Welcome to another edition of the HealthInsite newsletter, and my first one as Editor. Welcome also to any new subscribers! First, I need to apologise for the substantial gap between the publication of the last newsletter and this one, and to give you an undertaking that it won't happen again! Secondly, I'd like to wish Denise success and happiness in her new(ish) role - she is certainly missed by everyone here at HealthInsite, and has established benchmarks for quality and responsiveness that I will strive to emulate (including publishing a regular newsletter!).
The Operational Review of HealthInsite is close to being concluded, and I'm hoping to be able to outline some of the findings and recommendations in the next newsletter. As Denise suggested earlier this year, we are excited about the possibilities and the potential for improving the site in ways that continue to enhance our ability to meet your information needs. There has also been a recent upgrade of HealthInsite's technological infrastructure and this will be most noticeable to all subscribers in the performance of the site, specifically in terms of the rapidity of response times. There have also been concurrent changes to the format of the newsletter and we would welcome your feedback about the new look!
What I propose to do, at least with this issue, is to highlight health topics that are featured in the National Health Calendar.
When I started writing this newsletter, it was National Diabetes Week (10 - 16 July) and it is therefore appropriate that we look at some of the HealthInsite resources that shed light on this serious health condition. Diabetes is the fastest growing non-infectious disease in the world, and one for which there is no cure. If left untreated, it can result in heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, amputation, and erectile dysfunction. If diagnosed early, diabetes can be effectively managed and the risk of serious health problems is greatly reduced. We are delighted to have Diabetes Australia (Victoria) and the International Diabetes Institute as Information Partners.
The following week was National Glaucoma Week (16 - 22 July). Glaucoma is the name given to a group of eye diseases in which the optic nerve at the back of the eye is slowly destroyed. It affects over 300,000 Australians. While it is more common as people age, it can occur at any age. Glaucoma Australia is another of HealthInsite's valued Information Partners.
The first week of this month (1 - 7 August) was Dental Health Week, a community awareness program coordinated and funded by the Australian Dental Association (ADA). We have had some constructive preliminary discussions with the ADA about the Association becoming an Information Partner and are hopeful of being able to formalise a partnership in the near future. In the meantime, to find out more about the work of the ADA, you should visit its web site at http://www.ada.org.au/ . If you are interested in having a look at existing information on dental health available through HealthInsite, you can consider the following links:
The same week was also World Breastfeeding Week, and the theme of the week in Australia this year was Breastmilk - Nothing Else Comes Close. It was coordinated in Australia by the Australian Breastfeeding Association, another one of HealthInsite's trusted Information Partners. Other Information Partners that have some authoritative and useful information about breastfeeding include the Raising Children Network, and Child and Youth Health (a division of the South Australian Department of Human Services).
We always welcome feedback on our services, so if you have any comments, questions, or general remarks on how we are going, please don't hesitate to email us at:
healthinsite.feedback@health.gov.au
You can expect the next edition of the newsletter in September, so until then...
A number of our readers have e-mailed us wanting to know more about how they can donate their organs. A second chance at life is one of the greatest gifts that we can give to another person. The Australian Organ Donor Register is a way for people to formally register their wish to donate organs after they die. For more information on this topic, please visit the web page of Medicare Australia and click on the Organ Donor Register link at the top of the page.
New Information Partners
As highlighted in the previous edition of the Newsletter, five new Information Partners joined our HealthInsite family earlier this year and in this edition, we are going to provide some more details about each of them. We would also encourage you to explore their substantial online resources.
CareSearch
CareSearch is the result of a project funded by the Australian Government to improve the evidence available to palliative care clinical practitioners, researchers, and educators nationally. In an era where evidence-based practice is a crucial component of clinical care, the need to collect, evaluate, and disseminate information grows in importance, as does the need to improve the critical appraisal skills of practitioners and researchers.
It was decided from the outset that the findings of this project would be available on a user-friendly website in order to ensure the systematic delivery of the key outcomes for all people who need to access this work. All visitors to the site can search the literature database, build a query using the MEDLINE search utility, use the audit tools, and review "hot picks". Higher levels of authorisation are required to use and access other site services. These include literature submission, submission and evaluation of conference abstracts, and setting up and responding to research questionnaires in the multi-site platform.
Materials produced by the project team will be made available, where possible, in both PDF and word formats. Materials that are included on the site from other sources and authors are only provided in PDF (or in the format submitted).
Howard Florey Institute
Every year, more than three million Australians experience one or more episodes of major brain disorder.
At the Howard Florey Institute, internationally renowned scientists work together with talented young researchers to make discoveries about the brain. The Institute's scientists undertake clinical and applied research that can be developed into treatments to combat brain disorders, and into new medical practices. Their discoveries will improve the lives of those directly and indirectly affected by brain and mind disorders in Australia, and around the world.
Since the decision to focus on neuroscience in 1997, the Florey has enjoyed rapid growth and currently employs some 300 people working in eight different research teams. Some of the research areas include:
Parkinson's Disease
Stroke
Motor Neurone Disease
Traumatic brain and spinal cord injury
Addiction
Epilepsy
Multiple Sclerosis
Brain development in premature babies
Autism
Raising Children Network
The Raising Children Network is made up of three consortium members: the Smart Population Foundation, the Victorian Parenting Centre, and the Centre for Community Child Health. The Network's philosophy is based on the premise that children are as individual and different as their parents, and the belief that positive outcomes for children across a range of areas can be achieved when parents have access to information based on the best science in parenting, and child health and development. The Network sees its role as providing information that can help parents with the day-to-day decisions of raising children, as well as looking after their own needs, by finding and translating this science into everyday language that is useful and practical.
This is a website for Australian mothers, fathers, grandparents and anyone else who has responsibility for the care of children. The Network aims to meet the information needs of a wide range of users, from the just curious, to those looking for assistance with particular problems or issues, or those wanting to explore the science behind modern thinking on the care of children.
In addition to information support for parents, the Network aims to be a source of personal support by helping to connect people through our discussion forums. The groundbreaking My Neighbourhood feature on this site provides a way that users can connect with others in their own locations.
This is also a website for the wide range of professionals and agencies who work with parents on the front line every day - general practitioners, maternal and child health nurses, child care workers, preschool teachers, school teachers, social workers, psychologists, and so on. Professionals can refer parents to the site, or download and distribute information from the site to the parents with whom they are working.
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) is the principal organisation representing the medical specialty of psychiatry in Australasia and New Zealand, and has responsibility for training, examining, and awarding the qualification of Fellowship of the College to medical practitioners.
The vision of the College is "a fellowship of psychiatrists working with and for the general community to achieve the best attainable quality of psychiatric care and mental health".
On the website, you will find a range of information about the College and psychiatry in Australia and New Zealand, as well as links to more information about mental health.
Virtual Medical Centre
The virtualmedicalcentre.com is one of Australia's leading online health information resources, delivering up-to-date and accurate health information twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. The virtualmedicalcentre.com reaches patients and their families and friends, as well as health professionals involved in the diagnosis, treatment, and support of people with a medical condition. The site consists of thirteen interconnected information centres each complete with information on drugs, disease, treatment, trials, symptoms, support, and breaking news.
Each site that goes live has a Medical Director who works on ensuring the quality of information on the site is maintained and continually enhanced. The Medical Director is also assisted by an Editorial Advisory Board (EAB). The EAB is a group of medical specialists who have formed in their particular area of medical expertise to contribute comment and feedback on the information that is displayed on the relevant centre. The EAB for many of the centres is still in the process of forming. However, as it currently stands, there are hundreds of medical specialists over a number of specialty areas who have already agreed to participate.
Membership to each centre is available to everyone and is completely free. Medical specialists receive a different membership which allows them access to industry sensitive information by using their medical provider number to join. All members are rewarded with a greater amount of information when viewing the sites. Additional benefits of site membership include breaking news alerts sent via email, regular informative newsletters and free posters and brochures on request
If you are associated with an organisation that could contribute to HealthInsite, one of the team would be happy to discuss the process with you. Alternatively, if you know of any organisations that you would like to recommend to us, we will be happy to contact them and invite them to submit an application. Let us know by sending an email to: healthinsite.feedback@health.gov.au
This part of HealthInsite lists all the topic pages along with sub-topics. It's a great way of browsing through all of our topics if you're not entirely sure of which search term to use. It also gives a good overview of the breadth of information that we cover.
We think it's a great solution. Let us know what you think
The
HealthInsite team regularly adds new items to the database including new
information partners, new topic pages and news items. Why not take a look
at the list
of new and updated material added to the database in the past month, but beware, the list this time will be quite extensive!
What's On Next
Month?
Next month we'll be looking at the very popular topic of asthma - what it is, how it's treated, and how to live a healthy and active lifestyle with asthma.
That's it for now, from all of us at HealthInsite.
The
HealthInsite team regularly adds new items to the database including new
information partners, new topic pages and news items. Why not take a look
at the 
