C3.4 C Our clinical team discusses the practice’s clinical issues and support systems.
Criterion C3.5 – Work health and safety Indicators C3.5 A Our practice supports the safety, health, and wellbeing of the practice team. C3.5 B Our practice team is encouraged to obtain immunisations recommended by the current edition of the Australian immunisation handbook based on their duties and immunisation status.
Criterion C3.6 – Research Indicators C3.6 A Our practice has all research approved by an ethics committee and indemnified. C3.6 B Our practice only transfers identified patient health information to a third party for quality improvement or professional development activities after we have obtained the patient’s consent.
Core Standard 4 - Health promotion and preventive activities Our practice provides health promotion and preventive services that are based on patient need and best available evidence. Health promotion is the process of enabling people to improve and increase control over their health. As well as influencing an individual’s behaviour, it also encompasses a wide range of social and environmental interventions,21 such as education programs and changes to laws and policies. Health promotion is distinct from the education and information that practitioners use to support their diagnosis and choice of treatment. Health professionals can deliver health promotion and reinforce it in various ways. This could include written materials, the practice’s ‘on-hold’ telephone messages, and education clinics that help people self-manage their chronic diseases. General practices are, for most Australians, the primary entry point to healthcare and therefore have a crucial role in promoting health, preventing illness and delivering preventive care. For example, a patient can visit their practitioner to have regular check-ups, be screened for specific diseases, identify risk factors for disease, and discuss ways of achieving a healthy lifestyle. Preventive healthcare consists of measures taken to prevent diseases (as opposed to treating them)22 and to detect them in their early and often asymptomatic stages, based on relevant current clinical and other guidelines. According to 2013 data from the Australian Institute of Health and
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