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Kiwis living with HIV will now have access to a new interactive tool to help them overcome a range of treatment barriers and better communicate with their healthcare providers. The introduction of the tool into New Zealand follows the release of a new study which investigated the experiences of HIV patients at a global level.
The study found there are many reasons why people living with HIV may find it more difficult to talk comfortably with their healthcare providers, which also compromises medical treatment and quality of life.
The Unity Tool, which will be introduced to Kiwis this month, is an interactive online resource designed by HIV advocacy groups, healthcare providers and GSK/ViiV Healthcare to improve treatment outcomes and optimise treatment beyond control of the HIV virus, by helping the patient feel more comfortable disclosing their health needs.
Another new study shows mental health issues such as depression and anxiety may be more than twice as high in HIV patients compared to that of the rest of the population. It is hoped that the tool which encourages greater communication will also help to support those in a more vulnerable state of mind.
The tool uses an online form to take patients through a series of questions and then creates an appointment guide which they can take to their healthcare provider for further discussion on issues of concern.
The questionnaire covers issues including general well-being, emotional, social and family life, work life, sex life and suitability of the HIV treatment and its effect on their quality of life.
Dr Ian Griffiths, medical director of GSK NZ, says the tool is a useful precursor to a patient appointment as it helps them identify and describe problems and facilitate a more meaningful conversation with their specialist.
“There can be a wide range of reasons why people living with HIV may not be able to communicate openly with their doctor face-to-face. The aim of the Unity Tool is to support those people living with HIV in their conversations with their healthcare providers over especially personal, difficult or troublesome issues which may be worrying them,” he says.
Dr Griffiths says it’s essential that there is greater communication between people living with HIV and their medical carers as the research shows that poor interactions between the two groups has a detrimental effect on a patient’s treatment adherence and quality of life.
“What this tool will help us do is break down the barriers to communication between doctor and patient to ensure they optimise lifestyle choices and treatment regimens,” he says. Further research showed that as many as 90% of people living with HIV believe that their medical consultations could be improved if their wellbeing was discussed in greater depth than it currently was.
Dr Griffiths says interestingly it was not just HIV patients who felt that current interactions were inadequate, with almost half of healthcare providers saying that discussion guides would be a valuable tool to help better support interactions with patients to improve clinical outcomes.
Body Positive* executive director Mark Fisher says that more needs to be done to meet the needs of those living with HIV including helping to foster a more open and honest discussion with their healthcare providers.
“The Unity Tool is an important way to maintain an ongoing dialogue between healthcare providers and those people living with HIV. The online form helps them communicate their general well-being at the same time as asking them to describe their current treatment status. “With their treatment status outlined, they are prepared to have an informed and engaging discussion with their health care provider to discuss options to improve their wellbeing and to discuss new treatment options, such as the most recently funded HIV medication Tivicay, indicated as one of the first line treatment options by international guidelines which some may not have even asked if they are eligible for,” says Fisher.
Sexual Health Specialist and GP Dr Rick Franklin, who has more than 25 years’ experience treating HIV patients, says the new tool will go a long way in helping to secure best practice for healthcare providers and their HIV patients when it comes to prescription and adherence of medicines. “We know that there are a number of barriers which HIV patients may experience in seeking better treatment, anything we can do to facilitate the conversation with their healthcare provider will help us better manage the disease and ensure optimal quality of life” says Dr Franklin.
Dr Griffiths says New Zealand will be the sixth country to receive the Unity Tool which is already being utilised in the UK, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Singapore and Spain. This resource will be hosted online and available to patients, healthcare providers and advocacy groups.
Nov22
Increasing Kiwi demand for an Asian beverage known as bubble tea will see Australasia’s fastest growing tea brand double the number of their New Zealand stores next year.
Bubble Tea or boba tea is a tea drink made with soft tapioca balls called pearls. Originally created in Taiwan in the 1980’s, the beverage has gained popularity in markets around the world. Globally, sales of tapioca pearls are part of $5.4bn market and are growing at a rate of 4% per annum.
Marcus Teh, Gong Cha’s New Zealand manager, says the company will add another three stores to New Zealand next year. The company will also employ 20 local staff in addition to the team of 30 currently working for the company.
Since launching just over a decade ago, Gong Cha has opened 1500 stores, including more than 600 outlets in USA, South East Asia and Australia – making it the fastest growing tea brand in this part of the world, says Teh.
“Bubble tea has been well received in the New Zealand market and is growing at around 20% per year here,” he says.
He says the new store will open in Auckland’s Sylvia Park mall this month.
“With over 12.6 million customers each year, Sylvia Park is the country’s largest mall and has made a significant investment in developing a new food and beverage offering – one that we feel will increase the appeal of the mall as a culinary destination outside of the CBD,
“The opening of Gong Cha in Sylvia Park signals our expansion and ability to meet the demand from a wider demographic wanting to purchase the products. Already popular with Asian communities, we now have a growing demand with other parts of the Kiwi market,” he says.
Gong Cha was recently voted the most popular food and beverage brand in Singapore, and was also named the most popular tea brand in Korea.
In New Zealand Gong Cha is owned by the ST Group. The company also manages other retail brands such as Papparich and Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tarts turning over $8 million in sales and employing over 60 staff.
Nov17
Bat. Tap. Swipe. Pounce. Crunch. There’s no time to ‘paws’ for thought with new Temptations™ Snacky Mouse™ – the irresistibly tasty toy that turns treat time into playtime!
Embrace your moggy’s playful side and let the snacking fun begin with new Temptations™ Snacky Mouse™. Simply fill your cat’s Snacky Mouse™ toy with their favourite Temptations™ treats and watch as your loveable feline friend tries everything in their furry powers to get their paws on them!
The bobble Snacky Mouse™ toy dispenses treats to clever cats as they enjoy a deliciously good game of cat and mouse. And if your moggy loves his treats just a wee bit too much, you can rest assured in the knowledge that each Temptations™ treat has just two calories per piece.
Indulge your cuddly furball with the purrfect playful tasty treat and sit back and enjoy the show as they touch, paws and engage with new Temptations™ Snacky Mouse™ – the most deliciously playful toy in town!
New Temptations™ Snacky Mouse™ is available now from participating retailers, FREE with every purchase of TEMPTATIONS™ Cat Treats. Participating retailers are Countdown, New World, selected PAK’nSAVE stores, Fresh Choice, The Warehouse & Animates
For more information, visit temptationstreats.co.nz
Promotion Terms & Conditions:
Claim a free TEMPTATIONS™ SNACKY MOUSE™ Cat Toy in participating retail stores when you purchase any one of the following TEMPTATIONS™ products.TEMPTATIONS™ 60-85g Range, TEMPTATIONS™ 180g Range, TEMPTATIONS™ 350g Range. Promotion commences Monday 6th November 2017. Only while stocks last. Limit 3 SNACKY MOUSE™ cat toys per customer. No trade supplied. This gift cannot be exchanged for cash.
*Daily feeding recommendation – feed up to 15 treats per 4.5kg of cat daily as a treat or snack. If fed as a main meal, ¼ cup of TEMPTATIONS™ Treats for cats can replace ¼ cup of WHISKAS® Meaty Selections Food for Cats. Provide Fresh Drinking water at all times.
Nov13
Culturally targeted healthcare programmes based in churches and on marae are needed to help reduce the impact of severe asthma in Pasifika and Māori communities according to local experts.
New Zealand has the fourth highest hospital admission rates for asthma of all OECD countries with the proportion of Pasifika and Māori children admitted twice as high as European children.
Severe asthma is a specific type of asthma where symptoms do not improve even when maximum amounts of usual medications are taken, and where other possible causes for the symptoms have been eliminated.
Estimates suggest up to 10% of the asthma population have a severe form of asthma. In New Zealand, that could equate to more than 52,000 Kiwis who may struggle to control their day-to-day symptoms and continue to have frequent asthma flare-ups, despite taking their maximum prescribed doses of asthma medication.
The inability to control the symptoms of severe asthma with medication means that therapy options are limited and as many as 40% of adults with the disease may be hospitalised annually as a result. Around one in three adults with severe asthma are dependent on oral steroids – a treatment regimen which may cause a range of side effects including weight gain, an elevated risk of diabetes and infections as well as having a detrimental impact on their mood.
Asthma mortality rates are also highest among Māori and Pasifika peoples, with rates 4.8 and 5.8 times higher than rates for those of other ethnicities.
The condition is not always well managed following hospital treatment with one in five Māori/Pasifika people readmitted to hospital within a year of being first admitted with asthma symptoms.
A new report has found that the higher asthma burden in Māori can be attributed to a combination of exposure to the wider determinants of asthma, access to care, asthma treatment, cultural safety and self-management issues; strategies aiming to more effectively manage severe asthma in Māori should target these sites of action.
The report reviewed a number of marae based, asthma treatment programmes which were able to establish credibility among whanau and had improved outcomes for Māori with severe asthma. Christchurch and Auckland based GP Dr Api Talemaitoga agrees Māori and Pasifika sufferers are most at risk of severe asthma and often require urgent after-hours medical attention or admission to hospital.
“One thing I see in my after-hours role is that there are a large number of Pasifika people who are not using preventative medications, and these can be patients who have previously been admitted with severe asthma, but once their episode has passed have not continued to use a preventer,” he says.
“The thing with asthma is it’s quite invisible, if you had a bad cut, you would of course go to a doctor and get it looked at, but with asthma it’s easy to minimise its effects until it’s at a critical stage which can be terrifying for both adults and children,” he says.
Dr Talemaitoga says poverty plays a role in a family’s ability to prevent, manage and respond to severe asthma.
“What might start off as a cold, can become a bad cold, and combined with a poorly insulated house, and cooler nights, the patient is unable to get warm. Often they can develop a lower respiratory chest infection which makes their asthma worse. It is these type of environmental factors which mean that acute attacks often present in after-hours clinics,” he says.
Dr Talemaitoga says more needs to be done to better educate the Pasifika community on the danger of severe asthma at both a cultural and clinical level.
“I think health days at churches are very effective in communicating in a language and environment they are comfortable and familiar with. We’ve proven this approach works with the success of rheumatic fever, pneumococcal and whooping cough programmes, but now we need to address severe asthma,” he says.
As well as culturally appropriate education Dr Talemaitoga says healthcare providers need to ensure they are taking the time to delve into the family history, correctly diagnose severe asthma, and stress the importance of medication in combating severe asthma.
A member of the Asthma Foundation’s expert advisory group, Dr Talemaitoga spreads his time between clinics in Christchurch and Wellington, often training healthcare practitioners on severe asthma diagnosis.
“I tell them that using humour, appropriate language and making time to explain how to use medications are all critical steps in dealing with the disease.
“As doctors we need to know more than just their health issues to properly diagnose asthma, we need to know their social background, their home environment and their family history,” says Dr Talemaitoga.
“If we are not taking the time to find out family history (for example children whose parents have asthma are more likely to have it), we could misdiagnose it or miss it completely,” he says.
Severe asthma can in some cases be misdiagnosed as a chest infection, while the chest infection can be treated with antibiotics, a clinician could miss the respiratory inflammation which would result in another hospitalisation further down the track, he says.
He says there is some good news when it comes to severe asthma in that it is treatable with patients often able to make a recovery once given the appropriate medication or medical intervention.
Auckland woman Danielle Murray knows first-hand the impact of asthma on a family. The mother of four, her husband and two of the children all have asthma, with Danielle’s inhibiting her quality of life since she was two.
“I get hospitalised about once or twice a year, and I have to go to the doctor to go on a nebuliser an additional couple of times a year. It’s normally when I start getting sick ,with a cold or flu. I can’t keep on top of it. I have to have my puffer every four hours, then two hours, then one – then it stops working and I have to go into hospital for about three days and stay on the nebuliser,” says Murray.
“I have had severe asthma my whole life, which means I can’t go anywhere without a puffer. When I get an attack I literally can’t breathe – if I don’t have my puffer I could die. I always have an inhaler in my bra in case I can’t get to my bag in time!”
Murray says as a child suffering from severe asthma often made her anxious which culminated in a major asthma attack during a school cross country event.
“I was curled up in a ball, I couldn’t breathe, my puffer was at the other end of the field and I couldn’t get up. I was so scared. I managed to eventually make it back and it was ok, but I remember being absolutely terrified.
“I still have that every now and again, when the puffer’s at the other end of the house or the kids have moved it – I can’t breathe and it’s terrifying. Because I’ve lived with it for my whole life I’ve learned to manage it pretty well, but it can still go wrong really quickly sometimes,” she says.
Dr Talemaitoga’s advice to anyone suffering from the symptoms of asthma is to seek medical advice.
-ENDS-
Written on behalf of GSK by Impact PR. For further information or images, please contact Mark Devlin, [email protected] (021509060).
Notes to Editors:
Severe asthma is a chronic condition that affects a small, but significant, number of patients who need to take multiple medications to control their day-to-day symptoms and reduce the risk of frequent and serious asthma attacks. It is estimated that 5 – 10% of all asthma patients have severe asthma.
Nov02
Bat. Tap. Swipe. Pounce. Crunch. There’s no time to ‘paws’ for thought with new Temptations™ Snacky Mouse™ – the irresistibly tasty toy that turns treat time into playtime!
Embrace your moggy’s playful side and let the snacking fun begin with new Temptations™ Snacky Mouse™. Simply fill your cat’s Snacky Mouse™ toy with their favourite Temptations™ treats and watch as your loveable feline friend tries everything in their furry powers to get their paws on them!
The bobble Snacky Mouse™ toy dispenses treats to clever cats as they enjoy a deliciously good game of cat and mouse. And if your moggy loves his treats just a wee bit too much, you can rest assured in the knowledge that each Temptations™ treat has just two calories per piece.
Indulge your cuddly furball with the purrfect playful tasty treat and sit back and enjoy the show as they touch, paws and engage with new Temptations™ Snacky Mouse™ – the most deliciously playful toy in town!
New Temptations™ Snacky Mouse™ is available now from participating retailers, FREE with every purchase of TEMPTATIONS™ Cat Treats. Participating retailers are Countdown, New World, selected PAK’nSAVE stores, Fresh Choice, The Warehouse & Animates
For more information, visit temptationstreats.co.nz
Promotion Terms & Conditions:
Claim a free TEMPTATIONS™ SNACKY MOUSE™ Cat Toy in participating retail stores when you purchase any one of the following TEMPTATIONS™ products.TEMPTATIONS™ 60-85g Range, TEMPTATIONS™ 180g Range, TEMPTATIONS™ 350g Range. Promotion commences Monday 6th November 2017. Only while stocks last. Limit 3 SNACKY MOUSE™ cat toys per customer. No trade supplied. This gift cannot be exchanged for cash.
*Daily feeding recommendation – feed up to 15 treats per 4.5kg of cat daily as a treat or snack. If fed as a main meal, ¼ cup of TEMPTATIONS™ Treats for cats can replace ¼ cup of WHISKAS® Meaty Selections Food for Cats. Provide Fresh Drinking water at all times.
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