General Practice
Working within the General Practice setting
Since the late 1990s the Heart Foundation NSW has been working with NSW Divisions of General Practice to address lifestyle risk factor management within the general practice setting.
The NSW General Practice Physical Activity Project (GPPA)
The GPPA project was initiated in 1999 with funding from NSW Health. The project worked with Divisions of General Practice in NSW to assist them to provide General Practice with:
- evidence based information on the amount, type and duration of physical activity required for improvement in cardiovascular health and diabetes;
- the knowledge, skills and resources to assess current physical activity levels among patients, and prescribe appropriate amounts and types of physical activity; and
- information on expected efficacy and benefits of delivering specific physical activity advice to patients in the form of individual prescriptions.
As part of this program six general practice fact sheets were developed.
Physical Activity and Depression 
Download
Management of Overweight and Obesity in adults Download
Physical Activity in the Prevention of Type Two Diabetes Download
Physical Activity and Healthy Aging Download
Getting patients more active: practical information for general practice (2005) Download
Physical Activity and Heart disease Download
The NSW Prevention in Practice Project
Implementation of the Heart Foundation Prevention in Practice project commenced in 2007 and is an integrated approach to implementing lifestyle risk factor interventions within General Practice.
This project, funded by NSW Health and managed by the Heart Foundation, aims to:
- increase the awareness of the benefits of addressing the lifestyle risk factors of smoking, poor nutrition, excessive alcohol consumption, physical inactivity and unhealthy bodyweight (SNAPO) and,
- support effective interventions within General Practice.
Key elements of this program include:
- Capacity grants for selected NSW Divisions of General Practice
- Support and training for Divisions of General Practice to assist General Practice to implement lifestyle interventions
- Education and training opportunities for General Practitioners and Practice Nurses
- Synthesis and distribution of key evidence based resources and material for General Practice teams and patients
- Development of supportive information tools for General Practice.
RACGP Online Learning Modules
One of the key strategies for the Heart Foundation's Prevention in Practice Project is the development of online learning modules for General Practitioners, Practice Nurses and other Health Professionals using the Royal Australian College of General Practitioner's gplearning program portal.
The Implementing Lifestyle Change (ILC) modules equip General Practitioners and Practice Nurses with behavioural change strategies which enable them to assist patients to more effectively manage and control the unhealthy behaviours of smoking, unsafe consumption of alcohol, unhealthy body weight, an unbalanced approach to healthy eating and physical inactivity.
Overall, the complete course materials will provide between 8-10 hours of educational material in formats including patient case studies, patient audits, peer comparison activities, tutorials, reference materials, links and resources including patient handout material. The modules are being progressively posted on the gplearning portal, with the smoking cessation module and the physical activity module available now. The full series of online modules addressing all risk factor areas will be complete and available as an Active Learning Module by mid 2008.
Access to the online modules is free to all RACGP registered members and gplearning subscribers and available to non-members and health professionals at a cost of $15. To register for the non-member access go to www.gplearning.com.au click on the ILC link, then go to the registration page.
In addition to the online learning modules, a Facilitators Guide, complete with PowerPoint presentation slides, is being developed for each of the modules for circumstances where group based learning is preferred, or online access is not practical. The facilitator guide and presentations are free to access from the Heart Foundation website and give Divisions of General Practice and other Training Providers the ability to run workshops on the ILC series. The Smoking Cessation facilitators guide and slide presentation are available below, with the physical activity resource expected to be available early April.
ILC Book Introduction Download
Smoking Cessation Facilitator Guide Download
Smoking Cessation Presentation Slides Download
For further information about these projects please call Scott Dunn at the Heart Foundation on (02) 9219 2458 or click here to email.