A DV E R T I S I N G F E AT U R E
Better Health
W E L C O M E T O B E T T E R H E A LT H
Pre-schoolers celebrate a healthy start to life
South Dunedin pre-school
children participated in a
programme called, “Little Lungs –
Pukahukahuti,” celebrated World
Smokefree Day with some Zumba
Atomic, a healthy morning tea and
a story.
In the past 12 months the
Southern Primary Health
Organisation (PHO) and
Southern District Health
Board (DHB) have been jointly
running the “Little Lungs –
PukahukahuIti,”programme with
teachers in early childhood centres
in Dunedin. It aims to introduce
early childhood educators to the
Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 goal
and focuses on ways in which
educators can promote smokefree
cars and homes messages in their
centres.
Parent Louise Kewepe-Doig
whose daughters attend St Clair
Corner Early Learning Centre
said that the “Little Lungs –
Pukahukahuti,”scheme was a
great idea and had helped her
engage with and discuss with
her children healthy lifestyles, in
particular the messages about not
smoking.
“ The event was to say a big
thankyou to the early childhood
centres for participating in our
programme and to emphasise the
importance of having clean, fresh
air to stay healthy and physically
active” said Katie Jahnke,
Health Promotion and Projects
Coordinator, Southern PHO.
Southern DHB Health Promotion
Advisor Anna Frost commented
that “Parents, whanau and
caregivers can make positive
changes to the environment
children are growing up in, even
if they smoke. Talking to their
children about smoking and
establishing smokefree rules like
not smoking around children,
keeping the house and car
smokefree is a fantastic start and
a step in the right direction to
protecting their children.”
In Dunedin, 10 early childhood
centres and 23 kindergartens have
participated in the programme.
It has also been rolled out in
Southland and will be offered to
centres in other parts of Otago in
the next 12 months.
The event was supported by
Smokefree Otago and Sistema,
who donated water bottles for the
children.
Preschoolers and their carers enjoying Zumba Atomic as part of World Smokefree Day celebrations.
Tips for keeping well this winter
England players cheer up
the Rotary Children’s Ward
A visit from the England rugby
squad ahead of the big game
against the All Blacks last week
put a smile on the faces of the
children in the Rotary Children’s
Ward at Dunedin Hospital.
Richard Wigglesworth, Stephen
Myler and Michael Paterson took
time out of their busy schedule to
visit the ward, answering many of
the children’s questions, signed
autographs, had photos taken
and even helped with some
colouring in!
Remember these simple tips to help you spend your time this winter doing the things you enjoy.
Children’s Ward Charge Nurse
Manager Shirley Bell said that, “it
was great that the players gave
up their time to visit the ward. It
was really appreciated and was a
real highlight for the children, who
were all very excited.”
“It’s pretty cool that they’ve
visited the ward and it’s really
cheered me up,” said patient
Joshua Clydesdale.
Get your flu vaccination
Help stop the spread of flu. Talk to your doctor about
the influenza vaccination. It might even be free for you! www.fightflu.co.nz and www.immune.org.nz.
Keep active every day
Just a 30-minute walk outside each day gives you fresh
air and really helps your body get stronger to fight off
those winter colds and flu. Wash your hands often and well
Winter illnesses are easily spread by our hands. Always
wash hands after using the toilet, before preparing
food and if you have been in contact with unwell
people. Remember: use soap, wash both sides and
between your fingers for at least 20 seconds. Dry hands
completely with a paper towel, or clean dry towel.
Eat healthy
Make half your plate vegetables, fresh, canned or
frozen. Add some lean protein and try to reduce sugar
and salt in your diet. Cover those coughs and sneezes
Cold and flu germs spread easily when you cough or
sneeze. Use a tissue or sneeze into the crook of your
arm. Stay away from work or school if you are coughing
and sneezing.
Health advice is only a phone call away
Seek advice early if you or your child is feeling unwell.
Phone Health Line 0800 611 116 for free 24-hour 7-day
a-week health advice. Discussing small issues early can
help stop them becoming a bigger problem later.
Stay away/Keep your bugs at home
If you are feeling unwell stay away from school or work
until you have no symptoms for 48 hours. Small children
and the elderly are most at risk from complications.
Strategic plan to help shape services
Left to right: Michael Paterson, Richard Wigglesworth and Stephen
Myler with baby Molly Houghton
0614n0057-19-h
Southern District Health Board has begun
developing a strategic plan to guide how the
health sector delivers health and disability
services to the community.
home,” she said.
The most recent health-profile snapshot
showed most benefit for most people would
come from reducing smoking, obesity and
“We need health services to be easier for
heavy alcohol consumption, and improvements
patients to understand and smoother to travel
in chronic conditions such as diabetes and
through,” Southern DHB Chief Executive Carole asthma, mental health, primary care access
Heatly said.
and care for older people closer to home.
“We want to paint a picture of what a whole-ofdistrict, whole-of-health system could look like “We are working with the PHO, primary care,
rural and community providers as well as NGOs
in 5-10 years’ time. We want to be clear about
and the university to develop a draft plan.
how the DHB fits into the bigger picture in the
Southern district – and how Southern people
With the DHB Board, I will be visiting the
can also benefit from South Island services.”
Southern community during November to
“Our overall purpose is to wrap services around discuss our proposals and invite comment and
communities so more can remain well and at
feedback,” commented Ms Heatly.
Southland Hospital
Clinical Psychologist’s
leading research
Congratulations to Dr Antonios Chasouris, Specialist
Clinical Child Psychologist at Southland Hospital
who has recently had his breakthrough research
published in the Child Development Research
journal. His research focused on the psychological
aspect of children with Williams Syndrome, a
genetic disorder discovered in New Zealand in 1961.
Dr Chasouris and his co-researchers investigated
the tendency for children with Williams Syndrome to
focus on the left side of the visual field and having
significant difficulty in observing details on the right
side.
“This has been frequently discussed anecdotally by
teachers and parents but was never investigated
formally. The findings of my research will be useful
to teachers because now that they know of this they
can modify teaching techniques to improve learning
and alleviate some of the anxiety these children face
in the classroom,” commented Dr Chasouris.
Southern DHB Allied Health Director, Mental Health
Addictions and Intellectual Disability Directorate,
Karen Ramsay said that, “I’m delighted with Dr
Chasouris’ success with his research, especially
as it’s in an aspect that has not been researched
before. The presence of such skilled researchers
and clinicians at Southland Hospital ultimately
improves the quality of care which we provide at
Southern DHB.”
About Williams Syndrome
Williams Syndrome is a chromosomal disease first
described by Dr John Williams in 1963 here in New
Zealand. Children with this syndrome experience a
series of developmental, physical and psychological
difficulties. The most common features are a
characteristic facial appearance, a cardiological
disorder called Supravalvular Aortic Stenosis or
SVAS (a narrowing of the aorta above the aortic
valve) and learning difficulties. In New Zealand we
have about 300 children/adults with the syndrome
and a New Zealand Williams Syndrome Association.
Southern DHB committed to health and safety
Southern DHB has shown its commitment to health
and safety by running a free workshop in partnership
with ACC for approved contractors on workplace levy
discounts.
ACC Workplace Safety Management Practice and
international best practice safety management
systems. These standards have been implemented in
the past few years.
The workshop was held to help the DHB’s contractors
gain the ACC Workplace Safety Discount.
“Our contractors have worked hard to meet these
high standards and as the majority of our contractors
are small businesses we thought it would be good
to run the workshop to help them attain the ACC
Workplace Safety Discount, and also to thank
them for their efforts in meeting our stringent health
and safety standards” commented Southern DHB
Construction Health & Safety Manager Gary Clarkson.
ACC’s Workplace Safety Discount recognises selfemployed and small to medium businesses (fewer
than 10 employees) that have implemented effective
health and safety systems and practices in their
workplaces. If a business qualifies, it adds to the
many business benefits of keeping staff safe and
reduces ACC work cover levies.
The workshop was designed for owners/managers of
small businesses and gave an overview of ACC and
the Workplace Safety Discount programme and how
to quality for the 10% discount.
Contractors employed by Southern DHB already
have to meet stringent health and safety management
standards, set by the DHB, which are based on
“As a Southern DHB contractor who has to meet our
management standards, most of our contractors may
already have the evidence to attain this discount.”
ACC Injury Prevention and Management Consultant
Amie McCombe has worked with the Southern DHB
Health and Safety team for seven years and facilitated
the workshop.
helping small contractors gain the ACC Workplace
Safety Discount.
Steve Hurring from Otago Sheet Metal , an approved
Southern DHB contractor attended the workshop and
said that the company had benefited from having to
meet the stringent health and safety standards set by
the DHB.
“Working with the DHB has made our management
and staff more aware of their responsibilities and
everyone has had to up their game. We’ve raised our
health and safety standards, which not only keeps our
employees safe but in turn has provided us with more
work. All in all it’s been a win-win situation,” said Mr
Hurring.
New Zealand Institute of Directors President Stuart
Mclaughlin applauded the joint initiative of ACC
and Southern DHB and said that “Southern DHB’s
commitment to health and safety is commendable
and a great example to companies and businesses.”
Amie said that the workshop was a great way of
Congratulations to the
Southern DHB winners at
the Health Research and
Excellence Awards
Staff from the University of Otago
and Southern DHB gathered to
celebrate excellence in health
research recently, acknowledging
both researchers and research
initiatives.
Carole Heatly, Chief Executive
Officer of the Southern District
Health Board, presented two
Nursing, Midwifery & Allied
Practitioners Awards. A previous
winner of this award, Joanne
Robertson-Smith, Registered
Nurse in NICU at Dunedin Hospital
also shared her research journey
since winning the award.
Well done to Yesim Sokmen and
Vicki Devery, the Southern DHB
award winners of the Nursing,
Midwifery & Allied Practitioners
Awards.
Yesim Sokmen, an Occupational
Therapist in the mental health
field, won her award for her study
into helping clients regulate their
emotions to cope with crisis in
healthy ways.
Vicki Devery, an Occupational
Health Physiotherapist and
Manual Handling Advisor, won her
award for her investigation into
the “Obstacles and facilitators to
implementation of adoption of a
manual handling programme for a
nursing population.”
0614n0058-19-h
The annual Health Research and
Excellence Awards were held
recently to celebrate the ongoing
and unique research partnership
between the Dunedin School of
Medicine and the Southern District
Health Board.
Left to right: winner Vicki Devery, Southern DHB Chief Executive Carole Heatly and winner Yesim Sokmen