COVID-19’s Collateral Positives – Samuel Cornell (14 September 2021)
It's not all bad...read Sam's piece in Sydney's 'The Beast', a local Eastern Suburbs' publication.
Do hospital consent forms for cardiology procedures meet health literacy standards? Evaluation of understandability and readability – Ruwani Peiris et al
Consent forms that are difficult to understand may jeopardise informed consent. The aim of this study was to determine whether consent documents for cardiology-related procedures could be easily read and understood by patients with low health literacy.
The Influence of Social Distancing Behaviors and Psychosocial Factors on Physical Activity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-sectional Survey Study – Troy Cross et al
The COVID-19 pandemic has arguably facilitated a shift toward increased sedentariness and reduced physical activity. Moreover, there is mounting evidence that mental health has also declined during the pandemic. However, it remains unknown to what extent social distancing behaviors and mental health have affected the [...]
NHMRC Investigator Grant – Tessa Copp (14 September 2021)
Success: Dr Tessa Copp was awarded an NHMRC Investigator Grant of $650,740 to lead a project on reducing the harms of inappropriate medicalisation of women's reproductive health.
NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence – Kirsten McCaffery et al (14 September 2021)
Success: 'Wiser healthcare: better value care for all Australians' has received funding from the NHMRC. CIs include Kirsten McCaffery, Stacy Carter, Alexandra Barratt, Katy Bell, Ray Moynihan, Denise O’Connor, Rachelle Buchbinder, Nehmat Houssami and Paul Glasziou. The CRE will develop "a new solutions-based approach" to overuse [...]
Consumer understanding of terms used in imaging reports requested for low back pain: a cross-sectional survey – Caitlin Farmer et al
The aim of this study was to investigate (1) self-reported societal comprehension of common and usually non-serious terms found in lumbar spine imaging reports and (2) its relationship to perceived seriousness, likely persistence of low back pain (LBP), fear of movement, back beliefs and history [...]
Development of a patient decision aid on subacromial decompression surgery and rotator cuff repair surgery: an international mixed-methods study – Joshua Zadro et al
To develop and user test a patient decision aid for people with subacromial pain syndrome that presents evidence-based information on the benefits and harms of subacromial decompression surgery and rotator cuff repair surgery. We assembled a multidisciplinary steering group, and used existing decision aids and [...]
Doctors’ Attitudes to Patient Question Asking, Patient-Generated Question Lists, and Question Prompt Lists: A Qualitative Study – Marguerite Tracy et al
Participation by patients in their own health care improves quality and safety. Question prompt lists (QPLs) can improve participation, particularly with doctors’ endorsement. Few data have explored doctors’ attitudes on these tools. We sought the experiences and attitudes of general practitioners and other specialists toward [...]
Behavioural barriers to COVID-19 testing in Australia: Two national surveys to identify barriers and estimate prevalence by health literacy level – Carissa Bonner et al (Preprint)
COVID-19 testing and contact tracing has been crucial in Australia's prevention strategy. However, testing for COVID-19 is far from optimal, and behavioural barriers are unknown. Study 1 aimed to identify the range of barriers to testing. Study 2 aimed to estimate prevalence in a nationally [...]
Time to listen: co-designed strategies urgently needed to support diverse communities – Danielle Muscat et al (25 August 2021)
Read the Croakey Health Media article. Too often, research excludes the voices of culturally and linguistically diverse communities. This is true of COVID-19 research both in Australia and internationally. But as the recent outbreak continues to plague Sydney’s most diverse Local Government Areas, the necessity [...]