Protein for Muscle In Older Age

An international group with expertise in geriatric medicine, internal medicine, endocrinology, nutrition, exercise physiology, gastroenterology and renal medicine gathered in Zurich on the 5^th and 6^th of July 2012 to review existing evidence and agree to recommendations with regards to protein intake in older people, especially frail older people. Eight international societies were represented at this consensus meeting: The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN), European Union Geriatric Medicine Society (EUGMS), American Medical Director’s Association (AMDA), European Academy for Medicine and Ageing (EAMA), German Nutrition Society (DGE), International Academy of Nutrition and Aging (IANA), International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG) and the Australia & New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine (ANZSGM).  It is anticipated that written recommendations will be available by the end of 2012. Associate Professor Renuka Visvanathan who is both an academic geriatrician (University of Adelaide) and Clinical Director of the Aged & Extended Care Services at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital had the honor of representing the ANZSGM and participating in this exciting global initiative.

Back row (Left-Right): Professeor John Morley (USA, AMDA), Professor Alfonso Cruz-Jentoft (Spain), Professor Tommy Cederholm (Sweden), Professor Matteo Cesari (France, IANA & IAGG), Professor Stuart Philips (Canada), Dr Daniel Teta (Switzerland)

Front row (Left-Right): Professor Juergen Bauer (Co-chair, Germany, EUGMS), Professor Yves Boire (Co-chair, France, ESPEN), Professor Elena Volpi (USA), Professor Cornel Sieber (Germany, EAMA), Associate Professor Renuka Visvanathan (Australia, ANZSGM), Professor Peter Stehle (Germany, DGE), Professor Gianni Biolo (Italy).

Dr Rima Rudd in Melbourne Wednesday 21 March 2012, 9am – 5pm,

 at The Women's, Bio 21

Practical steps for health literacy and patient centred care 

 Improve the delivery of health care and the patient experience 

 A one-day forum for health professionals, health care administrators and quality & safety managers interested in exploring health literacy and how it is linked to patient centred care.

Speakers including international guest, Dr Rima Rudd from Harvard University, will present practical strategies and approaches for improvements at both the individual and systems level. The link between key concepts and the National Standards for Safety and Quality will also be discussed.

Dr Rudd is one of the founders of the field of health literacy and helped put it on the international agenda. She has written several reports that are helping shape the agenda in health literacy research and practice. They include the health literacy chapter of the Health and Human Services book Communicating Health: Priorities and Strategies for Progress (2003) and the Educational Testing Services report, Literacy and Health in America (2004). She was a member of the Institute of Medicine committee that produced a landmark 2004 report, “Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion.” She was also principal author of the Report of Health Literacy in Canada. Dr Rudd was responsible for developing the health literacy component of the National Adult Literacy Survey, which has been used internationally, including in the Australian Literacy and Lifeskills Survey conducted by the Bureau of Statistics in 2006.

Dr Rudd has served on the Institute of Medicine Committee on Health Literacy, on the National Research Council Committee on Measuring Adult Literacy, on the Joint Commission Advisory Committee on Health Literacy and Patient Safety. She currently serves on several national advisory boards and is principal investigator and co-principal investigator on several health literacy research inquiries. Dr. Rudd serves as Senior Health Literacy Advisor to the Missouri Foundation and holds appointments as Visiting Professor at London South Bank University and as Visiting Senior Scholar at the Horowitz Health Literacy Center, University of Maryland School of Public Health.

Dr Rudd is considered a leader in this new field of inquiry. She is engaged at the policy level with literacy related analyses for the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, NIH Oral Health Division, and in committee work with the National Institutes of Science exploring health literacy and adult literacy measures. In 2009 she received the Pfizer Health Literacy in Advancing Patient Safety Award from the Partnership for Clear Health Communication at the U.S. National Patient Safety Foundation. She has spoken at numerous health professional society meetings across the USA, and internationally, and authored the action plan for health literacy for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services “Healthy People 2010.”

 In Adelaide she conducted a Free Public Seminar  Health Literacy: Overcoming barriers to communication in healthcare on Friday March 2nd, 3.30-5.30 pm IRA Raymond Room, Barr Smith Library, University of Adelaide

Dr Rudd is supported by an Australia-Harvard Fellowship awarded by The Harvard Club of Australia Foundation

Clinical Programs Targeting Falls Prevention and Fracture Management Successful at SA Health Awards

Winning teams:

Improving Community Wellbeing: 'Help For Fallers Requiring Ambulance Service'

Strengthening Primary Healthcare: 'The Symbiosis of Falls and Primary Healthcare'

Enhancing Hospital Care: 'FASTNOF- Fast, Appropriate, Safe Treatment for Fractured Neck of Femurs'

Finalists:

Building and Strengthening Partnerships: 'Falls Prevention In The Central and Northern LHNs'

Researc/Education in Patient/Consumer Safety: 'April Falls Prevention Month'

TQEH Reseach Day 2011: Prize winner

Elsa Dent, a PhD candidate with the Positive Ageing group, the Health Observatory and the Discipline of Medicine won the Clinical Higher Degreees prize sponsored by the Hospital Research Foundation.

Sam Bierman, an Honours student with The Stroke Research Program, The Health Observatory and the Discipline of Medicine, won the Honours student prize sponsored by the Hospital Research Foundation.

Recruitment Underway For Major South Australian Research Study On Under-nutrition In Older People

Watch The Adelaide 7 News Clip

Dignity In Care Program Launched At The Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Read about it in the Advertiser