Health & Wellbeing

Dementia nurse consultant Cath Bateman often saw dementia patients distressed in a hospital, especially those whose family couldn't visit regularly. The only way a patient's anxiety and fear were eased was if a staff member sat with them. However, on a busy ward, staff didn't always have time. That's when Cath and Barbara Williams from Dementia Australia came up with the...

WARNING: This story contains graphic details that some readers may find upsetting. When Catherine (name withheld) moved to a secluded farm near Goulburn, she thought she'd be living the country dream. Little did she know the farm's isolation, away from close friends and family, would conceal escalating violence at the hands of her partner. He had been the perfect guy...

Southern NSW Local Health District (SNSWLHD) has extended its employment of a locum medical officer in Bombala following news the rural community's only medical practice would close due to a staff shortage. A media release from SNSWLHD on 25 May said the medical officer who began work at Bombala Medical Centre on 3 May will stay on until the middle of July....

While people across multiple Australian states are worrying about how to trap mice during the current plague, a Charles Sturt University expert has warned we should be equally concerned about how we handle and dispose of them. Andrew Peters, an associate professor in wildlife health and pathology at the university’s School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences in Wagga Wagga, said contact with wild mice could be...

Since the COVID-19 vaccine rollout began, Dr Johanna Kovats has been ready to run a vaccination clinic from her general practice in Crookwell on the NSW Southern Tablelands. She hired and trained four extra nurses, purchased a $3000-plus vaccine fridge and submitted an order of 250 vaccines per week. However, they were told they would only receive 50 vaccines per week...

Following the devastating Black Summer bushfires and COVID-19 pandemic that impacted so many people on the NSW South Coast, a new TAFE course aims to empower members of the community to reach out to those in distress. The Statement of Attainment in Accidental Counselling – a one-day course delivered by virtual classroom – offers basic counselling skills to residents who are not...

Kayeleen Brown will take the helm of Katungul Aboriginal Corporation Regional Health and Community Services on 24 May. She will replace Joanne Grant as the organisation's new CEO, bringing extensive experience working in senior positions across government, not for profit, and Indigenous bodies such as YWCA Australia, South Coast Aboriginal Medical Service and Carers NSW. A proud Yuin Walbunja and Bundjalung Koori woman...

Goulburn Health Hub, located in the city's suburb of Bradfordville, will be the site of a major development during the next few years. The organisation will spend millions of dollars to build a three-theatre day surgery unit and about 40 retirement houses at the rear of the existing medical practice. The hub previously gained development approval for the $10 million...

A NSW South Coast aged care worker who was sacked because she refused to get a flu shot has had her unfair dismissal case rejected. In a recently published decision, the Fair Work Commission ruled in favour of her former employer, Sapphire Coast Community Aged Care, due to new government rules requiring aged care workers to be vaccinated against influenza....

Men who have experienced distress during a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan are being asked to take part in a study. Such has been the response to Charles Sturt University PhD candidate Johnathan Hewis's initial study of female participants on the NSW Mid North Coast and NSW Central Coast, he is now expanding his parameters to include men aged 18...

The Far South Coast community has responded proactively to renewed COVID-19 fears, with 40 people turning out for testing over the weekend. NSW Health appealed for Bega Valley Shire residents with even the mildest symptoms to get tested after fragments of the COVID-19 virus were detected in the sewage system at Merimbula last week. As a result, there was a 16...

It might not seem the time for it, but mosquitos aren’t paying much attention to the cold fronts passing through Southern NSW as they enjoy a mid-autumn hatching period. However, a clutch of Riverina chickens are providing frontline detection services for the scourge of mozzie-borne diseases. Inches of rain, warm days and puddles of stagnant water are providing a delightful...

The remote community of Bombala, on the edge of the NSW Snowy Mountains, will soon be forced to travel hours to see a doctor in Cooma, Jindabyne, Bega or Merimbula when their only medical practice closes. Bombala Medical Centre owner Dr Hamish Steiner said he will be forced to close the practice when its GP retires at the end of...

A Moruya doctor estimates thousands of dollars worth of refrigerated vaccines have been lost during frequent and widespread power outages in the area. Queen Street Medical Centre co-owner Dr Neil Starmer says $5000 worth of vaccines purchased by the practice and $15,000 worth of vaccines supplied by NSW Health were lost during power outages throughout the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires....

The current mice plague in parts of NSW is taking its toll on many rural and regional individuals and communities, with some people simply unable to cope with the magnitude of rodent numbers. Hundreds of thousands of mice have been plaguing parts of NSW since last year's harvest, with farmers, householders and businesspeople affected. Amid images of drowned mice being plucked...

Mixed-race curve model, April Hélène-Horton, from Goulburn in southern New South Wales, says there needs to be more representation of marginalised people in mainstream media. The 36-year-old says she was excited to be the first plus-size bikini model to appear on a towering Melbourne billboard in February but will be more excited if she's not the last. "I certainly can't say...