In new research published by the University of South Australia has highlighted the urgency of ensuring young victims of serious child abuse or neglect get the support they need before school commencement so that they can be as close to developmentally on track as possible. Analysing the records of nearly 75,000 South Australian children (born between 2003 and 2014; mean age of 5.7 years; 50.7 per cent of boys), researchers identified 1345 who had suffered substantiated abuse before starting school, 666 of whom had entered foster, kinship or residential care. Assessing developmental outcomes fo ..read more

A new service for suicide prevention for young people in Victoria has received positive feedback from a group of its first clients. Australian researchers surveyed 28 young people who used the service, which has been operating within a Victorian public youth health service since early 2022. The service was designed by young people and carers with lived experience of youth suicide and involves three months of intensive outreach from a team of psychiatric, psychological, psychosocial and lived experience staff. The clients surveyed gave positive feedback about the service being given outside a c ..read more

  Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common cause of pain and joint stiffness. While physical activity is known to ease symptoms, only 1 in 10 people regularly exercise.   Researchers from the University of South Australia seek to understand patients’ inactivity, finding that people with knee OA unconsciously believe that activity may be dangerous to their condition, despite medical advice telling them otherwise.   The study found that of those surveyed, 69 per cent of people with knee pain had stronger implicit (unconscious)beliefs that exercise was dangerous than the average person ..read more

This Men’s Health Week the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) is focusing its attention on supporting men and boys who live outside the urban footprint. In collaboration with the College’s Community Reference Group, ACRRM is raising awareness about the importance of proactive healthcare, emphasising both physical and mental wellbeing. Community Reference Group Chair Angus Whyte, a grazier living on Wyndham Station in Southwestern New South Wales, highlights the unique challenges faced by men in rural areas. “Rural blokes are letting the team down when it comes to self-care ..read more

A team of Australian researchers have developed a ‘new dictionary’ to better predict outcomes for people who have experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI). The Australian Traumatic Brain Injury Initiative (AUS-TBI) is a consortium of academics, researchers and healthcare professionals from across the country. Working together to understand the factors which could be used to predict outcome following TBI in a study supported by the Australian Medical Research Future Fund Mission for TBI, the team examined factors related to social support, health, clinical care, biological markers, acute interv ..read more

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) welcomes education funding for pharmacists in the Miles Government’s 2024-25 Queensland State Budget. The state budget commits $6 million to enable pharmacists to complete additional training to support the state-wide rollout of the Queensland Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot. This includes completion of prescribing training and clinical practice training, and will allow participating pharmacists to treat and prescribe medicines for common health conditions and wellbeing services, making healthcare more accessible for Queenslanders. PSA a ..read more

The Medical, Nursing and Midwifery and Pharmacy Boards of Australia and Ahpra have released a joint statement raising concerns about the emergence of services designed solely to provide customers with a predetermined medicine, stating that ‘some practitioners may be putting profit ahead of patient welfare.’ Of particular concern to the boards and Aphra are practice models that treat a single disorder and prescribe and dispense a single medicine in response to patient demand. Some focus on a high volume of telemedicine consultations or computer or algorithm-based prescribing of medicine, and so ..read more

Minister for Health and Aged Care, the Hon. Mark Butler MP will again join pharmacists at the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s National Conference PSA24, providing the ministerial address on behalf of the Albanese Government. ​In what is a critical time for the pharmacy profession, the presence of Minister Butler underscores the important role of pharmacists in meeting the changing healthcare needs of Australians. PSA24’s ‘Pathways to Progress’ will give pharmacists the opportunity to engage with industry leaders, policymakers, and colleagues from all corners of the country. With more tha ..read more

Researchers at Flinders University are excited about the worldwide uptake of their early screening tool for children with suspected Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The early screening tool, known as Autism Detection in Early Childhood (ADEC), is already available in Australia and is now available free of charge to low-resource countries such as Indonesia, Mexico, China and Guayaquil (Ecuador). A study published recently in Journal of Autism and Mental Health Disorders investigated the effects of translating and culturally adapting the screening tool for a Spanish-speaking population in Ecuador ..read more

More than 10,000 patients have now been treated by their local community pharmacist for a range of common conditions under the Victorian pharmacist prescribing pilot. “Reaching 10,000 patient consultations as part of the Victorian pharmacist prescribing pilot is clear demonstration of the trust that patients have in highly trained community pharmacists to provide safe, timely and quality care for everyday conditions and healthcare needs,” said Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Victoria Branch Committee Member, Megan Kazantzis. Under the Victorian pharmacist prescribing pilot, patients can visit the ..read more