Crikey journalist Amber Jamieson recently reported that the National Health and Medical Research Council is examining whether anti-wind farm campaigner Sarah Laurie has breached ethical codes of research conduct. The NHMRC and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency were recently sent a dossier raising questions about the work of Laurie, CEO of the Waubra Foundation [...]
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Where is the leadership on health research and climate change?
Alarm bells are ringing right around the world on climate change (see some of the most recent examples at the bottom of this post). But does the health and medical research sector have its thumbs jammed firmly in its ears? In the article below, Dr Elizabeth Haworth, Dr Brad Farrant and Fiona Armstrong lament a [...]
READ MOREBike share schemes boost public health
Should public health advocates be lobbying for bike share schemes in Australia? Yes, suggests Dr Melissa Stoneham of the Public Health Advocacy Institute WA (PHAIWA). In the latest edition of JournalWatch, she reviews a recent study investigating the impact of such a scheme in Montreal. *** On your bike!! Why we need more bike share schemes [...]
READ MORESome advice for researchers and services wanting to improve Aboriginal health
Some suggestions for how researchers and health services might do a better job of engaging with Aboriginal patients and communities have come from a research project spanning rural, regional and remote NSW. The suggestions include taking time to develop trust and relationships (including with community members outside of the health sector), recruiting Aboriginal staff, and [...]
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Health sector wish-lists: a pre-Budget round-up
With less than a week to go before the Federal Budget 2013, the leaks and rumours (and rumours about leaks) are increasing and speculation about possible new funding measures is mounting. The following analysis looks at the main items on the wish-lists of eight peak health groups and identifies key issues on which there is [...]
READ MOREA conversation that needs to continue: what to do about the relatively small number of doctors who account for so many patient complaints
The online ecosystem, linking up journals, bloggers, mainstream media and researchers with the wider world, is bringing new opportunities for researchers to hear and learn from the responses to their findings. The article below documents some of the wide-ranging responses to a recent study which found that a small proportion of doctors account for a [...]
READ MOREDon’t bury the benefits of research to improve the health system
Professor Stephen Leeder writes: If you missed the release of the McKeon review on Friday you’re not alone. The Commonwealth government released theStrategic Review of Health and Medical Research just before the weekend – a time usually reserved for reports the government would rather bury – and it barely got a mention in the mainstream media. [...]
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McKeon Review – consumer role revisited
What a difference a few months and a few outraged submissions from consumer groups can make! The Final Report of the McKeon Review into Health and Medical Research (HMR) is a very different beast from the Consultation Paper circulated for comment last October, at least in its recognition of the role of consumers in the [...]
READ MOREWe must do far more as a country to acknowledge the First Australians: Prof Lesley Barclay
Australia needs to do much more to recognise and respect this country’s first peoples, according to Professor Lesley Barclay, Director of the University Centre for Rural Health (University of Sydney), based in Lismore. Our failure to do so is harmful for Indigenous Australians, as well as being a source of shame for non-Indigenous Australians, she [...]
READ MOREProposed Australian centre for disease control will deliver high-voltage public health
Last week the parliamentary report Diseases Have No Borders was released at a time when most people’s attention was diverted to other events in Canberra. While the recommendations represent small steps, Trent Yarwood writes that there is reason to be hopeful of a significant public health advance. Many thanks to The Conversation for allowing us [...]
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