“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are two-and-a-half times more likely to be admitted to hospital for heart events than non-Indigenous Australians.
For both sexes, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are more likely to have high blood pressure, be obese, smoke and a poor diet.”
Chief Executive Officer Heart Foundation Adjunct Professor John Kelly see Part 2 below Heart map
” I thought I was healthy and was quite prepared to ignore the warning signs.
I had a heart attack and survived. It could have been very different.
Having had the scare of a lifetime, Winmar made immediate changes
At the time I had to change a lot of my dieting, the way you use salts in your food, alcohol, smoking. Those were the sacrifices you have to do as well, which don’t come easily,
“You’ve got to make that choice if you want to fulfil the rest of your life. I’m 52 this year and hopefully [for] another 10 or 15 years I’ll still be around.”
Heart and home: Nicky Winmar and his second chance at life
Nicky Winmar is famously remembered as the Indigenous player who confronted the crowd and pointed to his skin at Victoria Park in the early 1990s in a triumphant stand against racism in footy see full story Part 3 :
A chance meeting with the ACT chief executive of the Heart Foundation, Tony Stubbs, meant he simply had to endorse its message about a positive diet and lifestyle, especially with what’s at stake in Indigenous communities
” NACCHO will provide leadership and guidance to the Lighthouse team in enabling the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and Aboriginal health workforce to be intimately involved in designing and implementing the program.
We are very supportive of this program and its contribution to National Sorry Day today, and to Reconciliation Week which starts tomorrow ’
CEO of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) Patricia Turner pictured below
Download Press Release
Media Release_Sorry Day_Joint HF AHHA NACCHO V2 l
Part 1 : Press Release 18 hospitals sign up to close the gap in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heart health
Eighteen hospitals from around Australia have signed up to the Lighthouse Hospital Project aimed at improving the hospital treatment of coronary heart disease among Indigenous Australians.
See Info HERE Phase 3
Lighthouse is operated and managed by the Heart Foundation and the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA). It is funded by the Australian Government.
The 18 hospitals cover almost one-half of all cardiac admissions in Australia for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Heart Foundation National CEO Adjunct Professor John Kelly said closing the gap in cardiovascular disease between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians was a key Heart Foundation priority, and it was highly appropriate that today’s announcement coincided with National Sorry Day.
‘Cardiac care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is serious business. Australia’s First Peoples are more likely to have heart attacks than non-Indigenous Australians, and more likely to have early heart disease onset coupled with other health problems, frequent hospital admissions and premature death[1].
‘Deaths happen at almost twice the rate for non-Indigenous Australians, yet Indigenous Australians appear to have fewer tests and treatments while in hospital, and discharge from hospital against medical advice is five times as high[2]’, Professor Kelly said.
AHHA CEO Alison Verhoeven says that Lighthouse aims to ensure Indigenous Australians receive appropriate evidence-based care in a culturally safe manner.
‘A critical component of success will be close and genuine collaboration with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, communities and organisations in the design and implementation of the activities.
‘To borrow from the words of the Prime Minister, Lighthouse will encourage and support hospitals to do things ‘with’ Aboriginal people not ‘to’ them[3].
See Previous NACCHO Heart Posts
“Many of the hospital admissions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are preventable and the Heart Foundation is committed to closing the gap in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”
Heart Foundation National Chief Executive Officer Adjunct Professor John Kelly said these maps brought together for the first time a national picture of hospital admission rates for heart-related conditions at a national, state and regional level.
Or Download report and press release
Australian Heart Maps Report 2016
What is the Lighthouse hospital project?
- The Lighthouse hospital project is a joint initiative of the Heart Foundation and the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA).
- The aim: to improve care and health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experiencing coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death among this population.
Australia is a privileged nation by world standards. Despite this, not everyone is equal when it comes to heart health and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the most disadvantaged. The reasons are complex and not only medical in nature. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a troubled history with institutions of all kinds, including hospitals.
The Lighthouse Hospital project aims to change this experience by providing both a medically and culturally safe hospital environment. A culturally safe approach to healthcare respects, enhances and empowers the cultural identity and wellbeing of an individual.
This project matters because the facts are sobering. Cardiovascular disease occurs earlier, progresses faster and is associated with greater co-morbidities in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. They are admitted to hospital and suffer premature death more frequently compared with non-Indigenous Australians[1].
Major coronary events, such as heart attacks, occur at a rate three times that of the non- Indigenous population. Fatalities because of these events are 1.5 times more likely to occur, making it a leading contributor to the life expectancy gap [2].
PART 3
Nicky Winmar thought he was healthy and was quite prepared to ignore the warning signs.
The former AFL champion was only 46 and initially dismissed his chest pains as indigestion. Even the next morning, as the pains continued, it took Winmar’s partner to convince him to see a doctor.
Thankfully they got to him in time. Winmar was admitted to hospital and had surgery to insert a stent in an artery. A great of the St Kilda Football Club, he’d had a heart attack and survived. It could have been very different.
That scary episode five years ago has served as Winmar’s wake-up call. His father died the same way, aged 50, on the eve of Winmar’s solitary appearance in an AFL grand final 20 years ago.
“The doctor looked at me and put me in a room with all these machines and said I was having a heart attack,” Winmar recalls.
“It knocked me for six. I’d always trained hard and kept myself well with good food. It gave me a shake-up.
“They put a stent in an artery to keep it open. Afterwards I was so weak I couldn’t get out of bed. I had to learn to walk again.”
Having had the scare of a lifetime, Winmar made immediate changes
“At the time I had to change a lot of my dieting, the way you use salts in your food, alcohol, smoking. Those were the sacrifices you have to do as well, which don’t come easily,” Winmar said.
“You’ve got to make that choice if you want to fulfil the rest of your life. I’m 52 this year and hopefully [for] another 10 or 15 years I’ll still be around.”
Winmar is famously remembered as the Indigenous player who confronted the crowd and pointed to his skin at Victoria Park in the early 1990s in a triumphant stand against racism in footy. The moment was captured by an Age photographer, Wayne Ludbey, and remains an iconic image in footy history.
Then last year Winmar publicly supported his son to highlight the importance of gay rights. Winmar had little to do with his son for nearly 20 years and the pair hadn’t spoken for a decade until, three years ago, Tynan Winmar decided it was time to reconnect and tell his father about his sexuality.
When Nicky Winmar decides to support a cause, he throws his full weight behind it. A chance meeting with the ACT chief executive of the Heart Foundation, Tony Stubbs, meant he simply had to endorse its message about a positive diet and lifestyle, especially with what’s at stake in Indigenous communities.
“When I first met him, he took a step back, thought about it and said this is my opportunity to do something about it,” Stubbs said.
The statistics around heart disease and Indigenous communities are disturbing.
“It’s the biggest single killer of Indigenous Australians,” Stubbs said.
“It’s nearly twice the rate of death of non-Indigenous. We think that gap is too big and we actually want to do something about that and bridge that.
“Unfortunately the Indigenous smoking rate is about 43 per cent, which is about two-and-a-half times the non-Indigenous rate. And in remote areas it’s actually 60 per cent.
“One of the key messages is around quitting smoking and making that decision. Certainly Nicky has done that. And he’s found a huge amount of benefit from that.”
Winmar has a simple message for those in Indigenous communities.
“It’s the No.1 killer in Indigenous communities and towns and country areas that we come from,” he said.
“It’s important that you do go and see your local GP with symptoms that do happen. Ring triple zero and do something about it straight away.”
Winmar is a Saints great across more than 200 matches but played his final AFL season with the Western Bulldogs in 1999. He enjoyed last year’s Doggies breakthrough premiership, especially because they were coached by his friend Luke Beveridge, but the thought of St Kilda’s first flag since 1966 brings a big smile to his face.
Perhaps a smile as big as the one he had when he realised he had a second chance.
1] Austalian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2016. Australia’s health 2016. Australia’s health series no. 15. Cat. No AUS 199. Canberra: AIHW
[2] AIHW 2014, CHD and COPD in Indigenous Australians, Cat.No IHW 126
[3] Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. 10 February 2016. Speech to Parliament on the 2016 Closing the Gap Report.