Covid 19 Vaccines and the Australian health care state.

Objectives: Australia had one of the most successful early responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Border closures and effective public health responses to outbreaks kept infection and death rates to amongst the lowest in the world. The strategy was premised on an eventual escape through the development and availability of vaccines.

Driving reaction time following periacetabular osteotomy.

Introduction: Periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) is increasingly being used to treat young adults with symptomatic hip dysplasia. Currently there is a lack of evidence to guide return to driving after this procedure. This study aimed to identify the length of time required after a Periacetabular Osteotomy procedure before a patient can safely return to driving.

Changes in public perceptions and experiences of the Australian health-care system: A decade of change.

Background: The views and experiences of the Australian public are an important barometer of the health system. This study provides key findings about the changing views held by Australians over time regarding their individual experiences and perceptions of the overall performance of the health system.

Methods: A population-based online survey was conducted in 2018 (N = 1024).

A spatial analysis of referrals to a primary mental health programme in Western Sydney from 2012 to 2015.

Access to Allied Psychological Services is a primary mental health programme targeting hard-to-reach populations throughout Australia. This research aims to identify patterns of referrals to the programme in the Western Sydney Primary Health Network region from 2012 to 2015. The referral rates were analysed by using spatial autocorrelation indexes and spatial regression.

Partners in Recovery program evaluation: changes in unmet needs and recovery.

Objective Partners in Recovery (PIR) is an Australian government initiative designed to provide support and service linkage for individuals with complex needs living with severe and persistent mental illness. The aim of the present study was to examine whether consumers engaged in PIR programs in two large regions of Sydney experienced: (1) a reduction in unmet needs (either via self- or staff report); and (2) progress in their self-reported mental health recovery. Methods Unmet needs were measured using the Camberwell Assessment of Need Short Appraisal Scale and recovery was measured using the Recovery Assessment Scale - Domains and Stages.

Implementing system-wide risk stratification approaches: A review of critical success and failure factors.

Risk stratification has become a widely used tool for linking people identified at risk of health deterioration to the most appropriate evidence-based care. This article systematically reviews recent literature to determine key factors that have been identified as critical enablers and/or barriers to successful implementation of risk stratification tools at a system level. A systematic search found 23 articles and four promising protocols for inclusion in the review, covering the use to 20 different risk stratification tools.

Is the Partners in Recovery program connecting with the intended population of people living with severe and persistent mental illness? What are their prioritised needs?

Objective The Partners in Recovery (PIR) program is an Australian government initiative designed to make the mental health and social care sectors work in more coordinated ways to meet the needs of those with severe and complex mental illness. Herein we reflect on demographic data collected during evaluation of PIR implementation in two Western Sydney sites. The aims of the present study were to: (1) explore whether two Sydney-based PIR programs had recruited their intended population, namely people living with severe and persistent mental illness; and (2) learn more about this relatively unknown population and their self-identified need priorities.

Use of the trochanteric flip osteotomy to facilitate internal fixation of a femoral head fracture.

We report the case of a 42-year-old male who suffered a fracture-dislocation of the femoral head. After a closed reduction of the hip, this proceeded to an open reduction with internal fixation of the fractured femoral head, in addition to labral repair and micro-fracture of an articular cartilage defect. After considering the risks to the femoral head blood supply, the trochanteric flip osteotomy was used.

Noise production in ceramic-on-ceramic total hip arthroplasty is associated with lower patient satisfaction and hip scores.

Background: Ceramic-on-ceramic total hip arthroplasties (THA) are commonly implanted. We investigated the incidence of noise in ceramic-on-ceramic and determined any association with patient satisfaction and hip scores.

Methods: We recruited 140 THA.

Integrated mental health atlas of the Western Sydney Local Health District: gaps and recommendations.

Objective Australian mental health care remains hospital centric and fragmented; it is riddled with gaps and does little to promote recovery. Reform must be built on better knowledge of the shape of existing services. Mental health atlases are an essential part of this knowledge base, enabling comparison with other regions and jurisdictions, but must be based on a rigorous classification of services.

Bridging the chronic care gap: HealthOne Mt Druitt, Australia.

HealthOne was part of a state-wide initiative to invest in new community-based facilities for collocating services. The HealthOne Mount Druitt is a virtual hub and spoke organisation established in 2006 in a socially disadvantaged part of Western Sydney based out of a new community health hub. The model is based on 'virtual' care planning and aims to improve coordination of care for older people with complex health needs, reduce unnecessary hospitalisations and ensure appropriate referral to community and specialist health services.

Coordinated care versus standard care in hospital admissions of people with chronic illness: a randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To determine whether Care Navigation (CN), a nurse-led hospital-based coordinated care intervention, reduced the use of hospital services and improved quality of life for patients with chronic illness.

Design: Randomised controlled trial; participants were allocated to CN or standard care.

Participants And Setting: Patients with chronic illness presenting to the emergency department of Nepean Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales.

Living with economic hardship at the end of life.

Background: Dying patients and their families often face an added burden of economic hardship, especially if they have become ill in the years before expected retirement. In Australia, patients can fall through the cracks of the national system of social protection because there are gaps in the access to and provision of healthcare and social assistance at the end of life.

Design: A mixed-method, prospective case study of individuals and their family carers, recruited from a specialist palliative care service in Melbourne, Australia, is presented.

Internet search patterns of human immunodeficiency virus and the digital divide in the Russian Federation: infoveillance study.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a serious health problem in the Russian Federation. However, the true scale of HIV in Russia has long been the subject of considerable debate. Using digital surveillance to monitor diseases has become increasingly popular in high income countries.

Navigating public health chemicals policy in Australia: a policy maker's and practitioner's guide.

Chemicals are ubiquitous in everyday life. Environmental health practitioners rely on a complex web of regulators and policy bodies to ensure the protection of public health, yet few understand the full extent of this web. A lack of understanding can hamper public health response and impede policy development.

Colorectal cancer screening: why immunochemical fecal occult blood tests may be the best option.

Background: There are many test options available for colorectal cancer screening. The choice of test relates to the objectives of those offering or considering screening.

Discussion: While all screening programs aim to detect disease early in order to improve the length and/or quality of life for the individual, some organizations and individuals prefer screening tests that offer the opportunity for cancer prevention.

Searching for truth: internet search patterns as a method of investigating online responses to a Russian illicit drug policy debate.

Background: This is a methodological study investigating the online responses to a national debate over an important health and social problem in Russia. Russia is the largest Internet market in Europe, exceeding Germany in the absolute number of users. However, Russia is unusual in that the main search provider is not Google, but Yandex.

Coordination of care in Australian mental health policy.

Objective: To review Australian mental health initiatives involving coordination of care.

Methods: Commonwealth government websites were systematically searched for mental health policy documents. Database searches were also conducted using the terms 'coordination' or 'integration' and 'mental health' or 'mental illness' and 'Australia'.

Identifying trustworthy experts: how do policymakers find and assess public health researchers worth consulting or collaborating with?

This paper reports data from semi-structured interviews on how 26 Australian civil servants, ministers and ministerial advisors find and evaluate researchers with whom they wish to consult or collaborate. Policymakers valued researchers who had credibility across the three attributes seen as contributing to trustworthiness: competence (an exemplary academic reputation complemented by pragmatism, understanding of government processes, and effective collaboration and communication skills); integrity (independence, "authenticity", and faithful reporting of research); and benevolence (commitment to the policy reform agenda). The emphases given to these assessment criteria appeared to be shaped in part by policymakers' roles and the type and phase of policy development in which they were engaged.

Galvanizers, guides, champions, and shields: the many ways that policymakers use public health researchers.

Context: Public health researchers make a limited but important contribution to policy development. Some engage with policy directly through committees, advisory boards, advocacy coalitions, ministerial briefings, intervention design consultation, and research partnerships with government, as well as by championing research-informed policy in the media. Nevertheless, the research utilization literature has paid little attention to these diverse roles and the ways that policymakers use them.

Fifteen years of bowel cancer screening policy in Australia: putting evidence into practice?

Bowel cancer kills over 4000 Australians each year. From the late 1980s to October 2005, research evidence guided the development of bowel cancer screening policy proposals, but political, financial and institutional constraints restricted implementation options. Since 2006, the Australian Government has provided a limited bowel cancer screening program, based on what the government deems it can afford, rather than on evidence of what is required to implement a successful population-based screening program.

Challenges in health and health care for Australia.

The next Australian Government will confront major challenges in the funding and delivery of health care. These challenges derive from: Changes in demography and disease patterns as the population ages, and the burden of chronic illness grows; Increasing costs of medical advances and the need to ensure that there are comprehensive, efficient and transparent processes for assessing health technologies; Problems with health workforce supply and distribution; Persistent concerns about the quality and safety of health services; Uncertainty about how best to balance public and private sectors in the provision and funding of health services; Recognition that we must invest more in the health of our children; The role of urban planning in creating healthy and sustainable communities; and Understanding that achieving equity in health, especially for Indigenous Australians, requires more than just providing health care services. The search for effective and lasting solutions will require a consultative approach to deciding the nation's priority health problems and to designing the health system that will best address them; issues of bureaucratic and fiscal responsibility can then follow.