Access to general practice for preventive health care for people who experience severe mental illness in Sydney, Australia: a qualitative study.

Background: People with lived experience of severe mental illness (PWLE) live around 20years less than the general population. Most deaths are due to preventable health conditions. Improved access to high-quality preventive health care could help reduce this health inequity.

Barriers and facilitators to the participation and engagement of primary care in shared-care arrangements with community mental health services for preventive care of people with serious mental illness: a scoping review.

Background: People with serious mental illness die about 20 years earlier than the general population from preventable diseases. Shared-care arrangements between general practitioners and mental health services can improve consumers' access to preventive care, but implementing shared care is challenging. This scoping review sought to describe current evidence on the barriers and facilitators to the participation and engagement of primary care (specifically general practitioners) in shared-care arrangements with community mental health services for preventive health care of this population.

Demographic and health profiles of people with severe mental illness in general practice in Australia: a cross-sectional study.

Background: People with severe mental illness have a higher rate of premature death than the general population, largely due to primary care preventable diseases. There has been little research on the health profile of this population attending Australian general practices.

Methods: In this nationwide cross-sectional study, MedicineInsight data for adult patients regularly attending general practices in 2018 were analysed to estimate the prevalence of schizophrenia or bipolar disorders (SBD) and investigate the health profile of people with SBD compared with other patients.

Improving access to primary health care: a cross-case comparison based on an a priori program theory.

Background: Inequitable access to primary health care (PHC) remains a problem for most western countries. Failure to scale up effective interventions has been due, in part, to a failure to share the logic and essential elements of successful programs. The aim of this paper is to describe what we learned about improving access to PHC for vulnerable groups across multiple sites through use of a common theory-based program logic model and a common evaluation approach.

Online training in evidence-based medicine and research methods for GP registrars: a mixed-methods evaluation of engagement and impact.

Background: Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is a core skillset for enhancing the quality and safety of patients' care. Online EBM education could improve clinicians' skills in EBM, particularly when it is conducted during vocational training. There are limited studies on the impact of online EBM training on clinical practice among general practitioner (GP) registrars (trainees in specialist general practice).

Access and communication for deaf individuals in Australian primary care.

Background And Aims: The Australian Deaf Community face barriers that impede their access to, and communication within, primary health care settings. This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to access and communication for deaf individuals and Auslan interpreters in Australian general practice settings.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight Auslan interpreters and four deaf participants recruited from interpreter organisations and social media.

Prediction of peptide binding to MHC using machine learning with sequence and structure-based feature sets.

Selecting peptides that bind strongly to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) for inclusion in a vaccine has therapeutic potential for infections and tumors. Machine learning models trained on sequence data exist for peptide:MHC (p:MHC) binding predictions. Here, we train support vector machine classifier (SVMC) models on physicochemical sequence-based and structure-based descriptor sets to predict peptide binding to a well-studied model mouse MHC I allele, H-2D.

Primary health care provider-focused interventions for improving outcomes for people with type 2 diabetes: a rapid review.

Unlabelled: Objectives and importance of the study: The bulk of care for people with type 2 diabetes occurs in primary health care. This rapid review evaluated the effectiveness of primary health care provider-focused interventions in improving biochemical, clinical, psychological and health-related quality-of-life outcomes in people with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: We searched Medline, Embase, All EBM Reviews, CINAHL, PsycINFO and grey literature focusing on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries.

Improving access to primary healthcare for vulnerable populations in Australia and Canada: protocol for a mixed-method evaluation of six complex interventions.

Introduction: Access to primary healthcare (PHC) has a fundamental influence on health outcomes, particularly for members of vulnerable populations. Innovative Models Promoting Access-to-Care Transformation (IMPACT) is a 5-year research programme built on community-academic partnerships. IMPACT aims to design, implement and evaluate organisational innovations to improve access to appropriate PHC for vulnerable populations.

Factors influencing self-management in patients with type 2 diabetes in general practice: a qualitative study.

Many Australian adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) do not follow recommended self-management behaviours that could prevent or delay complications. This exploratory study aimed to investigate the factors influencing self-management of T2DM in general practice. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with patients with T2DM (n = 10) and their GPs (n = 4) and practice nurses (n = 3) in a low socioeconomic area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Predictors of weight stigma experienced by middle-older aged, general-practice patients with obesity in disadvantaged areas of Australia: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Rates of obesity have increased globally and weight stigma is commonly experienced by people with obesity. Feeling stigmatised because of one's weight can be a barrier to healthy eating, physical activity and to seeking help for weight management. The aim of this study was to identify predictors of perceived weight among middle-older aged patients with obesity attending general practices in socioeconomically disadvantaged urban areas of Australia.

Is the Counterweight Program a feasible and acceptable option for structured weight management delivered by practice nurses in Australia? A mixed-methods study.

Nurse-led weight management programs, like the Counterweight Program in the United Kingdom, may offer a way for Australian general practices to provide weight management support to adults who are overweight or obese. During Counterweight, nurses provide patients with six fortnightly education sessions and three follow-up sessions to support weight maintenance. This study examined the feasibility, acceptability and perceived value of the Counterweight Program in the Australian primary care setting using a mixed-methods approach.

Readability and content analysis of lifestyle education resources for weight management in Australian general practice.

Background: Weight management education is one of the key strategies to assist patients to manage their weight. Educational resources provide an important adjunct in the chain of communication between practitioners and patients. However, one in five Australian adults has low health literacy.

Impacts of stigma on HIV risk for women who inject drugs in Java: A qualitative study.

Background: People who inject drugs have experienced stigma around the world. Stigma has been found to have negative consequences for individuals in relation to health-service use, psychological wellbeing and physical health; and for populations in terms of health inequalities. Indonesia has experienced a rapid growth in injecting drug use and HIV and little is known about drivers of HIV risk among Indonesian women who inject drugs.

Primary health care-level interventions targeting health literacy and their effect on weight loss: a systematic review.

Background: Enhancing individual's health literacy for weight loss is important in addressing the increasing burden of chronic disease due to overweight and obesity. We conducted a systematic review and narrative synthesis to determine the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions aimed at improving adults' knowledge and skills for weight loss in primary health care. The literature search included English-language papers published between 1990 and 30 June 2013 reporting research conducted within Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries.

Research protocol: Management of obesity in patients with low health literacy in primary health care.

Background: Socioeconomically disadvantaged adults are both more likely to be obese and have lower levels of health literacy. Our trial evaluates the implementation and effectiveness of primary care nurses acting as prevention navigators to support obese patients with low health literacy to lose weight.

Methods/design: A pragmatic cluster randomised trial will be conducted.

Boyfriends and injecting: the role of intimate male partners in the life of women who inject drugs in Central Java.

The international literature shows that HIV-risk behaviour for women mostly occurs in the context of intimate relationships. Power imbalances in the social, economic and cultural spheres put women at risk. This paper addresses the roles of male partners in women's engagement in drug-use behaviour and drug-related HIV-risk behaviour in Indonesia.

Issues for sustainability of non-government organisations in the alcohol and other drugs sector.

Introduction And Aims: The study aimed to identify issues for sustainability of non-government organisations in the alcohol and other drugs sector (AODS) in Australia within the current neoliberal context.

Design And Methods: Six key-informant group consultations were conducted in Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin (Australia). Participants were professionals working in the AODS from non-government AOD organisations, government departments, philanthropic organisations and academic institutions (n = 40).

Social determinants of drug use--barriers to translating research into policy.

Our understanding of the causes of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and harms has expanded in the past 20 years. In particular, aetiological theories have become substantially more complex, incorporating research on human development and social determinants of health. In this paper, factors that present challenges to the AOD sector translating this research into policy are considered.

Preventing transitions to injecting amongst young people: what is the role of Needle and Syringe Programmes?

Needle and Syringe Programmes (NSP) play an important role in providing targeted services for people who inject drugs to prevent the harms associated with drug use. This commentary considers whether the role of NSP could be expanded to include prevention of initiation to injecting. In an Australian case study, consultations were undertaken with 13 stakeholders working with at-risk youth and/or in the drug field.

Alcohol and other drug related deaths among young people in CIS countries: proximal and distal causes and implications for policy.

Background: Although the mortality crisis that followed the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1992 has been well researched, most attention has been paid to mortality among middle-aged men. There has been relatively little analysis of death rates among young people, many of which appear related to alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. Death rates ranged from exceedingly high in some countries (e.

The impact of the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) on crime.

The current study aimed to model the effect of Australia's first Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) on acquisitive crime and loitering by drug users and dealers. The effect of the MSIC on drug-related property and violent crime was examined by conducting time series analysis of police-recorded trends in theft and robbery incidents, respectively. The effect of the MSIC on drug use and dealing was examined by (a) time series analysis of a special proxy measure of drug-related loitering; (b) interviewing key informants; and (c) examining trends in the proportion of Sydney drug offences that were recorded in Kings Cross.