Kelvale Health & Wellbeing
Health & Wellbeing:
- Wellness is a state of optimal physical, mental and emotional health
- At Kelvale we are committed to helping you have a healthier, happier and more balanced life
Why being healthy and feeling well matter?
Our modern lifestyles contain many threats to our health and wellbeing. These include being overweight, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and limited exercise among many others.
The impacts of the above factors often build over time to lead to serious conditions that include the following:
- High Blood Pressure
- Fat lining the arteries and organs
- Cardiovascular disease including stroke and heart attacks
- Some forms of cancer (Breast and Colon)
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Muscular skeletal problems such as osteoarthritis and back pain
- Urine incontinence
- Sleep apnoea
However, by altering our lifestyles as early in life as possible and we can delay the development of the above conditions and more.
Well Person Medical
This check-up is aimed to be both preventative and proactive and is personally "for you". We will help you to identify contributing factors to any existing or chronic health issues to minimize your symptoms and reduce risk factors.
This will include an assessment of your:
- Past health
- Present health & symptoms
- Your lifestyle
- Diet and fitness
You will have:
- Physical measurements taken
- A full physical examination
- Relevant pathology tests
- Additional tests (as required by the findings) such as:
- Xrays
- Ultrasounds
- Electrocardiogram
- Spirometry
We will identify for you, relevant health matters for such illnesses as:
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease
- Some cancers
We will also give you advice on how to make changes to avoid or mitigate these health problems.
After the assessments are completed, a report is given to you with the findings of your medical, and recommendations for the continued maintenance of your health.
Children's Health:
Children's Health and Development checks.
These checks are done routinely as part of the 6-8 week post natal check and again at 4yrs of age prior to going to school. However, health and development checks can be done at any time if parents or teachers have any concerns.
Your child may benefit from the help of other specialised services such as speech or occupational therapy. These can be accessed through medicare by arranging for your child to have a care plan for his/her condition. This plan is reviewed every six months.
Children with asthma should also have regular health checks to ensure that their asthma is adequately controlled and their lung function is maintained.
An Asthma Care Plan is offered and an Asthma Action Plan written so parents and teachers know what treatment to instigate when needed.
Asthma Care Plans are reviewed every six months. Our primary health nurse will send a reminder when this is due.
Seniors' Health:
The aim of the Seniors' Health Check is to make sure you are in the best health in order to remain independent in your own home. This check-up is designed to:
- Assess your functional status and check that you are managing your activities of daily living
- Assess any symptoms you may be experiencing as they may be treatable - you should not accept symptoms and assume they are just due to “getting older”
Your medical history will be reviewed to make sure you are receiving the correct management and correct medications.
Your cognitive functioning and memory will be assessed and we will also discuss with you how to make an enduring power of attorney and check that you have made a will.
The Immunise Australia Program (Australian Govt. Dept of Health) will provide free vaccines to anyone 70 – 79 years old. More information below:
Women’s Health:
As well as the "Well Person Medical", the women's health check also includes:
- Menstrual and sexual health
- Breast checks & mammogram (if needed)
- Pelvic exam and pap smear
- Bone Densitometry (if indicated)
Menopausal issues will be discussed and recommendations for management made.
Men’s Health:
In addition to the "Well Person Medical", the Men’s Health Checks will also include prostate assessments & sexual health checks.
Indigenous Health:
Indigenous people can have poorer health outcomes compared to non indigenous Australians.
One important contributor to health and well being is access to health services. At Kelvale we welcome indigenous patients and aim to deliver excellent general practice services to all regardless of background.
Our staff have a range of culturally appropriate skills and expertise.
As well as treating acute illness, we aim to assess and mitigate risk factors to prevent poor health outcomes.
We offer the following preventative services:
- Indigenous adult health check for ages 15- 54 (every 2 years)
- Annual older age indigenous health checks from age 55
- Care plans for any person who already has a chronic health problem such as diabetes, asthma or heart conditions. This includes children with chronic conditions or disabilities
- Mental Health Plans
Closing The Gap Initiative
In addition we encourage our indigenous patients to sign up for "closing the gap" which enables them to obtain all their prescription medication free of charge.
