Event alerts
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March/April 2023 event alerts
Harmony Week: How does your culture impact your practice?
Harmony Week is a time to reflect on how you work with patients from different cultural backgrounds. Culturally responsive care is an important part of providing healthcare, as it can improve health outcomes and reduce inequity for marginalised groups in Australia.
Research shows that showing cultural sensitivity and understanding for patients of diverse cultures reduces barriers to cancer screening.
Harmony Week is celebrated between 20–26 March in Australia. The week includes the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March.
New South Wales has a rich mix of cultural backgrounds and heritage, with many people living in the state born overseas. The proportion of Australian residents that are born overseas (first generation) or have a parent born overseas (second generation) has increased above 50 per cent.
Australia’s Indigenous heritage is reflected in the more than 150 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages spoken in 2021.[1]
To provide culturally responsive care to patients of different backgrounds and cultures, it’s important to “reflect on your own background, beliefs, values and lifestyle. Consider how they affect your thoughts and perceptions of the world”, and “adopt practices that show respect for specific cultural backgrounds.” [2]
“Services without a culturally sensitive environment” create a systemic barrier to cervical screening participation, according to the National Cervical Screening Program.[3]
While feeling understood and supported by healthcare providers was an important factor in addressing barriers to breast screening in diverse cultural groups.[4]
For more information on Culturally Responsive Health Care, please see below:
- ACI: Culturally responsive practice
- National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards: User Guide for Health Service Organisations Providing Care for Patients from Migrant and Refugee Backgrounds
References:
1. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Government, 2021 Census (2022), https://www.abs.gov.au/census.
2. Agency for Clinical Innovation, NSW Government, Consumer enablement guide (2023) Culturally responsive practice | Consumer Enablement Guide (nsw.gov.au).
3. Department of Health and Aged Care, Australian Government. Healthcare system and provider related barriers (2022), Healthcare system and provider related barriers | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.
4. O'Hara J, McPhee C, Dodson S, Cooper A, Wildey C, Hawkins M, Fulton A, Pridmore V, Cuevas V, Scanlon M, Livingston PM, Osborne RH, Beauchamp A. Barriers to Breast Cancer Screening among Diverse Cultural Groups in Melbourne, Australia. Int J Environ Res Public Health. (2018) 7;15(8):1677. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15081677. PMID: 30087259; PMCID: PMC6121647.
Primary Care Symposium videos: June 2022
The Cancer Institute NSW hosted the Primary Care Cancer Control Symposium on 2 June 2022.
The symposium, titled Data Innovation and reform: rethinking Cancer Control in Primary Care brought together primary care providers, primary health networks, local health district staff, community organisations and other service providers to hear about data innovation and reform. The focus presentation centred on colorectal cancer and the importance of primary care in cancer control.
The symposium also featured presentations showcasing projects from across NSW PHNs focussing on cancer screening quality improvement, Aboriginal community education and utilising data to drive change in primary care.
The presentations are listed below:
- NSW Cancer Plan 2022-2027
- Australia’s Primary Health Care 10-year plan
- Reporting for Better Cancer Outcomes Report: Primary Health Networks
- Launch: Primary Care Cancer Control Quality Improvement Toolkit
- Workshop: Utilising data for program design and development
- In focus: Colorectal Cancer
To access the videos, please visit the Symposium event page >
2022 Event Alerts
Free Webinar: Cancer conversations – Lung cancer screening
Join Cancer Institute NSW’s latest Cancer Conversations event on Tuesday 4 October at 7pm.
Lung cancer has a devastating impact on the lives of many Australian's and diagnosis is critical to improve outcomes. In NSW, more than 4,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year. Lung cancer is the leading cause of all cancer deaths in NSW.
We have a great line-up of experts excited to share their knowledge and perspectives on the clinical environment for lung cancer screening.
Speakers Include:
- Professor Dorothy Keefe PSM MD - Chief Executive Officer, Cancer Australia
- Professor Kwun Fong - Thoracic and Sleep Physician, The Prince Charles Hospital
- Clinical Associate Professor Rowena Ivers - General Practitioner and Chair of Phase 3 Graduate Medicine, University of Wollongong
- Doctor Carolyn Ee - General Practitioner
Date: Tuesday, 4 October 2022
Time: 7pm – 8pm
Cost: Free
Register in advance for this webinar today.
Cancer conversations is an after-hours online forum for health professionals discussing topics of interest related to cancer treatment and care.
Reminder: Free Webinar – Cervical Screening in General Practice
From 1 July 2022, the National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP) will expand Cervical Screening Test options, offering self-collection as a choice to all people participating in cervical screening.
These changes mean that healthcare providers may start to see an increase in the volume of requests from patients to use self-collection as an option for their Cervical Screening Test.
On Tuesday 12 July the Cancer Institute NSW and Royal College of General Practitioners are partnering in a one-hour webinar about the change to the self-collection policy and education on the clinical management of women at intermediate risk in the National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP).
Recent evidence demonstrates a Cervical Screening Test using a self-collected vaginal sample is as accurate as a clinician-collected sample taken from the cervix during a speculum examination. The National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP) will be expanding screening sample collection options from 1 July 2022, meaning that self-collection will be available as a choice to all people participating in cervical screening who are due or overdue.
Date: Tuesday 12 July 2022
Time: 7pm –to 8pm
Cost: FREE
Presenter: Dr Clare Boerma, Associate Medical Director at Family Planning NSW and GP
Register HERE
Free Webinar: Cancer conversations - the implications of the shift to virtual care
Join Cancer Institute NSW’s upcoming Cancer Conversations event on Tuesday 7 June at 7:00 pm. This one-hour webinar will explore the shift to virtual care and the implications this has for people with cancer and their treatment teams.
The COVID-19 pandemic has quickly normalised virtual care across the globe. Virtual care is an integral part of a sustainable health system that delivers outcomes that matter to patients. Where clinically appropriate, virtual care is a safe, effective and a valuable way to support patient and family-centred care. This Cancer Conversations webinar will provide insights on this new way of working and what it means for cancer care.
Date: Tuesday 7 June 2022
Time: 7pm - 8pm
Cost: FREE
Register HERE
Cancer conversations is an after-hours online forum for health professionals discussing topics of interest related to cancer treatment and care.
For more information about the webinar, contact: Tia Moeke Tia.Moeke@health.nsw.gov.au
Free Webinar: Cervical Screening in General Practice
Free Webinar: Cervical Screening in General Practice: self-collection eligibility policy change and the intermediate risk pathway.
The Cancer Institute NSW and Royal College of General Practitioners are partnering in a one-hour webinar about the change to the self-collection policy and education on the clinical management of women at intermediate risk in the National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP).
Recent evidence demonstrates a Cervical Screening Test using a self-collected vaginal sample is as accurate as a clinician-collected sample taken from the cervix during a speculum examination. The National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP) will be expanding screening sample collection options from 1 July 2022, meaning that self-collection will be available as a choice to all people participating in cervical screening who are due or overdue.
Date: Tuesday 12 July 2022
Time: 7pm - 8pm
Cost: FREE
Presenter: Dr Clare Boerma, Associate Medical Director at Family Planning NSW and GP
Register HERE
Cancer Conversations: Emerging treatments and care in hepatocellular carcinoma
Join Cancer Institute NSW’s latest Cancer Conversations event, on Tuesday 5 April at 7 pm. This one-hour webinar will discuss prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and care in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
HCC is the most common type of primary liver cancer in adults. Primary liver cancer has recently become one of the top ten causes of cancer death in Australia. In 2021, it is estimated that 2832 people in Australia were diagnosed with liver cancer. Alarmingly, the five-year survival rate for liver cancer is 20%.
We have a great line-up of experts excited to share their knowledge and perspectives on the importance of assessment in primary care, best detection methods and emerging evidence in relation to HCC.
Speakers include Professor Jacob George, A/Professor Simone Strasser, Dr Eleonora Feletto, Kindness Bondezi and Dr Fred Leung.
Date: Tuesday 5 April 2022
Time: 7pm - 8pm
Cost: FREE
Register HERE
For more detailed information including speaker bios, visit our Cancer Conversations page.
Cancer conversations is an after-hours online forum for health professionals discussing topics of interest related to cancer treatment and care.
For more information about the webinar, contact: Tia Moeke Tia.Moeke@health.nsw.gov.au
NSW Cancer Research Education Statewide Webinars
The next NSW Cancer Research Education Statewide Webinar delivered by Sydney Cancer Partners, NSW Regional Health Partners, and the Mardiulu Budyari Gumal (SPHERE) Cancer CAG is coming up on Tues 15 March.
Speakers include Prof Don Nutbeam, A/Prof Nicole Rankin, Prof Chris Paul, and A/Prof Natalie Taylor, who will discuss "Translating Research Into System-wide Practice".
Date: Tuesday 15 March
Time: 12pm - 1pm
Register HERE
