One Disease

Last month, our Major Gifts Manager, Sarah Ambry, and Senior Community Nurse, Irene O'Meara spent the week travelling to Bathurst Island on the Tiwi Islands, as well as to the Daly River Community. Sarah has written a short story beneath each photo, so read on!

Last week, Acting CEO and Program Director Michelle Dowden and Team Administrator Genevieve Dodds travelled to the Kimberley in Western Australia. The visit was to commence stakeholder engagement and provide education to a range of people.

At the request of Yurrwi Clinic, Meg our Senior Community Nurse, together with Helen the East Arnhem CDC Skin Nurse; have spent the week undertaking education with households and community agencies, and following up a few crusted scabies clients… See you next time Yurrwi!

Education at Wadeye:
One of the key strategies of our Crusted Scabies Elimination Plan is the provision of Crusted Scabies (and scabies) education. Education sessions (face to face, Skype or conference call) and resources are developed in consultation with health staff of remote communities and disease experts. As an example of our work in this area, earlier in the year, One Disease staff - Irene O’Meara and Geneveive Dodds conducted an education session at the Youth Centre i...n Wadeye with mainly high school aged girls. Wadeye is the largest indigenous community in the Northern Territory. The goal of the session was to increase understanding of skin checks for scabies and maintaining healthy skin.
In this photo Geneveive (R) is showing one of the Youth Centre managers Irene (M) and one of the girls (L), a scabies mite underneath the microscope.
See More

Crusted Scabies and its precursor scabies can be detected through skin scrapings, which are sent to the lab for analysis and diagnosis. One Disease has produced a digital clip that goes through the entire process, step by step. This resource will assist local health workers in remote communities to effectively undertake the skin scrapings procedure in patients who they believe may have Crusted Scabies. The aim is to increase understanding and skills in this important area, and contribute to our goal of improving detection and diagnosis of Crusted Scabies.

Last week Irene one of our Senior Community Nurses, and Hannah our Public Health Coordinator, flew into Wadeye for 3 days of Program-related work in Wadeye and Palumpa. The road from Wadeye to Palumpa is still very rough and wet from a very long wet season. As you can see 4WD skills are a must for anyone travelling on these roads. Education sessions and general Program-related discussions with stakeholders in both Wadeye and Palumpa were very well received.

Treatment in hospital for Crusted Scabies can mean long hospital stays of up to 4 weeks. With plenty of time to spare one client kept herself busy painting. This beauty is of dragon flies which is especially fitting at this time of year. Seeing dragon flies in the NT is a sign that the wet season is nearing an end.

At first glance this may look a little like the full moon we had last week, but it’s actually a photo two scabies mites.
Scabies mites otherwise known as Sarcoptes scabiei aren’t visible to the human eye, hence this photo taken under the microscope by Irene one of our Community Nurses.
Microscopes and photos like these are not only used for detection of scabies and Crusted Scabies, but also as education tools to help people understand the disease they are suffering from.

Meg and Hannah, from our team in Darwin, recently shared audit results of Crusted Scabies data with the Public Health staff in Jabiru.
The presentation outlined a true reflection of the number of people with Crusted Scabies in the region, as per the CDC definition. The session also offered an opportunity to discuss ways of maintaining scabies free households.
This picture shows the landscape in Jabiru.

“Katherine Hospital in the Northern Territory has gone from one of the worst facilities in the country when it comes to Indigenous health care to one of the best.
Their secret: engaging with Indigenous patients and supporting doctors.”

This mural shows the Marika brothers. These brothers led the land rights movement and were instrumental in the creation of the Yirrkala Bark Petitions.
The Petitions were sent to the Australian Federal Parliament in 1963, after a mining company had established operations on their land without consultation.
These Petitions helped set off a debate which led to the Land Rights Act in 1976 and the Mabo or Native Title Act in 1992.

During our Workshop in Darwin last week we explored a series of case studies about Crusted Scabies management alongside local health professionals.
A common theme that came out of the discussions was promoting a care coordination or care navigation approach.
This approach includes identifying the best local health provider, coordinating care and putting strategies in place to better manage people with Crusted Scabies and their other chronic conditions to prevent recurrences....
One Disease will continue to explore with local providers ways we can work together to implement better care coordination for people with Crusted Scabies.
This photo shows a group sharing ideas from their case study.
See More

Today One Disease hosted a Crusted Scabies Coordination Workshop in Darwin.
The aim of the Workshop was to bring health services around the same table to discuss how we, together with patients/clients, can manage Crusted Scabies ongoing in Darwin and surrounding areas.
This image shows Michelle Dowden, NT Program Director, opening the Workshop. Shortly after this we broke into groups to discuss case scenarios relating to Crusted Scabies.

We’re pleased to announce the appointment of a new Advisory Board member - Dr Ngiare Brown.
Ngiare is a proud Yuin nation woman from the south coast of NSW. She is a senior Aboriginal medical practitioner with qualifications in medicine, public health and primary care, and has studied bioethics, medical law and human rights. She was the first identified Aboriginal medical graduate from NSW, and was one of the first Aboriginal doctors in Australia.
Ngiare and our Founder, Dr Sam Prince, first met many years ago, and their paths have crossed on several Aboriginal health initiatives. They are now excited to be working together and to have Ngiare’s wealth of experience help guide us forward.

Our CEO, Michele, took this photo during a recent trip to Yirrkala, NT.
This mural represents land rights pioneer, Roy Dadayna Marika. Roy and his five brothers fought for land rights for the Yolgnu people of East Arnhem.
Despite initially losing their case in the Federal Court, the brothers continued their struggle for recognition under Australian Law. Roy was the last brother still alive when the Yolngu people of East Arnhem Land were granted land rights in 1976.
... Alongside the mural are Roy’s granddaughter and niece, Tiana (right) and Ana (left).
See More

Dr Simon Quilty has recently published a piece in The Conversation outlining how the housing shortage exacerbates scabies in Indigenous communities, referencing the Katherine region in particular.
Due to Crusted Scabies patients having a high chance of scabies reinfestation after they have been treated and released from hospital, it’s important that these patients return to a ‘Scabies Free’ home.
Part of our work in the NT involves working alongside local clinics and communities to make sure that patients return to a scabies free community, allowing for better health outcomes long term.

We’re excited to introduce Sandy Superina, the new Trusts and Foundations Manager at One Disease.
Sandy has 18 years’ experience in grant writing and communications and joins us with a wealth of knowledge about fundraising in Australia.
Sandy is based in Melbourne and will work closely with the Development Team in Sydney, pictured here.

Today The Sydney Morning Herald published an article by Dr. Simon Quilty, outlining his experience with scabies and offering perspective about Crusted Scabies and the inequalities in health present in Australia today.
Making sure all Australians, whether in remote Australia or Sydney/Melbourne have access to the same quality of health care is a big part of what we do, and building awareness about this neglected disease is a part of that.