With the cold and flu season just around the corner, the staff at Dubbo Senior Academy (NSW) called in Dubbo Aboriginal Medical Service (Dubbo AMS) for the academy’s annual student health checks.
Held in the school hall, Dubbo AMS staff operated six stations for the students to visit which covered general observations, dental, eye health, social wellbeing, diabetes, alcohol and other drugs, sexual health, emotional well-being, ear health and a doctor consultation. Each student had a special ‘passport’ stamped at each station to show they’d spoken with each of the health providers.
In total, 77 students (98%) were screened over three days which is an outstanding result.
Dubbo Senior Academy Director Ted Bates said the health check days were an excellent way to break stigmas surrounding health checks and to create a relationship between the academy boys and local health providers.
“These checks are designed to identify any concerns that practitioners might have and then book students in for follow up appointments,” he said. “They can then track their results from year to year to observe any changes.
“We also hope to identify prevalent health concerns so we can tailor future health sessions held at the academy to address these issues.”
