Category Archives: Indigenous health

Sounding the alarm over cutbacks to Qld organisation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender health

May 21, 2012 – 6:28 pm

It seems that some high-need areas are being targeted for cuts by the new Queensland Government. The prison advocacy group Sisters Inside has been in the news over its concerns about the future of services to women inside Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre (TWCC) – most of whom are Indigenous. As the tweet below suggests, there are [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in Health inequalities, HIV/AIDS, public health, social determinants of health | Tagged , , | Comments (5)

What are the health implications of building more prisons?

May 16, 2012 – 1:51 pm

Update, May 22: Extra material has been added at the bottom of this post about an assessment of the likely impact of a new correctional facility in Gatton, Queensland. *** Health journalists (and our audiences) might get better stories come budget time if we looked beyond the health department papers. That is one of the [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in education, evidence-based issues, Federal Budget 2012-2013, health impact assessment, Health inequalities, Hospitals, illicit drugs, public health, social determinants of health | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Why health promotion campaigns in rural and remote areas must be “fit for purpose”

April 24, 2012 – 12:37 pm

Partyline is billed as “The Newsletter of the National Rural Health Alliance” – but that seems a rather modest description for a publication whose coverage of rural health matters is generally broad and deep, while managing also to be a good read. It’s one not to miss, in other words. The article below is the March [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in National Preventive Health Agency, public health, rural and remote health, tobacco control | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Lack of access to dental care is putting children in hospital and entrenching disadvantage

April 19, 2012 – 8:51 pm

Should you think this recent post was a little harsh, in condemning the obfuscation and lack of clarity in many health communications, try having a read of this recent report produced by the Department of Health and Ageing and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Titled Dental health of Indigenous children in the Northern [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in child health, Health inequalities, health workforce, rural and remote health, social determinants of health | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

The latest wrap of Croakey’s coverage of public health, health reform and the works

April 10, 2012 – 8:37 pm

Croakey readers are welcome to sign up for (rather irregular) summaries of posts. If you’d like to join the mailing list, please send your email or leave it below. Here is the latest compilation, covering articles posted since the beginning of the year. The latest readership figures are now also available, showing that more than 39,000 [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in alcohol, Food, general practice, Media-related issues, Naked Doctor, physical activity, private health insurance, public health, rural and remote health, social determinants of health, social media and healthcare, The Conversation, tobacco control, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Who is doing what in primary health care reform? And what can we learn from the most promising Medicare Locals?

April 5, 2012 – 12:18 pm

With so much expectation being placed upon primary health care reform and Medicare Locals, what can we learn from those of the new organisations that are expected to be pack-leaders? That was the question I was asking when researching this piece just published by the online publication Inside Story (which also recently appeared as part [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in general practice, Health inequalities, health reform, Hospitals, Medicare Locals, primary health care, social determinants of health | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Some of the tributes for Jimmy Little from the health sector

April 2, 2012 – 6:03 pm

A beautiful voice and a powerful advocate for Indigenous health have been lost today with the passing of Jimmy Little, at the age of 75. Below are some of the initial tributes from the health sector (I will continue to add more as they land). *** The Australian Indigenous Health InfoNet has written about Little’s contributions in [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Tagged , | Comments (0)

The “Stronger Futures” legislation will weaken health

March 8, 2012 – 6:47 pm

More than 400 submissions have been made to the Senate committee that is due to report next week on the Federal Government’s Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Bill 2011 and two related bills. One submission was from the Public Health Association of Australia, whose representatives Vanessa Lee, Gabriel Moore and Melanie Walker also presented to a [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in NT Intervention, public health | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Reviewing the many uses for research in Closing the Gap

March 6, 2012 – 11:25 am

As National Close the Gap Day approaches, it is timely to consider the role of translational research in improving Indigenous health. In the article below, Professor Neil Thomson, director of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, reviews the different types and uses of translational research, and suggests that Australia is doing relatively well in the field of translational research and Indigenous [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in evidence-based issues, health and medical research, public health | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Is your organisation health literate? (and what does this mean, anyway)

March 1, 2012 – 7:04 pm

The notion of health literacy is more complicated than it might at first sound, being about much more than whether any individual can understand what is written on their pill packet. A recent systematic review of health literacy and public health makes it clear that there are many ways of approaching the concept. The review identified [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in consumer health information, health and medical research, health literacy, public health | Tagged , | Comments (1)