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Health topics we covered at the ISTM in Boston (US) in May

1 June 2011

Health topics we covered at the ISTM in Boston (US) in May

Promoting the importance of whole person healthcare at the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) conference in Boston - with a special focus on the psychological health of travellers...

In May, a delegation of five clinicians from the doctor’s team and psychological health represented InterHealth and the needs of worldwide travellers at the biennial conference of the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) in Boston, US.

It was a hugely successful week for InterHealth providing an ideal platform to demonstrate and share our integrated approach to healthcare with an eager and interested audience. Through further research and effective partnerships we can work towards mainstreaming this integrated approach into travel medicine at a global level.

In an increasingly scientific world of travel medicine InterHealth led the way on three sessions on psychological health, both of which were well attended in a conference of around 1,500 health professionals.

Topics InterHealth covered at the ISTM:

Cross Cultural Travel

Dr Ted Lankester is on the Leadership Council of ISTM, founder and current Chair of the Special Interest Group on the psychological health of travellers.

Ted and InterHealth’s Consultant Psychiatrist, Evelyn Sharpe chaired a pre-conference on Cross Cultural Travel talking about the importance of pre and post assignment psychological briefings, with a particular focus on the issues facing families and children on return from overseas.

Psychological Health

Over the past year, InterHealth’s specialist psychological health team have been responding to the needs of our client organisations, and their requests for new ways of supporting and strengthening the resilience of their staff and volunteers through remote medical and psychological health services.

Based on a rich body of research evidence, robust peer consultation with international psychological health experts and InterHealth’s extensive experience, Annie Hargrave, InterHealth’s Director of Psychological Health Services presented a new service that is designed to meet this need. It’s called a Resilience Briefing. We will be hosting two seminars on our new, innovative clinical service. Email becky.hill@interhealth.org.uk to find out more.

This led us into a main conference symposium the following day, which InterHealth convened and chaired, entitled ‘Psychological Health Issues in long-term travellers’.

InterHealth’s Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Evelyn Sharpe spoke about resilience in mission and aid workers. She focussed on individual, social and organisational factors that contribute to resilience and ways this can be enhanced or diminished, depending on coping strategies and support and the individual’s own self-awareness and knowledge.

Culture Shock

The following day there was a further main conference symposium on neglected issues in travel medicine, attended by over 500 delegates. Dr Ted Lankester spoke on Mental Health and the Global Traveller and also took the audience through the stages of culture shock. We lived and laughed through the peaks and troughs of mood and motivation that go along with adjusting to a new country, and returning to our own.

Significant InterHealth Research

Level of morbidity in aid workers returning from the first wave of the crisis in Haiti
InterHealth’s Medical Team Leader Dr Claire Davies presented the work of our research team, entitled ‘Travel Medicine in a Crisis’. The research demonstrates the high level of morbidity we saw in aid workers returning from the first wave of the crisis in Haiti. Again, psychological issues came up and it seems that amongst other travel clinics seeing returners, we were almost alone in specifically asking and debriefing aid workers on these issues.

Illnesses affecting humanitarian workers: Dr Vanessa Field presented a research poster on illnesses affecting humanitarian workers seen at InterHealth over a one year period.

Disease monitoring: InterHealth is one of 3 centers in the UK- the only one in London, and amongst just under 60 worldwide which monitors the health problems in those travelling and crossing borders. This is known as the Geosentinel project and is a joint project of The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US, The European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the ISTM.

We are one of the three largest sites tracking the illnesses in longer-term expatriates and aid workers. The project is managed by Dr Vanessa Field, with Nicki Boddington. Geosentinel is a body which regularly publishes in the leading international medical journals.

InterHealth Wins ISTM Research Award

We were proud to receive the 2010-2011 ISTM Research Award for 5000 US Dollars on behalf of InterHealth’s Nicki Boddington (Clinical Research Lead) and Rupal Shah (Pharmacist Manager) during the ISTM Membership Assembly on 10th May 2011. The grant will support a study investigating how travellers’ use standby emergency self-treatment kits for Travellers’ Diarrheoa and Malaria over a two year period. Only two Research Awards were granted amongst a society of 2,500 members. On receiving the award, InterHealth’s Director of Health Services, Dr Ted Lankester, commented: “I am delighted that amongst all the competition we received the award and this is a big achievement especially for an organisation that has no formal academic linkages. We are excited about the project because it will make a difference to the health and well-being of aid and development workers at the frontline”.

InterHealth is undertaking many new exciting research and development projects in the field of travel and tropical medicine and more detailed information on our current projects will be coming soon.

Textbook of Travel Medicine

During the conference the editor of the definitive US Textbook on Travel Medicine asked Dr Ted Lankester and a Canadian colleague to revise and update a significant chapter on the physical and psychological health care of long-term travellers. More information on this will coming soon…

Joint Learning

Needless to say, we all benefitted by learning more about the huge and emerging sub-speciality of Travel Medicine and updating ourselves on the latest developments.

Please contact us at info@interhealth.org.uk if you would like any more information on any of the issues mentioned above.

 

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