The Workers Health Centre is a not for profit charity established in 1977 by affiliated unions to provide independent rehabilitation services for injured workers.
As part of the Workers Health Centre role for union members, free health checks were provided at the IEU Early Childhood Conference in August and 33 delegates were screened. The health checks included blood pressure, pulse, weight, height and blood glucose level.
High blood pressure usually does not have any symptoms and is one of the most common health conditions. It can lead to serious problems such as heart attack, stroke or kidney disease. This is why visiting your GP regularly to have your BP checked is important.
Body mass index is an indicator of a person’s body fat and identifies whether a person is at a healthy weight. This is critical to lower the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers.
High blood sugar levels can indicate a person is at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, which also has no signs or symptoms. Two million Australians have pre-diabetes and are at high-risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular (heart and circulation) disease.
Further information was discussed regarding current treatments and conditions, medications, family history and risk factors, current lifestyle, age related issues and mental wellbeing.
If risk factors or untreated conditions were identified, these were discussed, resources were provided and a follow up plan developed to see their GP or a specialised service provider.
Overall the IEU delegates were healthy and knowledgeable about their health and see their GP regularly.
There were a few discussions regarding concerns for their male partner’s health. Fact sheets were provided for Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnoea, stress and changing lifestyles to share after the conference.
Further health information and resources are available from:
- https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/body-mass-index-bmi
- https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/blood-pressure
- http://www.workershealth.com.au
To make a referral for an injured worker to the Workers Health Centre, please check their website at http://www.workershealth.com.au, or call 02 9749 766.