Prevention, screening and immunisation
Chronic disease prevention
The Queensland Government’s My Health For Life (MH4L) program is a free behaviour change program designed for people at high risk of developing a chronic disease. It is designed to support participants to make small lifestyle changes that can have significant, long-term health benefits.
The program supports the primary health care network by extending on advice given by health professionals and includes six coaching sessions (either phone or group sessions) for participants over six months by qualified health professionals and MH4L facilitators, and an ongoing maintenance program.
Get involved
MH4L run a number of local groups across the Brisbane south region.
Note: Participants can complete the program through face-to-face, video conferencing or telephone coaching. Participants anywhere in Queensland can attend a video conferencing session with a facilitator.
Local MH4L group start dates
| Date | Time | Provider | Suburb |
| 8 February 2021 | 7:30pm – 9:30pm * | Saalihah Seedat Consulting | Underwood |
| 9 February 2021 | 10:00am – 12:00pm ^ | ECCQ | South Brisbane |
| 9 February 2021 | 1:15pm – 3:15pm ^ | ECCQ | South Brisbane |
| 10 February 2021 | 1:00pm – 3:00pm ^ | ECCQ | Inala |
| 15 February 2021 | 11:30am – 1:30pm | Prime Physiotherapy | Sherwood |
| 3 March 2021 | 10:00am – 12:00pm | Saalihah Seedat Consulting | Rochedale South |
| 9 March 2021 | 6:30pm – 8:30pm | Nutrition Insight | Moorooka |
| 18 March 2021 | 9:30am – 11:30am | Nutrition Insight | Sunnybank |
To find out more about your practice getting involved in MH4L, you can contact Brisbane South PHN or MH4L directly.
Cancer screening
Brisbane South PHN recommends all practices regularly check and participate in training about current screening guidelines for breast cancer, cervical cancer and bowel cancer:
- Breast screening
- National Cervical Screening program
- Cervical Screening Online Training Modules
- RACGP and the NSCP cervical cancer screening guidelines
- National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP)
- Clinical Guidelines – National Bowel Cancer Screening Program
- NBSCP and Australia Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) Bowel cancer education
- Quality improvement toolkit for general practice – cancer prevention
There are many ways for practices to encourage patients to participate in screening, including:
- displaying brochures, fliers and posters
- demonstrating test kit use
- sending reminders to eligible patients.
Immunisation in primary care
‘Immunisation is a simple, safe and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases before they come into contact with them. Immunisation protects not only individuals, but also others in the community by reducing the spread of preventable diseases.’
‘Immunisation is a simple, safe and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases before they come into contact with them. Immunisation protects not only individuals, but also others in the community by reducing the spread of preventable diseases.’
Brisbane South PHN supports the primary care vaccine service providers to increase immunisation coverage within the Brisbane south area through the National Immunisation Program (NIP) Schedule and the Queensland Immunisation Program.
The Australian Immunisation Handbook provides clinical advice for health professionals on the safest and most effective use of vaccines in their practice.
Information and resources
Updates
- National Immunisation Program (NIP) schedule changes from 1 July 2020
- Updated resources
- Updated recommendations
- Australian Immunisation Handbook Mobile app
- National Immunisation Catch up calculator
- Risk conditions for pneumococcal disease (funded and not funded)
- Pneumococcal vaccines for Australians – Fact sheet
- Meningococcal vaccines for Australians – Fact sheet
Users can access additional information to assist with the interpretation of the recommendations from the Australian Immunisation Handbook website’s Recommendations and Resources pages.
Immunisation resources
- Australian Immunisation Handbook
- Queensland immunisation schedule 2020
- Latest news Department of Health
- Immunisation program updates
- National vaccine storage guidelines “Strive for 5”
- Department of Health resources
- Adverse events following immunisation reporting form (AEFI)
- The Pneumosmart vaccination tool
- Online catch up calculator
- Questions about vaccination
- Following vaccination – what to expect and what to do (tear off pads)
- NCIRS fact sheets
- Pre-Vaccination Screening Checklist and Consent Form
- Pre-vaccination checklist for Zostavax administration
- Catch-up vaccination
- Vaccination procedures
- Preparing an anaphylaxis response kit
- Quality improvement toolkit for general practice – shingles
- Quality improvement toolkit for general practice – pneumococcal
Online education
- Immunisation – General and COVID-19 vaccination
- Queensland Health online courses for immunisation service providers
- Immunisation training videos developed by the Immunisation Program for training purposes (how to administer vaccines, first contact with a vaccine-hesitant parent, doctors speaking to a vaccine-hesitant mother, yarning about immunisation, setting up a purpose-built fridge, how to pack an esky with vaccines)
- APNA (Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association)
- National Centre Immunisation Research and Surveillance NCIRS webinars
Vaccine management (cold chain)
Australian Immunisation Register
Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) is a national register that records all vaccines given to all people in Australia.
Influenza
- 2021 Influenza vaccination guidelines
- Influenza immunisation program advice 2021
- ATAGI advice on seasonal influenza vaccines in 2021
- NCIRS fact sheets and resources 2021
- Quality improvement toolkit – 2020 flu vaccines
Before administering an influenza vaccine, it is important to check the AIR to see if a COVID-19 vaccination may have been administered and if so, when it was administered. The preferred minimum interval between a seasonal influenza vaccine and a COVID-19 vaccine is 14 days.