Category Archives: Uncategorized

What has social media got to do with blood transfusions, haematology and the like?

May 21, 2012 – 5:51 pm

How might social media help those working in haematology and blood transfusion services and research? This was one of the questions addressed at a recent Australian Red Cross Blood service meeting in Sydney by Carolyn Der Vartanian, Program Leader for the NSW Blood Watch program at the Clinical Excellence Commission. *** Scary new pathogens or a [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in health and medical research, social media and healthcare | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

To tackle our drinking problem, look to Newcastle – and closer to home too

April 24, 2012 – 5:55 pm

The NSW city of Newcastle is known for its port, coal, earthquake, surfing, lively arts scene, and for Silverchair, the Newcastle Knights and Joey Johns (did I miss anything?). But perhaps it should also get some kudos for its efforts to tackle alcohol-related harm, suggests Laurence Alvis, CEO of UnitingCare Moreland Hall. As well as turning to Newcastle [...]

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

The pros and cons of telehealth for people in rural and remote areas

April 16, 2012 – 10:06 am

Canadian researchers recently investigated the use of telehealth in delivering a self management program for stroke survivors and carers. The findings  – profiled below in the latest update from the Primary Health Care Research and Information Service ( PHC RIS) – will no doubt be of interest locally, given the increasing use of telehealth.  *** Telehealth: [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in cardiovascular disease, chronic diseases, e-health, primary health care, rural and remote health | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Join a Twitter chat about involving children and parents in research and service development

April 11, 2012 – 11:41 am

Eva Alisic is a trauma psychologist, research fellow at Monash Injury Research Institute, blogger and Tweeter.  If you’ve ideas for how children and parents could be empowered to contribute to the design of mental health research and care, you might like to join her in a Twitter chat tomorrow afternoon. *** An invitation to contribute to [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in child health, health and medical research, mental health, social media and healthcare, trauma | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

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, Indigenous health, 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 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Health & medical celebrations at The Conversation, plus a wrap of other health media news

March 29, 2012 – 10:54 am

Twitter celebrated its sixth birthday last week, and this week it is the turn of The Conversation to be marking its first anniversary. According to the site’s co-founder, Andrew Jaspan, The Conversation has had more than 2.5 million unique visitors in its first year, almost 4 million total visits, and 8 million page views. Over 300 [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in environmental health, health and medical research, Media-related issues, social media and healthcare, The Conversation, vaccination, vaccines | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (1)

A welcome development: public disclosure of infection control performance of hospitals

March 20, 2012 – 8:50 am

The recent release of data about how well hospitals perform when it comes to ensuring staff wash their hands drew widespread media coverage. In the article below, Professor Lyn Gilbert, an infectious diseases physician and clinical microbiologist with a strong interest in preventing healthcare-associated infections, provides some of the wider historical context. *** Making sense of [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in evidence-based issues, Hospitals, infectious diseases, MyHospitals website, quality and safety of health care | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

Considering the health impacts of coal seam gas extraction in Queensland

March 19, 2012 – 9:45 am

If you haven’t already seen it, this innovative collaboration between Crikey, academics and writers, is running an investigation of coal seam gas mining, in the run-up to the Queensland election. The aim is to provide “a new model of analytical and interactive journalism which will hold the debate accountable to fact”. As is so often [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in environmental health, Media-related issues, public health, rural and remote health | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

It’s time for social media to transform the health system (but where are our leaders?)

March 16, 2012 – 9:31 am

As previously suggested, health organisations and others wondering how to harness the potential of social media should have a look at the efforts of the Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM) in this area. In the article below, ACHSM CEO Daryl Sadgrove shares what a difference social media has made for him and his [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in health reform, Media-related issues, social media and healthcare | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Why the world needs a “dengue day”: Journal Watch

March 15, 2012 – 4:36 pm

As previously mentioned, Croakey features a “must read” article from the JournalWatch service of The Public Health Advocacy Institute WA. This month’s article calls for a World Dengue Day. It notes there has been a 30-fold increase in the number of dengue cases over the past 50 years. Recent studies estimate 50–100 million infections each year, although, owing to under-reporting, this [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in global health, health and medical research, public health | Tagged , , | Comments (0)