New trial supports community nursing
With almost half the adult population obese or overweight and even more making unhealthy lifestyle choices involving alcohol and tobacco, Australia is facing a crisis of premature death and rising health costs, a fact highlighted this week in the federal government’s National Primary Health Care Strategy.
For the first time, researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) are aiming to reverse these alarming trends by utilising community nurses to directly target those most at risk.
Led by the Research Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity at UNSW, a two-year trial will examine the effectiveness of brief intervention by the community health nurses during their routine practice.
“This is the first trial of its kind in Australia to involve community nurses to tackle lifestyle change, which is critical to preventing and managing chronic conditions such as diabetes,” said the trial’s lead investigator, Professor Mark Harris.
The trial is in line with the National Primary Health Care Strategy which has identified ‘increasing the focus on prevention’ as one of its key priority areas. In particular, the trial will help to build evidence about the best ways to promote healthy lifestyle behaviours in primary health care.
Dubbed SNAP (Smoking, Nutrition, Alcohol and Physical activity), the trial focuses on those lifestyle choices that are estimated to account for 32 percent of Australia’s total disease burden.
Community nurses are well placed to help clients make healthier choices, according to SNAP project manager, Rachel Laws.
“Community nurses see their clients regularly over a period of a few weeks or months, and they visit patients in their home which gives them access to people who may not be regular users of health services,” she explained.
“What’s more, their caseloads often include people with diabetes and other chronic diseases, who have much to benefit from lifestyle change.”
The study builds on the findings of earlier investigations which showed that more than 90 percent of clients were happy for community nurses to ask about lifestyle issues and provide support for positive change.
Even small changes in lifestyle can make a difference, Laws said.
“Overseas studies have shown that losing about five percent of body weight can reduce the risk of developing diabetes by as much as 60 percent in those at risk, and the risk of heart disease is halved in as little as 12 months after quitting smoking.”
Funded by NSW Health as part of the Australian Better Health Initiative, the trial will get underway next month at four sites in NSW: Lower Hunter, Newcastle, Warilla/Dapto and Wingcarribbee/Macarthur.
All clients aged 30-80 years referred to a community nurse in participating areas may be invited to take part in the study. Eligible clients will be contacted at the time of referral and invited to complete a 15 minute telephone interview prior to the first visit by the nurse and again after three and six months.
