A new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows that spending on health rose in 2013–14, after record low growth in the previous year. The report, Health expenditure Australia 2013–14, shows that $154.6 billion was spent on health goods and services in 2013–14. This was up by 3.1% in real terms from the previous year and despite this relatively slow growth,
total expenditure was 9.8% of GDP in 2013-14, up from 9.7% in 2012-13.
Evidence shows that those with greater (economic and social) resources are more likely to have better health outcomes than those with lesser resources. Whilst health inequalities include differences in health outcomes that include those caused by natural biological variation, health inequities are health differences that are socially produced.
Internationally, there is a groundswell of activity seeking to identify and reduce the use of health care interventions that deliver marginal benefit, be it through overuse, misuse or waste. A special ABC Four Corners investigation reveals many of the treatments and tests we get are unnecessary, sometimes harmful and needlessly expensive, costing the health system billions of dollars every year.
Changes
in the brain can lead to mental disorders, such as depression. Brain Basics (From NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health) provides information on how the brain works, how mental illnesses are disorders of the brain, and ongoing research that helps us better understand and treat disorders. Brain Basics will introduce you to some of this science, such as:
The study found that there is a high rate of unplanned transfers to acute care within 24 h of admission to subacute care and unplanned transfers are associated with high hospital admission and in-hospital mortality rates. Physiological assessment was infrequent and incomplete in most patients who had an unplanned transfer from subacute to acute care. The analysis of the subacute to acute care
This UK national frameworkurges health organisations and local authorities to act together to improve end
of life care for people of all ages. It sets out six principles for how people
near the end of their lives should be cared for. The six ‘ambitions’ for
palliative and end of life care are:
New research funded by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) and undertaken by the University of Canberra’s News and Media Research Centre has found that women receive contradictory information about the risks of drinking alcohol while pregnant. 
According to this report from Alzheimer's Disease International, there are over 46 million people live with dementia worldwide, and by 2050 this is estimated to increase to 131.5 million.
By combining measures of genetic activity with app-based questionnaires, researchers from the National Institute of Health in the US have made progress in predicting which patients might be likely to attempt suicide. Because the team studied only male psychiatric patients, further research will be needed to understand how well this approach can predict suicidal thoughts and behaviors in other populations, such as women and those who aren’t psychiatric patients.
Important differences were found according to the geographical location of breast care nurses.
This virtual issue focuses on “Renal care in children” highlighting previously published papers from the Journal of Renal Care on this topic. Three of the original articles explore how young adults experienced the child-to-adulthood transition, how children cope with a chronic illness, and whether the application of a specific tool can support children with CKD in achieving autonomy in the management of their disease. 
