Karratha Community Stakeholder Meeting: NEARER SCAN Study for detecting Rheumatic Heart Disease

You are warmly invited to attend a Community Stakeholder Meeting on Thursday 27^th July 2023, to yarn about a study being implemented in Karratha and Roebourne called NEARER SCAN – a project to improve how we detect Rheumatic Heart Disease in at-risk children and pregnant women, through non-expert heart ultrasound (‘echo’) screening. Please see attached poster and project overview for your reference.

NEARER SCAN Rheumatic Heart Disease Project

Background

• Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) is a common cause of heart disease (Burlada Yirriri) in children (Gubiyarri/Manggurla) and young adults (Yangubala) in remote communities in Western Australia (Ngurra Warndurala)
• People don’t always know they have RHD because they feel healthy/good/strong (Waba)
• Pictures of the heart (using an ultrasound called “echo”) can show a sick heart (burlada yirriri). The earlier RHD is found, the sooner it can get treated/medicine (Waba Warawarnigu)
• The team/mob (Walybala) at Menzies want to work with the Roebourne and Karratha community to stop people from getting sick with RHD. We want to teach local clinic mob (Gurdagalgu Nyinda) how to do echos to check for RHD on children and pregnant women (Gubiyarri and Mardulga women).

Current study

The aim of the NEARER SCAN study is to improve access to echo in the Pilbara for local mob (Ngarlugu) to check for RHD and make sure children and pregnant women get treatment (Ngurru nyingu waba Warawarnigu) quicker if they have heart sickness.

How we will work together in Roebourne and Karratha

• The NEARER SCAN team will yarn with you about how we can work together to best do echo scans for RHD in Roebourne and Karratha. We want you to tell us what will work in your community and what won’t work. (Nyinda wangga)
• Local clinic mob will get echo equipment and training to undertake the heart scans. We will teach local clinic mob, so they have new skills and children and pregnant women won’t have to leave country to get a heart check. (Barni ngurranga)
• Heart doctors (Gularda Nugurra ngingu) will review all heart pictures on the computer/internet/telehealth and help to make sure children and pregnant women get the care they need if they have RHD to reduce any heart sickness.
• The NEARER SCAN team will yarn with the community about the research results and come up with a plan together about what to do next to RHD heart sickness in Pilbara kids and pregnant women (Gubiyarri and mardulga women).

Benefits to your community of being part of the study

• Better access to echo screening and diagnosis of RHD in the community for children and pregnant women without the need to travel away from home. (Barni ngurranga)
• Earlier care for people with heart sickness the echo scan will allow clinic mob to make referrals to heart doctor. (Waba Warawarnigu)
• Roebourne and Karratha clinic mob will learn new skills to do echo scans, so families won’t need to travel so much for echo scan checkups (Barni ngurranga).

Location: Karratha Health Hub Meeting Room (Opposite Red Dot in the Shopping Centre)

Date: Thursday 27^th July 2023

Time: 9.30am-11.00am

Morning Tea provided 😊

Please email chantelle.pears@health.wa.gov.au for further information.