Caring Places: planning for aged care

This report analyses the impact of the ageing population and projected dementia rates on every federal electorate in Australia from 2010 to 2050. Caring Places Volume 2 released on 25 February was commissioned to project the future requirements for aged care places and packages at the jurisdictional level, Aged Care Planning Regions (ACPRs), and Commonwealth Electoral Divisions (CEDs). The key figures that came out of the report include: *There will be a shortfall of 279,000 aged care places by 2050 *Dementia is a key driver of this increased demand *There will be shortages in both community and residential care places

The impact of social media use on children, adolescents and families

Using social media Web sites is among the most common activity of today’s children and adolescents. Any Web site that allows social interaction is considered a social media site, including social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter; gaming sites and virtual worlds such as Club Penguin, Second Life, and the Sims; video sites such as YouTube; and blogs. For this reason, it is important that parents become aware of the nature of social media sites, given that not all of them are healthy environments for children and adolescents. Pediatricians are in a unique position to help families understand social media sites, and to urge parents to monitor for potential problems with cyberbullying, “Facebook depression,” sexting, and exposure to inappropriate content. Read the full text PDF The impact of social media use on children, adolescents and families

Website offers hope to carers of people with bipolar disorder

A new information website for the caregivers of people with bipolar disorder has been launched to help the thousands of families and friends who live with and look after sufferers of the condition. Developed by researchers at Orygen Youth Health and the University of Melbourne, the information was gathered with the help of an international consortium of 143 carers, consumers and clinicians with experience in dealing with bipolar disorder. The website http://www.bipolarcaregivers.org includes information on bipolar disorder, ways to treat and manage it, suggestions for ways caregivers can provide support and take care of themselves as well as helpful resources.

International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare

The International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare is giving free access to the top 10 downloaded articles for 2010:

• Cognitive leisure activities and their role in preventing dementia: a systematic reviewCindy Stern, Zachary Munn


• Systematic review of practice guideline dissemination and implementation strategies for healthcare teams and team-based practiceJennifer Medves, Christina Godfrey, Carly Turner, at al.


• Knowing is not enough!Justin Beilby


• Summaries of Nursing Care-Related Systematic Reviews from the Cochrane Library: Individual patient education for people with type 2 diabetes mellitusPeter Norrie


• Summaries of Nursing Care-Related Systematic Reviews from the Cochrane Library: Early discharge hospital at homeRasika Jayasekara


• Grandparents and grandchildren: a grand connectionJudy Lumby


• Summaries of Nursing Care-Related Systematic Reviews from the Cochrane Library: Compression for venous leg ulcersEmily Haesler

Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust

Advances in medical, biomedical and health services research have reduced the level of uncertainty in clinical practice. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) compliment this progress by establishing standards of care backed by strong scientific evidence. CPGs are statements that include recommendations intended to optimize patient care. These statements are informed by a systematic review of evidence and an assessment of the benefits and costs of alternative care options.

The book Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust examines the current state of clinical practice guidelines and how they can be improved to enhance healthcare quality and patient outcomes. Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust shows how clinical practice guidelines can enhance clinician and patient decision-making by translating complex scientific research findings into recommendations for clinical practice that are relevant to the individual patient encounter, instead of implementing a one size fits all approach to patient care.

The book can be read online for free.

The ignored majority – The Voice of Arthritis 2011

A new report estimates there are 2.6 million Australians with inadequate care, who are needlessly suffering pain, have difficulty getting about and are being disadvantaged at work. They feel let down by general practitioners, specialists and the health care system. Arthritis Australia has commissioned a survey of Australians living with arthritis and found that you can compare three people with the same kind of arthritis, of the same severity, who’ve had it for the same length of time and have the same level of education and income – yet their arthritis has very different effects on their lives at home and work. The study shows clearly that the impact of arthritis on a person’s life and work is not understood.

New heart health initiative for female patients

Heart disease is the number one killer of women in Australia and kills four times as many women as breast cancer. Yet awareness is low. In 2010, only 31% of women reported knowing that heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in Australia.
As part of this year’s Go Red for Women campaign, the Heart Foundation is launching a Healthy Heart Challenge as a practical way for women to improve their heart health behaviours. This free 10-week Healthy Heart Challenge starts on 1 June and has been designed to provide small and realistic steps to help women improve their lifestyle. Participants will be asked to sign up to one of six goals including:• be active everyday• improve everyday nutrition• increase knowledge of heart health• quit smoking• lower high blood pressure• lower high cholesterol levels.

For more information and pre-registration go the the Go Red For Women site.

How! Not how much: Medicare spending and health resource allocation in Australia

Jeremy Sammut from the Centre for Independent Studies has written a report which traces the evolution of Australian health policy and its consequences across half a century. The report discusses how the public hospital ‘crisis,’ a political nightmare for all Australian governments, is a legacy of the health policy upheavals of the 1970s and early 1980s, which culminated with the start of Medicare in 1984. Long waits for hospital treatment in Australia are caused by the structural funding inefficiencies at the heart of Medicare, which is a ‘reverse insurance’ system that provides ‘inverse care’ for Australians.
Download or read the report here.

Diabetic foot problems - inpatient management

NICE has published a guideline for the care of people with diabetic foot problems in hospital , as the number of people with diabetes continues to rise. These include foot problems such as ulcerations and gangrene, foot deformities, and infections which, if left untreated, can have a significant impact on a patient's quality of life.The guideline aims to help overall management of diabetic foot problems and to reduce variations in practice. Download the guideline here.

BCG World Atlas

Because vaccination policies and practices for tuberculosis vary across time and countries, the first searchable, online, open access database of global BCG vaccination policy and practices, the BCG World Atlas (http://www.bcgatlas.org/), which contains detailed information on current and past BCG policies and practices for over 180 countries has been created.
The Atlas is for clinicians, policymakers, and researchers and provides information that may be helpful for better interpretation of tuberculosis (TB) diagnostics as well as design of new TB vaccines.

Safety and Quality Framework for Health Care

The Australian Safety and Quality Framework for Health Care has been developemd by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and specifies three core principles : that care is consumer centred, driven by information, and organised for safety. The Framework provides 21 areas for action that all people in the health system can take to improve the safety and quality of care provided in all healthcare settings over the next decade. Endorsed by Health Ministers, it should

• be used as the basis of strategic and operational safety and quality plans
• provide a mechanism for refocusing current safety and quality improvement activities and designing goals for health service improvement
• be used as a guide for reviewing investments and research in safety and quality
• promote discussion with consumers, clinicians, managers, researchers and policy makers about how they might best form partnerships to improve safety and quality.

Depression in the perinatal period - practice guidelines

Beyondblue has also undertaken research showing that up to 10% of pregnant women develop antenatal depression and this increases to about 16%following the birth (postnatal depression). Anxiety is also common in the ante- and post-natal periods. Given these facts, beyondblue has worked since September 2008 to develop the first Australian guidelines for the treatment of mental health problems in women during in the perinatal period. "Detecting and treating mental health disorders in the perinatal period is critical. There is clear evidence that if left untreated, there can be serious consequences for mothers, their infants and their families."

Clinical Practice guidelines for depression and related disorders - anxiety, bipolar disorder and puerperal psychosis - in the perinatal period is aimed at all health professionals working with women in the perinatal period (pregnancy and the first year after birth).

Depression in adolescents - Practice guidelines

Depression and anxiety, together with substance use disorders, are the most common mental illnesses in young people. Despite improvements in the understanding of mental health of young people, conditions such as depression are often undiagnosed and untreated in this age group.

Clinical Practice Guidelines: Depression in Adolescents and Young Adults, developed by beyondblue - the national depression initiative, brings together the best available evidence in the diagnosis, treatment and management of depression and anxiety in adolescents and young people aged 13-24. The guidelines will benefit general practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health professionals, nurses and primary health care workers.

Biomechanical work hazards survey report

Safe Work Australia has just released it's report on a survey conducted in 2008: National Hazard Exposure Worker Surveillance: Exposure to biomechanical demands, pain and fatigue symptoms and the provision of controls in Australian workplaces.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are collectively one of the eight priority occupational diseases for Australia. They account for the largest proportion of occupational disease workers’ compensation claims in Australia. Exposure to biomechanical demands at work, such as repetitive hand or arm movements, and awkward postures are one of a number of work-related factors that are associated with the development or worsening of WMSDs.

The aims of this report are to describe the employment and demographic factors that distinguish workers who are highly exposed to biomechanical demands as a result of their work, to investigate the relationship between biomechanical demands and pain and fatigue symptoms, and to assess the provision of controls for biomechanical demands in Australian workplaces.

Personalised medicine - NHMRC

Clinical Utility of Personalised Medicine is a paper published by the NHMRC to explain one of the most significant outcomes of the acceleration in genomic science. Personalised medicine is defined as "the capacity to predict disease development and influence decisions about lifestyle choices or to tailor medical practice to an individual." This includes targeting drugs and treatments based on a detailed understanding of the genetic bases of disease. In addition to the promise of improved patient care and disease prevention, personalised medicine has the potential to lower the ever increasing cost of health care.

NHMRC has developed this paper with the assistance of its Human Genetics Advisory Committee (HGAC) to support health professionals in understanding the applications, utility and limitations of personalised medicine in clinical care.

WHO guidelines for labour induction

In developed countries, up to 25% of all deliveries at term now involve induction of labour, and the percentage is also growing in undeveloped countries.

The primary goal of these guidelines, produced by WHO's Department of Reproductive Health and Research, is to improve the quality of care and outcomes for pregnant women undergoing induction of labour in under-resourced settings. Aimed at obstetricians, midwives, general medical practitioners, health-care managers and public health policy-makers, this evidence-based guidance covers topics that were regarded as critical priority questions by an international, multidisciplinary group of health-care workers, consumers and other stakeholders. The main recommendation is that "induction of labour should be performed only when there is a clear medical indication for it and the expected benefits outweigh its potential harms."

Cardiovascular disease: Australian facts 2011

The AIHW has just released this report, highlighting the fact that about 3.5 million Australians reported having the condition in 2007-08. Despite significant advances in the treatment of CVD, it remains the cause of more deaths than any other disease - about 50,000 in 2008 - and the most expensive, costing about $5.9 billion in 2004-05. Not all sectors of Australian society are affected equally by CVD with people in lower socioeconomic groups, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and those living in the remote areas of Australia often more likely to be hospitalised with, or to die from CVD than other members of the population.

Read the summary, media release and full report here.

'Swap it Don't Stop it'

The Australian Government has launched its ‘Swap it don’t stop it’ campaign – a call to make easy, small, healthier lifestyle choices to reduce the risk of illness and disease. ‘Swap it don’t stop it’ features Eric, an animated blue balloon character, likeable but overweight. On television, in print and on the radio, Eric will urge Australians to make some simple lifestyle changes to become healthier – for example, to swap big for small (portion control); swap often for sometimes (occasional treats); swap fried for fresh (nutritional quality); swap sitting for moving (physical activity); and swap watching for playing (physical activity). The campaign has a practical focus and encourages people to make practical choices in their everyday lives to improve their health. The cost of obesity is a huge drain on the nation’s economy - in 2008 alone, it cost Australia a massive $58.2 billion.

Further information on the campaign, including fact sheets, can be found at www.australia.gov.au/swapit

Public and private sector medical indemnity claims in Australia

Almost 70% of the medical indemnity claims finalised in 2007–08 involved an amount of less than $10,000, according to a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). The report, Public and private sector medical indemnity claims in Australia 2007-08, shows just 3% of claims in 2007-08 were settled for $500,000 or more, while in 40% of claims no payment was made, nor costs incurred.

Health @ a glance, 2011

The Australian Bureau of Statistics collects a wide range of health information from the National Health Survey (NHS), the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC), the Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (SMHWB), and the Patient Experience Survey (PEx). The Health @ a glance publication is intended to showcase some of this data in a series of fact sheets, which will be added to periodically.
The first fact sheet is Tobacco Smoking in Australia, 2007-08, and is available to download.

Parenting and mental illness: the early years

A new study by national mental health charity SANE Australia reveals an alarming lack of support for mothers with a mental illness. The study found that almost 3 in every 4 expectant mothers were offered no support or information on how to plan for the stresses pregnancy and parenthood could place on their mental health (SANE Australia).

The State of the World’s Children 2011: Adolescence – An Age of Opportunity

The State of the World’s Children 2011: Adolescence - An Age of Opportunity examines the global state of adolescents; outlines the challenges they face in health, education, protection and participation; and explores the risks and vulnerabilities of this pivotal stage. The report highlights the singular opportunities that adolescence offers, both for adolescents themselves and for the societies they live in. The accumulated evidence demonstrates that investing in adolescents' second decade is our best hope of breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty and inequity and of laying the foundation for a more peaceful, tolerant and equitable world. Published by Unicef, the publication is available to download here.

What Works for Promoting Positive Behavior in Children and Adolescents

Two new Child Trends (US) fact sheets review evaluated programs to identify what works to promote positive social skills and prevent externalizing behavior. Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center that studies children at all stages of development.

• What works for promoting and enhancing positive social skills: lessons from experimental evaluations of programs and interventions
  
• What works for acting-out (externalizing) behavior: Lessons from experimental evaluations of social interventions

Food allergy in children and young people

NICE ( National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) has published a new guideline to help GPs and practice nurses to recognise the signs and symptoms of food allergy in children and young people. NICE has also produced a slide set, audit support and a baseline assessment tool to help you put this guidance into practice.
The guidance ‘Food allergy in children and young people’ and other support material is available at www.nice.org.uk/guidance/CG116

Learning report: Safer Patients Initiative

The Safer Patients Initiative was the first major improvement programme addressing patient safety in the UK. The purpose of the Safer Patients Initiative was to test ways of improving patient safety on an organisation-wide basis within NHS hospitals. This report draws not only on the independent evaluation but also on case studies from those involved in the programme and from a five-year research programme which ran alongside the Safer Patients Initiative - Journey to Safety. This learning report provides an overview of the Safer Patients Initiative (phases 1 and 2) and its evaluation, and highlights the impact of the programme, key lessons and further issues for exploration.

Learning report: Safer Patients Initiative

Hospital Quarterly and Healthcare in Focus

The Bureau of Health Information is an independent, board-governed organisation established by the NSW Government to be the leading source of information on the performance of the public health system in NSW. The Bureau provides health care professionals, the community and the NSW Parliament with timely, accurate and comparable information about the performance of the NSW public health system in ways that enhance the system’s accountability and inform efforts to increase its beneficial impact on the health and well being of people in NSW. Two recent publications are: Hospital Quarterly: Performance of NSW Public Hospitals and Healthcare in Focus: how NSW compares internationally.

They are available on the Bureau of Health Information website.

Wellbeing and the Australian quality of life

In this paper, Tim Soutphommasane examines state of Australia’s quality of life, and finds that, despite concerns, Australians have very little reason to feel a sense of crisis. While rising costs of energy bills, food and petrol, traffic congestion and longer working hours make headlines, the United Nations Development Programme’s annual study of global wellbeing places Australia very close to the top, showing Australia’s quality of life is strong.

Guidelines for the establishment and initial operation of Medicare Locals

The Commonwealth Government is establishing Medicare Locals to drive improvements in primary health care and ensure that primary health care services are better tailored to meet the needs to local communities. Medicare Locals will be primary health care organisations, established to coordinate primary health care delivery to address local health care needs and service gaps.
These guidelines take into account submissions received on the Medicare Locals Discussion Paper on Governance and Functions released on 29 October 2010 on the yourHealth website and views of other key stakeholders.

Between a rock and a hard place

A new workers manual to the legal system called "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" has just been released. The comprehensive guide takes a welfare perspective of the law and is an excellent starting point for workers in disability, youth, drug & alcohol and other community/welfare sectors who need to understand the legal system but don’t want to get bogged down by the law. For ease the publication has been divided into chapters and you can download by chapter or download the entire publication.You can find it at the new Fitzroy Legal Service site Law for Community.

Compendium of Workers' Compensation Statistics Australia

Safe Work Australia has released the Compendium of Workers' Compensation Statistics Australia 2008-09 report. The Compendium provides a detailed analysis of compensated work-related injury and disease among employees in Australia. This is the seventeenth report released as part of the Compendium series. Preliminary data in the Compendium showed that in 2008-09 there were 223 compensated fatalities and 128 735 serious workers' compensation claims in Australia. This equates to 2.3 fatalities per 100 000 employees and 13 serious workers' compensation claims per 1000 employees.
The Compendium of Workers' Compensation Statistics Australia 2008-09 report is available for download from the Safe Work Australia website.

Atlas of cancer in Queensland

More than 1,200 deaths in regional Queensland could have been prevented in the ten years to 2007 if regional cancer survival rates had been equal to the Queensland average. While there were many advances in health care during the 20th century, these benefits have not been shared equally across all population subgroups, particularly for people living in rural and disadvantaged areas. This report describes the variation in cancer incidence and survival across small geographical areas in Queensland.

Housing, loneliness and health

Loneliness is highly distributed socially and spatially but has remained largely hidden and difficult to detect. Levels of loneliness on a scale we are witnessing in Western urban contexts today are arguably unprecedented and therefore the stakes and the potential pay-offs from interventions will be high. Loneliness poses one of the most exciting challenges for housing policy makers in a very long time. This essay asks whether housing, loneliness and health are connected and if so, where can policy be changed to intervene.

Stress and its effects on the body

Some degree of stress is good for us, and we are biologically primed for it. But 'toxic' stress makes us physically sick, and powerful research is now revealing its potent impact on our developing bodies and brains. In this program from ABC Radio National's All in the Mind, Natasha Mitchel interviews Tom Boyce, Professor of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia and Bruce McEwen, Neuroscientist and neuroedocrinologist from the Rockefeller University. They assert that high levels of resting cortisol in disadvantaged children leads to all sorts of problems in later years, from tooth decay to cardiovascular disease and mood disorders.

Stressed out : the powerful biology of stress is a fascinating half-hour podcast.

Active and Healthy website - falls prevention

NSW Health has just launched a new website aimed at enabling older people and health professionals to access physical activity services that will help prevent injury and chronic disease.

Preventing falls and harm from falls is a priority of NSW Health, and the Active and Health website comprises a web-based directory of community exercise programs throughout NSW. Searching by suburb or postcode reveals local programs which focus on improving balance and strength, such as tai chi, yoga, strengthening programs and other classes designed for older people. The programs have been reviewed against specific criteria established by falls experts.

The site also contains lifestyle and home safety checklists, exercises that can be done at home and what to do if you have a fall. For health professionals, there are links to best practice guidelines, factsheets and research information.

Non-disclosure of violence in Australian Indigenous Communities

The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) released in January 2011 the results of recent research. The AIC paper Non-Disclosure of Violence in Australian Indignenous Communities explores some of the reasons for the high rates of non-disclosure of violence in Indigenous communities. It begins by examining reasons for non-disclosure in the broader Australian community before discussing how factors specific to Indigenous Australians influence individual decisions to disclose violence. As well as using Australian and international literature to build an understanding of why people choose not to disclose, the paper uses scenarios developed by the Australian Crime Commission from their work with Indigenous communities to illustrate the circumstances in which these choices are made. The paper concludes by considering ways of encouraging disclosure through services, training and education and community responses. It emphasises the need to locate these within broader efforts to address the cycles of intergenerational violence that can so heavily impact the lives of Indigenous Australians.

Supporting Australians to Live Well at the End of Life

The Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler has released the updated National Palliative Care Strategy - Supporting Australians to Live Well at the End of Life. The strategy provides the key framework for delivering palliative care services in Australia. The National Palliative Care Strategy, originally developed and endorsed by the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council in 2000, has guided service planning and policy development in palliative care over the past decade. It has been updated in partnership with state and territory governments and key stakeholders to ensure it accurately reflects current policies and practices.

Review of Food Labelling Laws and Policy

In October 2009 a Review Panel was set up to undertake a comprehensive review of food labelling law and policy by the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council (Ministerial Council). The Panel consisted of former Australian Health Minister Dr Neal Blewett, public health law academic Dr Chris Reynolds, economic and consumer behaviour expert Professor Simone Pettigrew, food and nutrition policy academic Associate Professor Heather Yeatman, and food industry communications, marketing and corporate affairs professional Nick Goddard.

The Review Panel considered stakeholders' perspectives provided in written submissions and other information gathered during the course of the Review process to inform the development of its recommendations. During this time the Panel directly approached individuals and organisations for further information regarding any of the written submissions received. The Final Report Labelling Logic was released on 28 January 2011.

Review of the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Data Set

The purpose of this Review of the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Data Set (AODTS-NMDS) was to assess the collection as an information source for alcohol and other drug services policy; assess data gaps; and, propose options for future development within the collection. The review has highlighted the importance of a comprehensive, robust and consistent data collection about alcohol and other treatment. The AODTS-NMDS remains a key component of the data toolbox available to inform government, service provision and the public on alcohol and other drug issues in Australia. (AIHW catalogue no. (HSE94))

10 of the Best Research Projects 2010

The Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, launched a booklet on 9th February 2011 titled 10 of the Best Research Projects 2010. It describes ten Australian health and medical research projects chosen from among the thousands of National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funded medical research projects underway in Australia.

Public Health Expenditure in Australia, 2008-09

Since the first public health expenditure report in 1999-00, expenditure on public health activities by health departments has grown, in real terms, by 88%. Total expenditure on public health activities in Australia in 2008-09 was $2,300.2 million. This was in increase of $120.5 million, or 5.5%, on what was spent in 2007-08, raising the 2008-09 per person expenditure to $106. After adjusting for the effects of inflation, there was a real increase in per person expenditure of 2.2% from 2007-08 to 2008-09, continuing the growth in total public health expenditure which has averaged 7.3% per year since 1999-00. The report is availabe from this link. (AIHW cat. no. (HWE52)

Asthma Snapshot

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) released a new web product on 1st March 2011. The AIHW will showcase topics on the health and welfare of Australians in a new 'snapshot' format. The snapshots will summarise the issues of each topic for web viewing providing up to date and relevant information. The first of these is the Asthma Snapshot . Links to more detailed information is also available from the page.