Preventative health checks

Preventative health checks help to detect a range of diseases in people who may present as asymptomatic, thus allowing for early intervention. Nggangganawili Aboriginal Health Service has been focussing on preventative health checks through the Healthy for Life program  and each year we increase the rate of checks conducted.

Implementing an effective regime of health checks and screening in a busy clinic is a challenge, however, some good results are starting to come through. For example a recent random analysis of clients presenting at clinic over five days revealed that a high percentage of the older persons presenting did have completed health checks.

In 2008 we plan to increase our focus on adult and child health checks and care plans. Our 2008 targets include:

• Clinical pathways implemented and staff responsibilities defined
• Staff training on clinical pathways, data collection and documentation requirements
• Communicare utilised to facilitate visiting specialist bookings, and automatic recall for health checks
• Commencement of bi-annual reporting of service achievement against health check and care plan targets to NAHS Executive Management Committee