About the Good Medicine Better Health program
Partnering with Aboriginal Health Professionals and communities to improve quality use of medicines (QUM) and medical tests.
Key points
The Good Medicine Better Health program aims to:
- provide CPD-accredited education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Practitioners on a range of conditions
- build skills around the quality and safe use of medicines in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia
- enable access to the best resources to improve community understanding of QUM
- assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Practitioners in their career progression to help retain these roles that are essential to supporting good health care.
A successful program reimagined
The 2010–12 Good Medicines Better Health program successfully trained over 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health  Practitioners. But the passage of nearly a decade has changed both QUM and clinical training in ways that require a reimagining of the program and its aims and methods. NPS MedicineWise sought feedback from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations to understand the value of the 2010–12 Good Medicines Better Health program.
- Feedback from stakeholders indicated that there was still value in the content, however new technologies should be considered to increase availability. Face-to-face training had limitations. As a result, the program now includes an online learning environment, offering flexibility and convenience.
- Further, stakeholders noted that this work should be underpinned by strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander governance.
The Good Medicine Better Health Advisory Group was established to guide the program from 2019. They have set a vision and mission for the program.
Figure 1. Components of a reimagined Good Medicine Better Health program.
Vision
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Practitioners are skilled and empowered in QUM.
Mission
We provide training and resources needed to deliver the quality and safe use of medicines that is responsive to local needs to achieve better health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Principles
The redesigned program will:
- contribute to health outcomes of communities by supporting the role of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Practitioners
- be reviewed and evaluated frequently to ensure that it is continuously improved and is providing relevant education to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Practitioners
- have flexibility to allow for broad reach and local implementation
- support the alignment to CPD and training requirements
- consist of online content that allows for easy updates and version control
- collect data and analytics on how resources are used
- build partnerships and leverage existing content and resources, where possible
- support the use of digital resources with consumers to help with medicines compliance
- ensure that it complements existing training, is fit for purpose, and supports evidence-based best practice
- respect and incorporate the advice of the Good Medicine Better Health Advisory Group (GMBHAG) wherever practicable, as this group represents the voices and perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health organisations.
Partnerships
Key partnerships have been identified and built with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, PHNs and state-based Aboriginal community-controlled  health services to facilitate the delivery and uptake of the program.
Co-design
The overall format and accessibility of the online platform will be co-designed with key users and partners. Co-design will also help to inform the accessibility of the mentorship program and platform, and other key education resources.
Content development
Content is developed in collaboration with key Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health organisations and national peak bodies. The content will be developed incrementally, based on the existing modules that were previously provided as face-to-face training. These will be updated and made available as online learning modules.
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Building on good foundations
The first Good Medicine Better Health program (called Good Medicines Better Health) aimed to improve QUM in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The program was delivered from 2010 to 2012 by a partnership between NACCHO, the Heart Foundation, the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia and NPS MedicineWise.
The program focused on delivering a series of training modules to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Practitioners in Aboriginal community-controlled health services. The training was delivered either directly by a training team or through a train-the-trainer model to build capacity of the more experienced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Practitioners to deliver training to their colleagues.
The program developed four core training modules – a foundation module on QUM and three chronic disease-specific modules (QUM in asthma, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes). Additionally, consumer tools for those three disease areas were developed and released for use in communities.
See resources developed for the original Good Medicines Better Health program on the NACCHO website
The 2010–12 program trained 264 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Practitioners working in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHSs). The program was evaluated, and recommendations were made to improve the overall success of the program. These were being implemented in GMBH v2 in 2019–20.
NPS MedicineWise engaged Dreamtime Creative to help develop a logo for the redesigned program. Dreamtime Creative was involved in developing the original images for Good Medicines Better Health 2010–12. Along with a redesigned program and a new look, a decision was made to change the name to Good Medicine Better Health. The new name aims to incorporate medical tests and other health technologies.
The logo’s three circles symbolise good medicine (green), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers (blue) and the new training approaches of the program (yellow). The smaller circles encapsulate the larger group as one.
The designer is Jordan Lovegrove, a young Ngarrindjeri man who combines intimate knowledge of Aboriginal communities and illustration skills to develop outstanding Indigenous artwork which is applied to a range of print and online communications.
The information was first published on 20 July 2022. All reasonable care was taken to provide accurate information at the time of creation. This information is not intended as a substitute for medical advice and should not be exclusively relied on to manage or diagnose a medical condition.