2024-08-28

Better Together ep08 - (with Karen Alexander)

In this episode our host Matt Roger sits down with Karen Alexander (Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District Disability and National Disability Insurance Scheme Manager). Like everyone else, people with disability want to live their best life, with access to all areas of life including education, employment, health care, housing, justice, love, and relationships. Disability is a part of being human. Disability results from the interaction between health conditions, environmental and personal factors. Everyone is different, and disability can be visible or invisible. Having an equitable health system that supports the healthcare needs of all people regardless of disability is an important consideration in service planning, service delivery and policy development. Karen offers her perspective on what “inclusive health care” means to her and her role in the District, and the social and medical model lenses of looking at disability. We reflect on barriers to meaningful consumer engagement identified in research outcomes that tend to indicate that people with disability have poorer self-reported physical and mental health, higher rates of chronic conditions and poorer access to health services. Launched in 2023, we discuss the District’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan and what it means for patients, consumers and staff. Building on that Action Plan, we reflect on the role of the District’s Disability Consumer Council supporting ways that people with living with a disability (and their families) can overcome those challenges and barriers to become better involved in their own health care journey. We explore the ways that doctors and other health care workers can better engage with those patients living with the challenges of a disability and their families in service planning and policy development. We also celebrate a recent disability health initiative that had a positive impact on patient health outcomes. Finally, we provide an overview of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Karen’s role in assisting patients transition from hospital-based care to National Disability Insurance Scheme funded services and supports.

28 min

2024-08-28

Better Together ep07 - (with Belinda Berryman & Julie Russell)

In this episode our host Matt Roger sits down with Belinda Berryman (Communications and Engagement Manager, Health Infrastructure and co-chair of the Nepean Hospital Redevelopment Consumer Committee) and Julie Russell, a fellow consumer representative in the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District and co-chair of the Nepean Hospital Redevelopment Consumer Committee. Nepean Hospital is the main hospital facility in the District and is currently in Stage 2 of its $1 billion, multi-year redevelopment. To provide a lived experience voice into the Redevelopment, the Consumer Committee has been operating for many years. We discuss the importance of consumer engagement in the Nepean Hospital Redevelopment, including the communication strategy for keeping consumers and patients informed. We reflect on how consumers are leveraging broader consumer networks and patient experiences in the codesign of the Redevelopment. Belinda and Julie discuss some real examples of how consumer engagement in Stage 1 of the Nepean Hospital Redevelopment has delivered positive benefits for consumer and patient experiences alike, and how ongoing consumer engagement is helping to influence Stage 2. On the flipside, we also consider some of the main barriers or challenges to genuine consumer engagement. Belinda highlights how the consumer codesign lessons learned from the Nepean Redevelopment Consumer Committee are being applied in other NSW Health Infrastructure significant redevelopment projects. Julie also provides some insights into where to next for strengthening consumer engagement in significant Redevelopments of hospitals and health services.

43 min

2024-02-12

Better Together ep. 06 (with Lee Gregory)

In this episode we sit down with Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District’s new Chief Executive, Lee Gregory. We briefly discuss Lee’s professional background before tackling questions about the barriers and challenges to consumer engagement, the value of remunerating consumer representatives, and how consumer engagement at scale can help to achieve NBMLHD’s strategic visions of innovation and excellence. We discuss the need for cultural change within health and the role of technology to maximise the impact of consumer engagement in the face of health literacy challenges, cultural and linguistic diversity, and the nature of complex and chronic health conditions. The issue of trust between clinicians and consumers is raised, and the need more for proactive approaches by health services to gather and use consumer feedback while integrating these processes into everyday workflows. Matt and Lee reference some recent, concrete successes of effective consumer engagement at NBMLHD and we discuss the need for consumers to receive feedback on how their lived experience has helped improve service design and delivery. In relation to future directions, Lee Gregory recognises the level of enthusiasm for consumer engagement at NBMLHD while aiming for ways to increase its influence on models of care.

26 min

2024-01-31

Better Together ep. 05 (with Gordana Kostadinovska and Una Turalic)

In this episode our host Matt Roger speaks with Gordana Kostadinovska, Manager of the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District's Multicultural Health Service and Una Turalic, NBMLHD's Senior Cross-Cultural Development Officer. We discuss gaps that exist within our health services for consumers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds and how the system can improve to achieve better outcomes for patients and their families. We touch on the concept of cultural safety and how this can be attained in practice, providing examples of effective policy and planning for working with health services to develop better CALD services, focusing on how individual services can build their capacity, awareness and knowledge to better meet CALD needs. The discussion canvases some of the main challenges faced by CALD consumers, the benefits of video interpreting services, and what genuine multicultural consumer engagement means.

32 min

2024-01-14

Better Together ep. 04 (with Caroline Allen & Matt Russell)

In this episode, our host Matt Roger is joined by two special guests. Caroline Allen is an experienced consumer of mental health services and a passionate advocate for service improvement and reform, and Matt Russell is Director of Mental Health services at the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District (NBMLHD). We discuss the introduction and potential impact of Advance Statements in Mental Health, the Mental Health Act, restrictive practices, and the use of Human Rights as a framework for improving mental health care. We also offer some tips for how to get involved in your own care and touch on some recent successes for consumer engagement in Mental Health at NBMLHD. For more information about consumer engagement and co-design at NBMLHD, contact NBMLHD-MHcodesign@health.nsw.gov.au

38 min

2023-12-12

Better Together ep. 03 (with Dr Nhi Nguyen)

Joining is in this episode is Dr Nhi Nguyen, Specialist in Intensive Care at Nepean Hospital, member of the NBMLHD Board, Clinical Lead for the Nepean Hospital Redevelopment, Clinical Director for Intensive Care NSW at the Agency for Clinical Innovation, lecturer with the University of Sydney, and ICU Clinical Advisor for the NSW Health COVID response. Our conversation reflects on the value of human connection and compassion as a strength for health care workers. We discuss how patient interactions can bring joy to health workers, even in the most challenging of circumstances, and the value of curiosity and conflict as opportunities for continual improvement. Dr Nguyen emphasises the role of medical leaders in providing clarity to health consumers about clinical decision making, and the need to balance clinical expertise with an understanding and appreciation of the values and context of a individual patient and their family. We also discuss issues of consumer feedback and how it is received by health care workers, as well as the role of Boards to empower consumer engagement.

35 min

2023-12-12

Better Together ep. 02 (with Prof Mohamed Khadra)

In this episode we speak with Mohamed Khadra, Professor of Surgery at the University of Sydney, Director of Surgery and Director of Strategy and Innovation at Nepean Blue Mountains LHD, and celebrated author and playwright. Professor Khadra is also a passionate advocate for patient-centred and patient-led change in health care and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017. We discuss how health care workers can partner with their patients to achieve the best possible outcomes, including how to balance the need for dispassionate objectivity with the compassion and subjectivity required for person-centred care.

32 min

2023-11-29

Better Together ep. 01 (with Kay Hyman)

In our pilot episode for the Better Together podcast we spoke with Kay Hyman, then Chief Executive of the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, who has since retired from the organisation after a long and valuable contribution. In our wide-ranging conversation we shed some light on the Nepean Blue Mountains LHD’s commitment to consumer engagement, including in relation to its ongoing redevelopment of Nepean Hospital in Western Sydney. We also discuss some of the key challenges to meaningful health consumer engagement, including in relation to cultural and linguistic diversity, the need for better support for consumer representatives and better models for consumer engagement.

35 min

2023-11-15

Better Together ep. 0 (Trailer)

Better Together is a platform for health consumers and health care workers to partner in vital conversations about how our health system can achieve better outcomes for all. The podcast comes to you from the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District (NBMLHD), where Health Consumer Representatives join with senior clinicians and health service leaders to discuss a range of topics relevant to health care design and delivery. As part of the global health consumer movement, Better Together puts the experience of the individual patient front and centre, advocating for consumers to be more actively involved in their own care, reshaping our institutions towards better health outcomes. With a focus on promoting the value of genuine and effective consumer engagement strategies in the context of Australian public health care, this podcast is 100% health consumer driven initiative that is proudly supported by staff at NBMLHD.

1 min

Better Together

Episodes

Better Together ep08 - (with Karen Alexander)

Better Together ep07 - (with Belinda Berryman & Julie Russell)

Better Together ep. 06 (with Lee Gregory)

Better Together ep. 05 (with Gordana Kostadinovska and Una Turalic)

Better Together ep. 04 (with Caroline Allen & Matt Russell)

Better Together ep. 03 (with Dr Nhi Nguyen)

Better Together ep. 02 (with Prof Mohamed Khadra)

Better Together ep. 01 (with Kay Hyman)

Better Together ep. 0 (Trailer)

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