moment you’re with them, they are able to enjoy your company. From birth, we seek companionship; someone who makes us feel safe and loved; we don’t like to feel lonely. Although the person with Alzheimer’s may forget that they saw you today, that feeling of companionship can stay with them throughout the day.

If you’re caring for an ageing loved one, or someone with dementia, it can be hard to know where to turn to for help.

If you want advice from a real person who can help guide you and connect you with the right support, call the Bupa Aged Care Support Line between 8am – 6pm, Monday to Friday, on 1800 780 038. It’s free, and available to everyone.

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By Dr Dwayne Crombie, Managing Director Health Insurance

In thinking about the future of healthcare, I thought I might return to those things I trained in before I passed to the dark side of “health insurance”, namely public health.

On one level, we do very well in Australia, typically we come in the top three for life expectancy with an Australian male child born in 2010 actually topping the world rankings at 80.1 (Lancet, 2017). The health system here compares favorably to our natural peers as evidenced by the recent Commonwealth Fund Survey.

And we don’t even spend that much being a fraction under the OECD average percentage (and that is helped by the static state health spending in Europe post GFC). But there is widespread evidence that our health system (like most western countries) is not fit for our future challenges.

In reminding ourselves that any system exists to serve our community, not serve itself, I thought I might highlight three vignettes about current and future challenges.

The first is about our children. Often infant mortality is used as a crude measure of ‘health in a country’, ours is okay at best, we just make it inside the top 20 but do better than our traditional peers (UK, USA, Canada & NZ).

However, at a more granular level, we now know a lot about how important the first 1000 days really are (from the time of conception). From conception to the age of two, babies grow at an astonishing rate and adapt constantly and with considerable plasticity in their key systems.

When I trained, we thought DNA explained pretty much everything with the odd dose of nurture.

Now we know that the interplay between the environment we face can have a considerable impact on how our genes are expressed – through the newish science of epigenetics. With really strong evidence that the what and how we are exposed to our environment at the start of life affects our propensity to many conditions later in life. Indeed we know these experiences can be passed on epigenetically from mothers and grandmothers in particular. (Telomeres provide a weathervane on how things are going)

As well as that we know that how our brains wire up (synaptic pruning) is also a key factor along with the complex interaction with our microbiome including gut microbiota.

At a practical level, social and emotional bonding and attention has a profoundly positive impact, so one challenge is how can we improve resilience in those babies and families who are disadvantaged and whether we can undo some of negative impacts earlier in life (much less expensive than fixing the downstream problems) by much more proactive interventions with families.

Obesity and being overweight is a much more recent challenge to humanity. It is a leading cause of ill health and a rapidly increasing factor in all cause mortality. 35% of adult Australians are overweight and 30% are obese, making some 2/3’s of the adult population. We manage 600 million visits to fast food outlets annually! Even more alarmingly the Deakin Research Centre on Obesity (WHO Collaborative) found rates of up to 38% for obese or overweight children in grade 4 in rural Victoria and it is in children and young people where the battle is being lost (compare this with a 7% rate when I was a child).

Now, at one level of healthcare sustainability, one could keep building bigger and bigger hospitals with more doctors to keep up with more and more stenting, more amputations or even being more proactive with lots more invasive and non-invasive bariatric (obesity) surgery.

Looking back at photos of the 1970’s, it is not just the hair and clothes you notice, but how thin everyone is. The editor of the Harvard Public Health Magazine went so far as to suggest we need a 1970’s protest movement to undo the powerful convergence of the food industry, food availability, the substitution of fat by even more energy dense carbohydrates from the flawed focus around low fat only. Indeed there may be plenty to learn from that other great crusade in public health – reducing tobacco use on how we might solve a challenge like this, but this is much more multi-dimensional.

The major near term public health goal is to try and slow down the current trends, especially in children and young adults, where it may be easier to undo. Getting the science right and updating the key public messages is in train, but the science is complex because epigenetics and the microbiota may underlie many of the changes.

How do we mobilize communities? How do we find common ground with industry that at least moves in the right direction and how do we try to align economic incentives with health ones, using regulation only as necessary?

Our success as a species has especially relied upon our development of language and an amazing adaptive ability to share culture socially, by creating knowledge and expertise to share and pass on. Nowhere is this clearer than in human brain development, where the capacity to adapt through learning, plasticity and undoubtedly epigenetics is an evolved characteristic.

When the previous US surgeon general as asked, what was the most challenging disease of the 21^st century? He answered that it is social isolation.

How ironic, as Thomas Friedman pointed out in his recent book. We are the most technologically connected generation in human history and yet more people feel isolated than ever. Connections that seem to matter most, and are in most short supply today, are the human to human ones.

Isolation and weak social connects are known risk factors for many diseases. They increase the risk of heart disease by 30%, as well as substantially increasing your chance of being admitted to hospital and your risk of dying.

They also weaken communities and their resilience and ability to adapt. How we should respond from a system level is less clear. If a biochemical marker raised your risk by 30%, we’d be taking it very seriously and probably looking for a miracle drug for it. We won’t get our young people to give up their smart phones but how we help them with their loneliness?

Working with soldiers who feel isolated on deployment has shown that effective interventions focus on how one perceives social cues and then helps them reorient how they interact with others.

With older people the causes may be slightly different, it is often to do with “your world dying before you do”, as one older person put it. Therefore structured and routinized social support is proving more successful. Similarly, with middle age men who tend to let their friendships lapse.

In summary, if you ponder how we might address these three big issues it is not hard to see that strategies and programmes to proactively manage them up front do NOT occupy much of the time or resources of the traditional health system.

All require an ‘investment’ mindset with long lead times to show change (10+ years). All require complex behavioural, cultural and social change, there isn’t a magic bullet to fix them.

As a Kiwi, we have successfully applied an investment mindset to workers compensation, the same philosophy is now being applied to disadvantaged families and children by the Ministry of Social Development. It has support all the way up to our current PM, who as an ex Treasurer buys into this investment mindset.

I am inclined to think that the current health system is struggling to provide the kind of joined up leadership to strategically address any of these issues, given many require a clearly desired outcome and a much broader and shared community coalition, much akin to a ‘protest movement’. This may sound naïve but the pressure to solve these challenges upstream will increase dramatically.

As was pointed out at the recent CEDA forum, hoping for constitutional change to the split federal responsibility for health and the funding silos, is like hoping for the Tooth Fairy to wave her magic wand.

The clear implication is that we will have to rely upon incremental disruption. As with other sectors, this will principally come from: changing consumer expectation (as slow as that might be in healthcare), technology including digital and genomics, workforce roles, robotics and automation, partnerships - especially diverse and novel ones and reforming incentives for non inpatient care. Our fundamental task is to re-think how we better solve patient and consumer problems, needs and care.

Thank you.

In Australia, we're fortunate enough to have a robust public health system, but as with any massive, publicly funded system it has its challenges.

That means as a private health insurer, our customer solutions have to be just that: solutions.

We need to be customer-centric otherwise we won’t cut through the noise in the private health insurance marketplace.

At Bupa, we're putting the voice of the customer at the very core of what we do and how we do it.

We subscribe to four customer-led behaviours:

1. Putting ourselves in the shoes of our customers. 
2. Listening and guiding.
3. Working together to enable our customers.
4. Acting on our word.

Those key behaviours also form the backbone of how we reward and recognise our people.

We do that for their customer-focus, transparency, ethical sales and service practises. 

We regularly survey our customers to see how we're doing.

We take the challenge of affordability seriously.

We’re always looking at other ways we can change our business to support more affordable health insurance.

A recent report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to the Australian Senate noted, “the affordability of insurance remains a significant concern for consumers, ... real household expenditure on private health insurance premiums has increased steadily over the past decade.”

The same report also said consumers can still have difficulty understanding policies – which can result in outcomes like bill shock, and unforeseen out of pocket expenses.

Knowing this, we're working to streamline our business so we can pass savings on to our customers.

We're striving to keep communication open with our people and customers to see how we can improve as a company.

Explaining things better

At Bupa, we have introduced a “Customer Friendly Language” program, so health insurance is clear and easy to understand.

We’re also focusing on trying to create a clear online platform that’s easy to use for people short on time.

In our stores, we created a new program called Retail Next. This is focused on new and innovative experiences for both our people and our customers..

Time will tell if we can make it work – but what matters to us, is that we are trying something new to address ongoing customer concerns.

Customers before dollars

In 2017 we addressed the way we reward our people. We believed it should reflect our commitment to our customer culture.

We asked independent advisors to test our internal reward and recognition platform to make sure it stands up to the rigour of ethical customer outcomes, as opposed to other reward platforms that just recognise sales targets.​

Now our consultants are rewarded based on customer feedback about them and other KPIs.

Cultural change takes time. But we know that if we want to be here in years to come, we need to adapt.

The ACCC and ASIC are right to be on the lookout for dodgy sales practises – as consumers we are entitled to protection from predatory product pushing.

Happy customers mean happy staff

The Australian private health insurance marketplace is flooded with products marketed in a way that increases anxiety and encourages impulse purchasing, particularly around the end of the financial year for tax purposes.

It’s hard to compete with a cheap, quick fix.

This financial year we tried something new. We communicated openly with our teams, reiterating our commitment to a culture that celebrates customer-led behaviours and doesn’t push products into the marketplace.

Even though our numbers weren’t where they were a few years ago, our people were happier and more engaged; and a happy workforce is a key ingredient to keeping ourselves customer-centric.

It’s all connected.

We are a health and care company.

We're making sure that health and care remains robust and resolute in a shrinking marketplace where temptation to upsell and oversubscribe is abundant.

By Dr Paul Bates, Chief Medical Officer, Bupa Australia & New Zealand

Rapidly emerging technologies used to diagnose anything from cancer to heart disease should result in more personalised patient care. But it’s when diagnostic technology pairs with professional healthcare expertise that we could make a big difference to people’s health.

About 70% of medical decisions are supported by diagnostics. Things have dramatically changed in this field in the last 30 years. I’ve seen innovative diagnostic technology skyrocket, from MRI scanners in the 1970s to new personalised DNA testing allowing doctors to more accurately predict the effectiveness of specific cancer drugs.

Technology is changing the healthcare landscape forever, but it does not remove the responsibility shared by all healthcare professionals, to deliver care which is sensitive to individual patient needs and preferences.

I have identified five emerging trends in diagnostics that I believe will have a significant impact on patient care.

1. Less invasive and more targeted

Diagnostic tests will continue to become less invasive and more targeted. A good example is the bronchoscopy test, an invasive procedure to sample lung tissue to diagnose lung cancer. It is painful for the patient and sometimes the location of tumours can’t be accessed by this method. A new approach to diagnosing lung cancer currently in development is the liquid cell biopsy. It uses samples from a regular blood test to analyze tiny fragments of DNA to detect the presence of cancer cells. In the future it may remove the need to collect biopsy tissue through invasive methods.

2. Real-time diagnostics

Real-time diagnostics is a way of diagnosing health issues which moves away from ‘one point in time’ diagnostics where you can miss parts of the patient’s story. Monitoring devices enable patients to be monitored continuously. At the Cleveland Clinic, a leading cardiac centre in the US, a lot of patient care is provided remotely across a wide geographic area. Data is gathered from wireless pacemaker-style devices and sent to a central base station, or “bunker”, where doctors analyse it for abnormalities. Treatment recommendations are often made by local care teams.

3. Predictive and personal genetics

In the future, genetic testing technology may make it easier to understand our own health risks and enable physicians to select individualised treatment with greater precision.

Oncotype DX, a genetic test which has recently received FDA approval, enables oncologists to predict which breast cancer patients will benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy, thereby preventing patients from having unnecessary treatments.

Beyond cancer, genetic testing can identify those children at high risk of developing asthma, for example. Doctors can then use sensor technology to detect early symptoms of the disease, and provide effective treatments based on individual data before the disease develops.

4. More automation including artificial intelligence

For some chronic conditions around 20 percent of scans interpreted by humans have some kind of anomaly missed, which can include failure to recognise cancerous tumours. The application of artificial intelligence to read images can improve this process. One team of researchers recently claimed that their programme can read mammograms with 99 percent accuracy.

University College London (UCL) Hospital is using a Google DeepMind computer to analyse brain scans faster than humans. This specialised technology offers the potential to minimise patient harm and accelerate the diagnosis of head and neck cancer.

5. More advanced wearables

Patient wearable devices (think the Apple Watch 10 years from now) will also play a key role in health monitoring and diagnostics. I expect the application to expand far beyond heart rate and physical activity, which is why through our Bupa Health Foundation in Australia; we are funding research to explore how smartphone technology can be used to diagnose depression and anxiety.

These five emerging trends illustrate how technology is transforming the way we diagnose illnesses in patients. This is enabling clinical care to become increasingly individualised, but most importantly it is also giving patients access to greater information about their health. Crucially, technology will also support doctors in making the right choices for their patients and further help steer them in the right direction for their health. I believe technology paired with healthcare expertise could make a real difference in how we diagnose and deliver health in the future, giving patients a more central role.

This article was first published at Bupa.com

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People living with dementia need appropriate care and support to be available to them as the disease progresses. This can often mean moving into a residential care home. In 2016 it’s estimated that as a nation we will spend $849.2million on aged care attributed to dementia, largely funded by District Health Boards. That’s expensive and unsustainable.

We need to think differently about how we can support people living with dementia with the right care and support to enable them to live well for as long as possible at home, which could avoid unnecessary hospital stays, and potentially delay moving into a care home. The person living with dementia will stay well for longer, and the cost to the health system could be less.

But how do we do it? A part of the solution could be to create dementia-friendly cities. Meaning people living with dementia could stay at home, supported by their communities to feel included, respected and safe for longer.

At Bupa, we’ve been involved in some of the first dementia-friendly projects in New Zealand to look at how we could help make dementia-friendly communities become a reality. For example we’ve been part of a group looking to creating a dementia-friendly Rotorua, and Bupa Fergusson Retirement Village is the first in NZ to be recognised by Alzheimer’s NZ as dementia-friendly.

While good processes were already in place at Bupa Fergusson in Upper Hutt, Judy Bain, Village Manager worked with the local Alzheimer’s association and residents to make changes to better support residents who are living with a dementia diagnosis, and those who are pre-diagnosis. Little things can make a huge difference, things like having a clock which displays the day and month as well as the time to help to orientate people, and offering dementia awareness sessions to employees and residents.

In Rotorua, over the past year, we’ve worked with Rotorua Lakes Council, charities, businesses and members of the community and set up a Dementia-Friendly Steering Group as a first step in creating a dementia-friendly Rotorua – the first community of its kind in New Zealand.

We’ve been raising awareness of dementia in the community, held a dementia-friendly Christmas carol concert, and Rotorua is also home to a dementia-friendly bank – Westpac. Plans for the future include raising awareness of dementia with children, to help create a dementia-friendly generation. We’ll continue working with the community in Rotorua, and one of the next steps for Bupa is for our retirement villages in the area to achieve the Alzheimer’s NZ dementia-friendly award.

The Dementia-Friendly Rotorua Steering Group have written a report sharing their learnings, in the hope that it can help other communities looking to start similar projects.

Download the First Steps to a Dementia-Friendly Rotorua report here.

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New consumer research shows Australians have singled out health insurers and governments to lead the turnaround of the country’s troubled national health and care system by tackling ever-increasing costs while maintaining people’s quality of life.

Overall the research presents us with an interesting conundrum. People hold insurers most accountable for costs, yet in our health system, it’s medical specialists and hospitals which set the fees while insurers and government are left to pick up the tab.

I’m not sure that situation is going to change, but what is clear is that for too long now, Australia has been at the mercy of rocketing health costs. There has been a lack of accountability from across the health sector when addressing these costs and what that means for the future of this country. Australians are now turning to private health funds to really lead the charge around cost innovation on their behalf.

This means bringing together governments, hospitals, doctors and our networks to tackle these unsustainable costs. It also means addressing the pricing practices of some medical specialists which can leave insured Australians with huge out of pocket expenses.

It has also led to us tackling the issue of medical device costs such as pacemakers and ceramic hips and knees. Australians have unjustifiably paid the highest prices in the world for these items which pushes the costs of health insurance premiums sky high. These costs are set by government and insurers must pay them. 

As an example, Bupa's private hospital in central London purchases a St Jude Medical pacemaker for £16,448 which equates to just under $27,000 in today’s exchange rate ($26,975.50). Here in Australia the same device is listed at $52,000. That’s a $21,775 or 93 per cent mark-up. The Government is now looking at this issue where millions of dollars of savings can be realised, all of which will be passed on to customers.

And while addressing cost is critical to the future of healthcare, the research showed this needs to be balanced by Australians not wanting cost to impact their quality of life or life expectancy.

The challenge presented to the sector and private health insurers in particular is how are we going to achieve greater collaboration to meet the expectations of a public equally concerned about improved quality of life, increased life expectancy and reduced cost?”

Survey findings

• Consumers clearly rank cost as the biggest innovation challenge facing the healthcare system in Australia. Finding ways to help reduce the cost of healthcare to the nation is seen as the biggest priority for the future;
• The emphasis on cost as an innovation driver becomes less acute among respondents aged 55 and above. In this demographic, efficiency becomes increasingly important;
• Consumers place high importance on specific initiatives that provide more transparency around private health insurance and better access to information about treatment options;
• Private health insurers and both Federal and State Governments are expected to play the biggest roles in innovation to transform health and care in Australia;
• Private health insurers are also expected to work with GPs more closely, specialists and patients to ensure transparency of information to enable patients to make more informed decisions about their insurance, treatments and methods of prevention;
• Consumers are less interested in technology initiatives except for the possibility of making health records available electronically to doctors and specialists;
• Improving quality of life is seen as the main priority for a majority of consumers and they do not want this compromised by issues of cost. While cost-led innovation is identified as most important to the future of the healthcare system, respondents do not want to see the cost of such innovation compromise their quality of life or life expectancy.

Overall, the survey results reveal that the benefits for the community rest in strengthening innovation between private health insurers, government, health and care providers, and ultimately patients. The message is clear; we all have a role to play. It's how we collaborate that is the major challenge here.

Dwayne Crombie addressed the Committee of Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) in Perth on 30 March 2017 to share insights into innovative ways private health funds can combat rising healthcare costs.

Read the full survey on the Future of Private Health Insurance, part of Bupa's Future Survey Series 2017.

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We know that many of our customers are relying on us to find ways to help reduce the cost and improve the quality of healthcare across the country. It’s an innovation challenge that we accept and it drives us every day.

Customers are quite clear. They expect us to be working with GPs and specialists to ensure transparency of information to enable patients to make more informed decisions about their insurances treatment and methods of prevention.

And while we know that the benefits for the community rest in strengthening innovation between health companies such as Bupa, government, care providers and patients, we need to do everything we can to foster our own culture of innovation.

At the heart of that is our purpose of helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives. It’s what motivates our 20,000 people and is inspiring them to develop new ways to care for our customers.

It’s what led to innovation examples such as our Person First approach to Aged Care and our soon to open Bupa Therapy centre that’s using human centred design to meet customers’ needs in disability care. It’s been achieved through people moving from a “wish we could” mindset to one that asks, “so how do I get it done?”

As a Bupa leadership team, we’re constantly asking ourselves: “how are we giving our people time to think and the power to act?” Can we channel the approach of companies like Netflix who have been nimble enough to harness changing technologies to quickly adapt and meet consumer needs.

Are we trimming old, unnecessary processes to let our people do the best job possible and respond quickly to our customers’ needs and wants?

What we do know is that ingraining innovation into an organisation starts at the top through trust in our people, fostering collaboration, accountability, and also being prepared to fail.

Innovation can seem like a huge transformational undertaking for big organisations, but it needn’t be scary. It’s been said that it takes roughly six months for a culture to permeate a person’s way of working, but these collaborative behaviours and mindsets are what leads to more innovative and efficient processes.

From our perspective, nurturing innovation in our business is key to building a better healthcare system and ultimately improving quality of life for all Australians.

Visit and connect with Jane on Linkedin here

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For Australians living with disability, health and care means a whole lot more than just words. It means inclusion, respect, teamwork and making life just that little bit easier in a world often designed for people without disabilities.

That’s why I’m proud Bupa has today not just announced its commitment to building and operating a Therapy and Rehabilitation Hub for people with disability, but that we have co-designed the facility with input from people with disability, their carers and clinicians.

To ensure that we met our customer needs we didn’t want to assume we knew best. We spoke to a range of people, gathered literally thousands of data points and even had our customers build Lego models of what they thought the facility should look like and how it should function. Everything from layout to lighting has been considered regarding how it will make for a better customer experience.

The facility will be the first of its kind for Bupa in Australia, located in West Melbourne, and will initially deliver physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy to people over 18 years-of-age in a co-ordinated manner. This means customers will only have to tell their story once and travel to one location, making care easier, more convenient and better coordinated.

It will include a dedicated welcome area, individual treatment rooms and a rehabilitation gymnasium for individual and group therapy. Importantly it will also include services especially for carers and other family members including wi-fi, internet terminals, desk space, coffee and tea making facilities and lounges. Carers are sometimes overlooked in the care process but are crucial in its delivery and need to be included.

Our customers told us they value access to quality services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has provided people choice in where they seek those services. Bupa wants to provide quality, team based care to people living with disability to meet their needs. We’ve listened to them and we’re leveraging our skills in health and care to deliver that to them in the one place, in an easy access, team based environment.

While this facility is a first of its kind in Australia, our commitment to rehabilitation is not new. It’s a natural extension of our business and a reinforcement of our role as both a funder and provider of care. To deliver the service we will bring a deep knowledge in complex care and rehabilitation to the new venture. In addition to running seven rehabilitation centres in New Zealand, Bupa today cares for close to 12,000 residents in 130 aged care homes across Australia and New Zealand.

And importantly, we think that health and care should be available to all Australians, which is why the new Therapy Hub will be open to all patients, even if you are with another health fund or don’t have health insurance at all.

If you are interested in registering to use or work at the facility, more details are available here.

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