Health literacy

What is "health literacy"? -- Why is health literacy important? -- The latest in health literacy -- Ten tips for health marketing and communication practitioners"Brought to you by the Marketing and Communication Strategy Branch in the Division of Health Communication and Marketing, National Center for Health Marketing, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).""July 2009."Mode of access: Internet as an Acrobat .pdf file (2.54 MB, 5 p.).System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader.Includes bibliographical references (p.4 -5.

Distribution of coronal and root caries experience among persons aged 60+ in South Australia

The document attached has been archived with permission from the Australian Dental Association. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.This report provides epidemiological data describing caries experience among the population of non-institutionalized older adults in Adelaide and Mt Gambier. Subjects were selected in a stratified random sample of persons aged 60+ who were listed on the South Australian Electoral Database. Oral examinations were conducted by four calibrated dentists among 853 dentate persons aged 60 years and over. There was an average of 14.7 missing teeth, 8.3 filled teeth and 0.3 decayed teeth, and a further 0.2 teeth were present as retained roots. The mean number of missing teeth was higher (p < 0.05) in older compared with younger age groups, and in Mt Gambier compared with Adelaide. The mean DFS of 22.1 was significantly higher (p < 0.05) among younger persons, females and in Adelaide. Root surface caries affected an average of 3.1 surfaces, and was greater (p < 0.05) among persons aged 70-79 years, males and Adelaide residents. However, when root caries was expressed as an attack rate per 100 exposed surfaces, differences were statistically significant only among age groups. Analysis of specific teeth revealed that no more than 40 per cent of molars were retained, and between 30 and 58 per cent of retained molars had coronal fillings.Gary D. Slade, A. John Spence

Role of Healthcare in Korean Long-Term Care Insurance

With the rapid aging of the population, Korea introduced public long-term care insurance for older people in 2008. The long-term care insurance was designed as a separate scheme from the national health insurance, with eligibility qualifications and the certification process based on functional disability, benefits and coverage of community-based and institutional care, and a financing structure through multi-party contributions. Delivering appropriate health services to long-term care beneficiaries who manifest a high prevalence of comorbid chronic conditions with rising healthcare costs, however, presents a particular challenge. The lack of coordination between the health and long-term care sectors, limited consideration of physicians' assessments in the certification process, inadequate provision of health services in long-term care facilities, and overlapping and inefficient use of care resources act as barriers to providing comprehensive healthcare for older beneficiaries. Through active participation in the long-term care system, health professionals can help older patients navigate through the complex long-term care terrain to obtain quality healthcare

Public Say Food Regulatory Policies to Improve Health in Western Australia Are Important: Population Survey Results

Objective: To investigate the level of support among Western Australian adults for food control policies to improve diet, reduce obesity and protect the environment. Methods: Attitudes towards government food control policies on food labelling, food advertising, and the supply of environmentally friendly food data were pooled from two Nutrition Monitoring Survey Series telephone surveys of 2,147 adults aged 18–64 years collected in 2009 and 2012. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were conducted using survey module of STATA 12.Results: The majority of adults believe it is important that government regulates food policy options under consideration: nutrition information on food labels (97% versus 2% who think it is not important);health rating on food labels (95% versus 3%); food advertising (83% versus 11%); and the supply of environmentally friendly food (86% versus 9%).Conclusions: Community perception is that government control or regulation of food labelling, food advertising and the supply of environmentally friendly food is important. Implications: Curbing excess weight gain and related disease burden is a public health priority. Australian governments are considering food regulatory interventions to assist the public to improve their dietary intake. These findings should provide reassurance to government officials considering these regulatory measures

Aboriginal-mainstream partnerships: Exploring the challenges and enhancers of a collaborative service arrangement for Aboriginal clients with substance use issues

Background: Partnerships between different health services are integral to addressing the complex health needs of vulnerable populations. In Australia, partnerships between Aboriginal community controlled and mainstream services can extend health care options and improve the cultural safety of services. However, although government funding supports such collaborations, many factors can cause these arrangements to be tenuous, impacting the quality of health care received. Research was undertaken to explore the challenges and enhancers of a government initiated service partnership between an Aboriginal Community Controlled alcohol and drug service and three mainstream alcohol rehabilitation and support services. Methods. Sixteen staff including senior managers (n=5), clinical team leaders (n=5) and counsellors (n=6) from the four services were purposively recruited and interviewed. Interviews were semi-structured and explored staff experience of the partnership including the client intake and referral process, shared client care, inter-service communication and ways of working. Results & discussion. Communication issues, partner unfamiliarity, 'mainstreaming' of Aboriginal funding, divergent views regarding staff competencies, client referral issues, staff turnover and different ways of working emerged as issues, emphasizing the challenges of working with a population with complex issues in a persistent climate of limited resourcing. Factors enhancing the partnership included adding a richness and diversity to treatment possibilities and opportunities to explore different, more culturally appropriate ways of working. Conclusion: While the literature strongly advises partnerships be suitably mature before commencing service delivery, the reality of funding cycles may require partnerships become operational before relationships are adequately consolidated. Allowing sufficient time and funding for both the operation and relational aspects of a partnership is critical, with support for partners to regularly meet and workshop arrangements. Documentation that makes clear and embeds working arrangements between partners is important to ameliorate many of the issues that can arise. Given the historical undercurrents, flexible approaches are required to focus on strengths that contribute to progress, even if incremental, rather than on weaknesses which can undermine efforts. This research offers important lessons to assist other services collaborating in post-colonial settings to offer treatment pathways for vulnerable populations. © 2013 Taylor et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Public health in Thailand: Emerging focus on non‐communicable diseases

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86815/1/hpm1078.pd

Do adults in contact with Australia's public sector mental health services get better?

This paper describes the outcomes of episodes of care for adults in public sector mental health services across Australia, with a view to informing the debate on service quality. Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) change scores and effect sizes were calculated for 14,659 acute inpatient episodes and 23,692 community episodes. The results showed that people in contact with public sector mental health services generally do get better, although the magnitude of improvement depends on the setting and episode type. This confirmatory finding is particularly positive, given current community concerns about the quality and effectiveness of mental health services

The relationship between alcohol consumption and related harm among young university students

Issue addressed: Research has shown that Australian university students consume alcohol at a higher level than their peers from the general population and are therefore more likely to witness and experience alcohol-related harm. This study measured the prevalence of alcohol consumption among 18–24-year-old university students and the association between alcohol consumption and witnessed and experienced harms. Methods: A random cross-sectional sample of university students aged 18–24 years (n = 2466) was recruited via the University Survey Office and through random intercept at campus market day. All participants completed an online survey that included the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, Alcohol Problems Scale and an additional scale measuring witnessed harm. Results: Principal Components Analysis revealed three factors within the Alcohol Problems Scale; i.e. Criminal and Aggressive Behaviour, Health and Emotional Harms and Sexual Harms. Students who consume alcohol at high-risk levels were significantly more likely to score highly on each factor, 1.6 times more likely to experience harm and 1.1 times more likely to witness harm than students who consume alcohol at low-risk levels. Conclusions: The positive association between alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm supports previous findings. This study adds previous research through the categorisation of harm into factors