In this ISLAND Newsletter

• ISLAND update
• Heart health
• Healthy ageing resources
• ISLAND Resilience update
• Dementia education for younger people

ISLAND Update

The ISLAND Team are pleased to announce that we have formed the new Community Advisory Group. Thank you to all who expressed interest. There were so many great applications and if any spots become available in the future, we will be in touch!

The Community Advisory Group will provide a channel for selected ISLAND members to regularly advise on research direction and activities, and provide feedback on engagement, throughout the lifecycle of the project. 

We are looking forward to meeting all members next month and working collaboratively to help the study better meet the needs of members.

Heart health

Heart Week is coming up on the 6th - 12th May, calling on people to have a Heart Health Check with their doctor and know their blood pressuse. As you may know, high blood pressure is one if the 12 modifiable risk factors of dementia. It is believed that the extra pressure exerted on the blood vessels associated with raised blood pressure has a negative impact on many organs such as the kidneys, heart and brain for example. This extra pressure may directly cause damage over years and contribute to the development of plaque that can block the blood vessels.

In line with this theme, we are teaming up with the Tasmanian School of Medicine for Health Stop at AGFEST (2-4 May 2024). Here you can come along and chat to us about health and have your blood pressure taken. You can also find out more about our research within The ISLAND Project, find out your Dementia Risk Profile, and ask any questions you may have regarding the risk factors.

If you haven't had a blood pressure check recently, it might be a good idea to do so. You could see your GP, visit us at AGFEST, or visit one of the Menzies blood pressure clinics that will be popping up around the state on Friday 17th of May (see below for details). The Heart Foundation also has a useful online heart age calculator you can use to help check your heart health in the meantime.

Free blood pressure checks with Menzies

This May, the Menzies Institute for Medical Research is proud to participate in the global May Measurement Month (MMM) initiative, a worldwide public health campaign aimed at increasing awareness of high blood pressure and its implications.

On Friday 17 May, which is World Hypertension Day, the Menzies Cardiovascular Research Flagship in collaboration with the School of Nursing, will be doing blood pressure measurements across Tasmania.  Look out for sites in Burnie, Devonport, Kings Meadows, Riverside, Kingston, Sorell, Mornington, Claremont and Hobart.  Further details of exact locations will be made available on the Menzies Facebook page and other advertising closer to the date.

Anyone is invited to call in at one of the testing locations on 17 May. Raised blood pressure, or hypertension, is the single biggest risk factor responsible for mortality worldwide. As the condition has no noticeable symptoms, blood pressure measurement is the only accurate way of identifying hypertension.

Having blood pressure measured only takes a few minutes. Participation in this community-based measurement program will help raise awareness of high blood pressure across Tasmania and help you understand your own blood pressure. It will also enable Menzies to get data on the levels of blood pressure across Tasmania. The data collected (anonymously) will also be included in the international MMM program. The data will then be used to make better programs and policies to reduce high blood pressure in Tasmania, Australia and globally.

For further information, contact CVFlagship.Menzies@utas.edu.au

Resources for healthy ageing

Did you know that Tasmania has the oldest population in Australia, and the population is ageing faster than the national average? Due to this it is more important than ever to focus on healthy ageing so we have found some great resources that you may like to explore:

• Live Up is a not-for-profit organisation, funded by the Australia Government, that is passionate about ageing well and provides a free service which helps people find local groups, activities and items to enhance their quality of life. 
• If you would like to focus on physical activity we have found a great online brochure 'Choose health: be active' which helps you create a plan to become more active. If this is too much information there is also a short two-page guide 'Tips and Ideas for Older Australians', which is a brilliant starting point. 
• According the Department of Health and Aged Care, only 1 in 13 adults eat enough fruit and vegetables. If you would like to focus on diet, this 'Healthy eating for adults' brochure outlines the dietary guidelines and how much you need depending on your age and gender. 

The Resilience Study

Although the weather’s cooling off, our ISLAND Resilience study is humming along. Here are some highlights of the last few months:

• Our new Resilience community advisory group has been formed, made up of study participants, people with lived experience of disaster response and local government, a member of the LGBTQIA+ community and researcher team members. The group has met twice and is advising on design and conduct of the project.
• A research paper describing outcomes from our ‘Bushfires and Your Health’ short course was published. This paper was authored by Sharon, Penny and others from our researcher team and is the second paper arising from our project.
• We were excited to welcome Kelsey Madden, a new PhD candidate, to the researcher team (see photo above).
• We recently commenced interviews which explore participants’ rich and diverse experiences of disaster and recovery. Thank you to those who have taken part so far. These interviews will allow us a much more nuanced understanding than our surveys have allowed up to this point.

If you expressed interest in co-design workshops, stay tuned! These will take place in the coming months.

Thank you to all our ISLAND participants who are part of the Resilience study- we truly value your partnership with us to understand stressful experiences, bushfires, dementia risk and health. Eligible ISLAND members who are not currently part of the Resilience initiative are likely to receive an invite to join later in the year.

Dementia education for younger people

Some of you may have come across Hannah Fair at one of ISLAND’s events or through her conversation starter study. One of the interesting topics that has come up in Hannah’s conversations with ISLAND members is the need to start dementia education earlier.

With this feedback in mind, Hannah is embarking on a new, exciting project, looking at how we can provide high school students with dementia education. It is currently in the early stages, and Hannah and team are looking for people to join a community focus group aiming to understand the need for, and constraints around, providing dementia education for teenagers. The team are currently looking for high school teachers, parents and students to participate. If this is something you or someone you know would be interested in, please click here for more information.

Please note that this study is not part of the ISLAND Project and you are under no obligation to participate, even if you meet the eligibility criteria. We wanted to share this story as we thought it was important to let you know that what you say is valuable and really can impact the direction of our research!

Thank you for continuing to share your ideas with us.

The University of Tasmania received funding from the Australian Government. Views and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of its authors, and may not be the same as those held by the Department of Health.

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