VCRC Contact newsletter

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State Conference and Presidents Report

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

We have had a busy year and I thank both the Committee of Management for their support and also Susan McCarthy and staff for continuing to deliver a valuable service to the community highlighting bladder, bowel and pelvic floor health via the VCRC programs.

I would like to bring to your attention the Michael Murray award which we will be offering again this year (see below for details). Please note that the funds have accumulated and the parameters for selection have changed so if you have a project in the pipeline this may be your big chance to see it realised.

Our big news is that we are well advanced in planning our inaugural one day State Conference for Victorian health professionals with a special interest in continence on Friday, May 11, 2012.

Titled ‘PAEDIATRICS TO PARENTHOOD’ : Bladder and Bowel Issues in Children and Young Mothers. A forum for health professionals - we are offering this program to doctors, nurses, maternal and child health nurses and allied health professionals and are fortunate to have some world class researchers and clinicians as presenters. The program will focus on childhood continence and identifying and managing risk factors contributing to bladder and bowel problems in new mothers and is presented in two linked parts. The morning sessions focus will be on the aetiology and management of bladder and bowel problems in childhood, many of which can transition into adulthood if not managed adequately. The afternoon session will focus on the factors which can compromise the wellbeing and the health and function of bladder and bowel in new mothers during and after pregnancy and childbirth, some of which may have been lifelong.

Our venue is The Capital – Bendigo’s Performing Arts Centre which is located in the heart of the City of Greater Bendigo. This ornate building is listed with the National Trust and Heritage Victoria and was formerly the Masonic Hall. Bendigo is steeped in Gold Rush history and is also the heart of a region well known for its arts and culture and home to a range of galleries, antique shops, museums, restaurants and wineries. This is the perfect spot for a weekend away so we hope to have you include this day in your diaries.

We will be advertising this Conference in the New Year so ‘stay tuned’. It would be also helpful if you, our members, could take the opportunity to spread the word amongst health professionals in your area who may be interested.

In the mean time I wish you all a joyful and safe Christmas and a happy New Year.

Judy Sincock
President CFA VIC

Michael Murray Award

The Michael Murray Award is again being offered by CFA Victoria. The award recognises excellence in continence practice. The Award is $1500.

Projects that will be considered for this award must fall within one of the following categories:

• Professional development
• Continence promotion in the community
• Research or quality improvement

To be eligible for the award the applicant must be a CFA Victoria member. Applications close on 31 March 2012. The winner will be announced at the State Conference in Bendigo on 11 May 2012.

Application kits are available from our website:

www.continencevictoria.org.au

or email: info@continencevictoria.org.au

Pregnancy Babies and Children's Expo

Once again we have had the pleasure of being part of the Pregnancy, Babies and Children’s’ Expo at the Exhibition Centre in Melbourne from 21st-23rd of October.

Thanks to CFA Vic for funding the stand again and to all the volunteers from the CFA Physiotherapy Group and Lauren from VCRC, who gave up some of their precious weekend to man it.

The 2 hour blocks were filled easily and feedback from the volunteers was again positive.

Questions came from the converted as well as from those who had no idea what it was all about and needed to be coaxed gently! The vast majority were interested in what we had to offer and grateful for the advice.

Information ranged from where to find a pelvic floor physio, where to send ‘the friend” who has a problem, musculo-skeletal issues in pregnancy, children’s continence problems and even grandmothers needing help. There was something for everyone!

Volunteers on the stand were asked to record the suburbs/postcodes of the people they spoke to in order to establish some basic demographics. We recorded 151, but in reality, a ¼ again probably left without giving details.

The spread of attendees was very much like last year with Frankston Greensborough Clayton Mornington Melton Werribee and Southbank having the highest numbers. 8 came from country areas and 2 were from interstate.

Those volunteers who participated rated the experience a good one and effective in raising the awareness to that group of young women who have the most to gain from being informed about continence and pelvic floor function.

Thank you again to all who helped this year and a special mention for Lesley at VCRC who quietly beavers away in the background helping put rosters together and gather essentials and Kath Rogers who set it up.

Ingrid Mitton

Highlights from the National Conference

This year’s National Conference on Incontinence was a resounding success. The key note speakers were excellent. James Gillespie discussed the notion of Cognitive Voiding and provided the possible explanation to the question many clients ask ‘Is it all in my head?’ His presentation Bladder Sensations: ‘Can I go or can I stay?’ was both highly informative and entertaining. Christine Norton presented several times on various issues surrounding faecal incontinence. Each presentation provided really use information for clinical practice and the research base for treatments. But as she commented several times there is huge gaps in our knowledge so would be researchers there is still much to do. Kari Bo in her keynote address Changing Practice on the Basis of Evidence challenged the audience to have a better understanding of the hierarchy of evidence and how different research design can and cannot be used to change practice. Alan Cottenden presentations on incontinence product development, design and selections were highly informative. The smell meter was a fascinating concept – a devise that changes colour when the odour from incontinence increases.

Presentation from the Conference are available from CFA National’s website; www.continence.org.au

Fun Fitness and Pelvic Floor

Fun Fitness and the Pelvic Floor’ was held at the Kellaway Avenue Neighbourhood House in Moonee Ponds on November 9. The event was attended by 68 people from the local area and feedback from participants was very positive.

The VCRC would like to thank Moonee Valley City Council for the grant funding and support received in promotion of the event.

Bernadette Sexton, continence and women’s health physiotherapist with Western Health presented, as did Pelvic Floor First Program ambassador, Marietta Mehanni.

We will be organizing more ‘Fun Fitness & the Pelvic Floor events in the new year so watch this space for further details about dates and venues!

Easy English Guide to Toilet Training for Children with Special Needs

We reported in September that the Easy English Guide to Toilet Training was to be posted on the website. IT problems slowed us down in putting up but it is now up on the website

www.continencevictoria.org.au

Easy English Healthy Bladder and Bowel habits

The Easy English version of the Healthy Bladder and Bowel Habits is part of our on-going work in implementing the recommendations from the report Awareness of Incontinence in Ethnic Communities. The finalised version will be used for all translations guided by the RDNS Translation Standards.

The brochure is now in the final stages of development. We consulted with a group of health professionals to review the brochure and provide feedback.

In early 2012, we will work with the Russian Ethnic Representative Council to translate the brochure into Russian.

Funding Submissions

The VCRC has applied for funding through the City of Greater Dandenong, Mornington Peninsula Shire and the City of Ballarat, community grants programs to run community continence promotion activities. These events will be based on our successful Health Bladder & Bowel Habits and Fun Fitness and the Pelvic Floor programs. We hope to secure this funding to run these events in 2012.

We have submitted an application for funding through the City of Melbourne’s community grants program to work with their new parent groups, to deliver education to raise awareness about the pelvic floor including information about safe and unsafe exercises for the pelvic floor and returning to exercise after childbirth. This project would enable the VCRC to work with over 300 new mothers. If our application is successful, we plan to role this program out in 2012.

These funding submissions are essential in ensuring the VCRC can continue its work with all age groups in the community.

Working with Arthrities Victoria

We recently met with Arthritis Victoria, as we plan in 2012 to work with support organisations for common chronic conditions. Bladder and bowel control problems are common in people with chronic conditions but are frequently over looked. Working with these support organisations in a more formal way than in the past we hope to have meaningful collaboration that will benefit each organisation.

Here is a brief overview from Arthritis Victoria about its work.
Arthritis Victoria is a community-based health promotion organisation, offering a range of programs and services to the community, many of which are resourced by volunteers.
Arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions are the most common chronic conditions in Australia. Have you ever heard someone say ‘I just have a bit of arthritis?’ Arthritis can be many conditions including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile arthritis. In 2004-05, arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions was the fourth largest overall contributor to direct health expenditure in Australia at AU$4.0 billion. It is estimated that 62% of people with arthritis are in the working age population (15-64 years).

Is your group or organisation interested in hearing about arthritis, osteoporosis, lupus or another musculoskeletal condition?
One of our programs which we believe you will benefit from is a Community Speaker presentation about arthritis or osteoporosis and other musculoskeletal conditions.

Arthritis Victoria wants to support organisations and groups like yours to increase awareness about arthritis and chronic musculoskeletal conditions, as well as prevention and management strategies.

If you are interested in booking a community speaker please contact Nicole Riley on 8531 8000 or email nicole.riley@arthritisvic.org.au

Toilet Access Hits the News

The lead story in the Moorabbin-Glen Eira Leader newspaper, Wed 23 November raised concerns about the lack of public toilets in a busy shopping strip in East Bentleigh (located in Melbourne South-Eastern suburbs). This not an isolate issue, there is similar concerns over the lack of public toilet facility in the Brighton area especially around the Brighton Sea Baths. The public toilets were pulled down and not replaced when the Baths were redeveloped.

Joe Stosser from IBIS (Irritable Bowel Information & Support) Association and CFA are advocating for the issues to be resolved. They have identified that in this particular case that the East Bentleigh shopping strip has been excluded from the National Public Toilet Map (NPTM) website www.toiletmap.gov.au. Therefore, any facilities made available by traders in that strip do not show up on the map and are therefore invisible to NPTM users. Local Traders are not aware of the NPTM or support group ID cards like our Urgent Can’t Wait cards.

CFA is liaising with small business Peak Bodies (like Main Street Australia, Traders Associations) to invite and encourage traders to opt-in to the NPTM after appropriate self-assessment of risks and feasibility, and also encourage traders to self-administer their NPTM entries.

Perhaps we need to have a program Action on Public Toilets to raise awareness about the need for access to clean and safe public toilets especially for people are Urgent Can’t Wait.