International comparisons of health

A working guide to international comparisons of health is from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare which aims to encourage users of international health-related data to consider the complexities before comparing countries, and to assist them in interpreting the results of these comparisons. There is a checklist of the types of questions that need to be asked before comparing countries and their health systems and when presenting health data in an international context.

Impact of media on vulnerable children and adolescents

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists has published this position statement, which identifies the many positive benefits of media for children, but recognises that there are also areas of concern.  A broad range of potential psychological impacts of media on young people is discussed.

Those working clinically with children, young people and their families and carers need to be aware of the range of issues that media impacts upon, in order to provide balanced and optimal advice and support. The Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (FCAP) has particular concerns regarding the impact of media on children and young people with identified mental health difficulties, but recognise all children are potentially vulnerable.

Mental health workforce

The AIHW has released Mental Health Workforce, which notes that although range of different health care professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, general practitioners and social workers, provide the various mental health-related services in Australia, workforce data are currently only available for psychiatrists, including psychiatrists-in-training, and nurses who work principally in mental health care. This report describes the size and selected characteristics of the workforce for these three groups.

Work Health and Safety Statistics

The Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Booklet Australia 2012 has been published by Safe Work Australia, and is a pocket-sized summary of the main statistics on work-related injury, disease and death.  Included are figures on the main types of injuries for which compensation was paid, the cost of injury and incidence rates by industry.

COPD statistics and guidelines

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has released The COPD snapshot which is a useful summary of the latest statistics available on COPD in Australia.  It shows that fewer Australians are dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and deaths have dropped more significantly among men than women. 

Meanwhile, the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand and The Australian Lung Foundation have just released the COPD-X Guidelines, which aim to effect changes in clinical practice based on sound evidence; and shift the emphasis from a predominant reliance on pharmacological treatment of COPD to a range of interventions which include patient education, self-management of exacerbations and pulmonary rehabilitation.

Cancer causes and prevention

Professor Bernard Stewart from the University of UNSW, has just published an article in Lancet Oncology, Priorities for cancer prevention: lifestyle choices versus unavoidable exposures.  Stewart argues that although cancer prevention in developed countries focuses on disease attributable to lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol intake, sun exposure, and obesity, cancer caused by involuntary exposures is a concern to people.  The general community is said to be vulnerable to carcinogens encountered in pollution, contaminated food, and consumer products so assessments of the carcinogenicity of particular chemicals are of little assistance in prevention of cancer. Appraisal of cancer attributable to widespread and localised pollution, pesticides, endocrine disrupting chemicals, and consumer products yields diverse outcomes and anxiety concerning insidious cancer causation could divert attention from proven means of cancer prevention.

Professor Stewart was interviewed on the Health Report on ABC's Radio National recently about his concerns.  Listen to the podcast or read the transcript here.  The article is in The Lancet Oncology, Volume 13, Issue 3, Pages e126 - e133, March 2012  doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(11)70221-2.  Contact your library for the full text of the article.

Youth disability in Australia

Youth disability in Australia : Face the facts briefing has been published by the Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies.  It highlights the key statistics, policy problems and development opportunities relevant to youth and disability today.  This is a particularly topical issue given current efforts to establish a national organisation to represent young people with disability, and the Australian Government’s recent decision to implement the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

See also Youth disability - Snapshot, a short, sharp overview of the issues and the facts from the full briefing.

Use of social media by healthcare organisations

"Should healthcare organisations use social media?" is an article by JS Lee et al, from the Global Institute of Emerging Healthcare Practices.  Some healthcare organisations are using social media as an important tool to connect and influence consumers and providers and accomplish strategic healthcare goals. The authors argue that organisations cannot afford to take a ‘wait-and-see’ approach. Even if organisations do not currently have an active social media presence, their employees and customers are already using social media, so they should start now. 

Risk factors Contributing to Chronic Disease

The AIHW has released three new educational worksheets from the publication "Risk factors Contributing to Chronic Disease".

• An overview of the relationship between risk factors and chronic disease
• A practical 'interpreting data' worksheet on Australia's waist measurements and chronic disease risk
• A practical 'interpreting data' worksheet on what percentage of Australian's are overweight.

All worksheets can be viewed here.

Optimal Health Program (OHP): Controlled clinical trial

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect and cost-effectiveness of a self-management intervention, delivered as part of routine care in an adult mental health service. In a community mental health setting, routine care was compared with routine care plus a nine-session intervention (the Optimal Health Program) using a non-randomised controlled design. Adult (18–65 years) consumers of mental health services in the Australian Capital Territory were eligible for participation.
The Optimal Health Program was associated with significant improvements in health and social functioning as measured by the Health of the Nation Outcome Scale and in addition, there was a reduction in hospital admissions in the treatment group creating a cost saving.
The study contributes to the body of evidence supporting self-management as an adjunct to routine care in mental health services. It has been published in the Australian Health Review and offered as free open access.
Australian Health Review. 2012; 36(1) pages 1-7

Diabetes Indicators

The latest AIHW diabetes report, Diabetes Indicators in Australia, shows that while the prevalence of diabetes has risen, the rate of diabetes-related deaths is falling. The proportion of Australians with diabetes rose from 1.5% to 4.1% over the 20 years to 2007–08, but the diabetes death rate fell by 18% between 1997 and 2007.
There are a number of lifestyle indicators of diabetes in the community including obesity, a high BMI, poor diet and lack of exercise. More information is available on the AIHW website at: http://www.aihw.gov.au/diabetes-indicators/

Dementia: a public health priority,

A report released on Thursday by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) calls for governments and policymakers to make dementia a global public health priority. This new report provides an authoritative overview of the impact of dementia worldwide. In addition to valuable best practices and practical case studies from around the world, it contains a comprehensive collection of data, including hard-to-get statistics from low- and middle-income countries. Very few countries have a national dementia plan in place. The hope is that other countries will follow suit, using the report as a starting point for planning and implementation. According to ADI research, the number of people living with dementia worldwide, estimated at 35.6 million in 2010, is set to nearly double every 20 years, reaching 65.7 million in 2030 and 115.4 million in 2050. To view the report click here.

HarmFree Care: a patient safety improvement in the UK

‘Harm free’ care is the UK NHS national roll out of the pilot Safety Express QIPP programme. It helps teams in their aim to eliminate four types of harm – pressure ulcers, falls, urinary tract infections in patients with a catheter and new VTE. This interesting and well presented website is worth a look. Harm Free Care.

Mobile apps and privacy

DOCTORS using clinical software on their smart phones or tablet computers may be inadvertently putting patient confidentiality at risk, according to a privacy expert. Dr Juanita Fernando (PhD), part of the mobile health research group at Monash University, said she had been contacted by several patients who had suffered “direct dire consequences” as a result of privacy breaches after doctors used clinical apps on their mobile devices. She cited the case of a doctor who had updated and uploaded a patient record at home using a clinical app. This was then cached by a metasearch engine, effectively publishing the data in the public domain.
Writing in the MJA, Dr Fernando said there was a “legal vacuum” in guidelines governing smartphone and tablet use.
Click here to go to the online version of the article, or contact your Librarian to obtain a copy.

Seeking Emergency Healthcare

In recent years, the concept of an ‘inappropriate’ emergency department or ambulance user has arisen. This discussion paper explores definition and measurement of inappropriate emergency healthcare utilisation, and the effect on demand. There is a public health issue where some patients seek emergency healthcare when they are not acutely unwell (inappropriate health service users) and some patients who fail to seek emergency healthcare when they are acutely unwell (patients who ‘delay’ or avoid using emergency health services). There is a difference in understanding between health professionals and patients about what a health emergency is and when it is appropriate to seek emergency healthcare.
Australian Health Review journal has allowed this article in their latest issue, "Judging a patient’s decision to seek emergency healthcare: clues for managing increasing patient demand"  to be free online.

Social and emotional wellbeing: development of a children's headline indicator

A child's social and emotional wellbeing is integral to their overall health, development and wellbeing. Children with high levels of social and emotional wellbeing are more likely to successfully negotiate physical, intellectual and social challenges during childhood and adolescence. This report by AIHW describes the process of developing a Children's Headline Indicator to measure social and emotional wellbeing. It presents research evidence on the links between social and emotional wellbeing and children's health, development and wellbeing outcomes; assesses potential indicators and data sources; and recommends an indicator of social and emotional wellbeing for Australian children.

Gone Too Soon

The federal government is backing recommendations in a report into youth suicide in the Northern Territory. The Gone Too Soon report, released by a select committee of NT politicians, found specialist police, youth workers and mental health staff were needed in at-risk areas to help stem the high rate of young people killing themselves.
Young people in the Northern Territory are 3.5 times more likely than the national average to commit suicide, with Aboriginal deaths accounting for 75 per cent of all child suicides between 2007 and 2011.
Download or read the report here.

Forced into exile: the traumatising impact of rural aged care service inaccessibility

The shortage of residential aged care places is especially acute in rural areas and this results in many older people who live in these areas being forced to leave their home communities to access care in distant communities. This article reports on one aspect of a larger study that explored family and caring community members’ experiences when someone they cared for needed to access residential aged care away from their rural communities.

This article written in the international electronic journal, Rural and Remote Health, is available free online

New eating disorders website

The National Eating Disorders Collaboration website, the first Government initiated national website to provide comprehensive and reliable information on eating disorders, has been launched.  In launching the website, the Federal Minister for Mental Health, Mark Butler, said "I am delighted to see this new online resource available for all Australians, providing the latest evidence-based information about eating disorders. It is a strong collection of helpful material, designed to meet the needs of parents, teachers and health professionals, and draws from the most up-to-date international research and best practice."

The website explains eating disorders, provides information on where to get help across Australia, and features an evidence-based clearinghouse for research and resources on eating disorders. Resources include clinical guidelines, fact sheets, school programs & statistics.

International Congress on Telehealth

Watch the interviews and catch up on other highlights of the International Congress on Telehealth and Telecare 2012, including perspectives on how to get patients involved in their own care and the Whole System Demonstrator pilot schemes.

Equator Network - research reporting

The EQUATOR Network is an international initiative that seeks to improve the reliability and value of medical research literature by promoting transparent and accurate reporting of research studies.  The site includes generic guidelines for reporting the main types of clinical research: randomised trials, observational studies in epidemiology, and systematic reviews. These guidelines were developed to help authors achieve the highest standards in their research publications.  

The Equator website includes lot of guidelines about writing up research.  Equator is an NGO set up from funding from various bodies including the NHS in the UK.

Women and Heart Disease Forum Report

This report outlines the key findings and outcomes from a Women and Heart Disease Forum, where the current evidence of cardiovascular disease in women was presented and priorities for future action. The Forum purpose was to showcase current evidence on women and heart disease, discuss prevention, management, research and policy initiatives and develop a ‘road map’ of opportunities and priorities for the future.Participants from different sectors attended including government, research, health, academic and non-government organisations. Report

A number of significant priorities were identified for consideration for future decision making and planning purposes.

Australian Indigenous Health Bulletin

The Australian Indigenous Health Bulletin is celebrating 30 years. The Australian Indigenous Health Bulletin started life in April 1982 as a hard-copy publication. It is now a peer-reviewed electronic journal published by the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet. Click here to read the current issue.

Risk factors contributing to chronic disease

This report examines negative health determinants, known as risk factors, and provides insights into their prevalence.It examines the most common combinations of risk factors in the community, and highlights the potential for lifestyle behaviour changes that may lead to health gains for individuals and the population. The report provides the most comprehensive picture to date of Australian lifestyle behaviours that can contribute to chronic disease.
Read the full AIHW report here.