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Heart, Lung and Circulation 2012;21:648–660
Abstracts
ABSTRACTS
practitioners when working with indigenous people and Aotearoa/NZ’s culturally diverse population. Other registration authorities have developed their own standards de novo or based on the Medical Council resources. Developing online training for a broad interprofessional audience has multiple challenges – in terms of content, style, interactivity, assessment activities, as well as the time, expertise and cost of developing online training for health professionals. Mauri Ora Associates has developed online training for health professionals based on the Treaty of Waitangi, Tikanga in Practice and a Foundation Course in Cultural Competence. In 2011 online training will be provided to nearly 80,000 New Zealand health professionals and health workers. The presentation will report on the development and delivery of cultural competency training programmes. DOI of original abstract: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hlc.2011.04.012 DOI of this abstract: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hlc.2012.07.025
07 Cerebrovascular Health in Canada’s Aboriginal Population: Current Status and Recent Research T. Kue Young Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Canada Part 1 provides an overview of the Aboriginal population of Canada with a focus on the burden, risk factors, and prevention of cerebrovascular disease. Aboriginal people are undergoing rapid social and lifestyle changes, which are affecting their disease pattern, with an increasing burden of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. Limited mortality data indicate that the risk for stroke among First Nations people has now surpassed that of Canadians nationally. The contribution of various risk factors to the stroke burden is examined which suggests potential strategies for prevention. Part 2 presents some recent research on the interrelationship between cardiometabolic risk factors, carotid atherosclerosis, and cognitive performance in one First Nation community in southern Manitoba. Cognitive function was assessed by the Clock Drawing Test and Trail Making Test. The results show that obese individuals and those with the metabolic syndrome were at increased (4–5-fold increase) risk of lowered cognitive performance. Carotid stenosis was shown not to be detrimental, and it likely acted as a mediator of the effect of anthropometric risk factors on cognitive performance. A substudy also found that retinopathy, which potentially can be used as a “window” into the cerebral microvasculature, was not associated with lower cognitive performance. DOI of original abstract: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hlc.2011.04.013 DOI of this abstract: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hlc.2012.07.026
08 Better Hospital Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People Experiencing Heart Attack Vicki Wade Sydney South West Area Health Service (SSWAHS), Australia Indigenous Australians suffer poorer health than non Indigenous Australians; this is evident in the 17years difference in life expectancy rates. This gap in life expectancy has triggered an unprecedented amount of effort in ways to close the gap. This is evident in the Australian Government commitment by injecting the single most amount of funding towards close the gap initiatives. It is well documented that cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the most single causal contributing factor to the gap with twice as many Indigenous Australians dying each year from CVD. Heart attack as a consequence of CVD has poor outcomes and profound long term ill effects on Indigenous Australians. There have been a number of programs and initiatives across national, state and local levels aimed at reducing the burden of heart disease, with many of these being aimed towards early detection and primary prevention. Little emphasis to date has been on the care of and outcomes of Indigenous Australians who are presenting to Australian hospitals with heart attacks. Emerging data indicates that Indigenous Australians are not receiving the same level of care and are less likely to receive life saving interventions. The National Heart Foundation and the Australian Healthcare and Hospital Association released a report in 2009, which outlines 15 recommendations aimed to improve in hospital care for Aboriginal people experiencing heart attack. In order to close the cardiovascular health gap government should look at ways on how to implement these recommendations. The Heart Foundation and Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association report “Better hospital care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experiencing heart attack” addresses the disparities in hospital care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and makes practical recommendations to help close the gap in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heart health. The report was developed in response to the 2006 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare findings that compared with other Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had: • three times the rate of major coronary events, such as heart attack; • 1.4 times the out-of-hospital death rate from coronary heart disease (CHD) more than twice the in-hospital death rate from CHD; • a 40% lower rate of being investigated by angiography; • a 40% lower rate of coronary angioplasty or stent procedures; • a 20% lower rate of coronary bypass surgery.