Current Topics and Trends in Australian Healthcare

Australian Patient’s Awards: Awards Nominations 2024

Nominations are now open for the 7th APA Annual Patient’s Awards.

This year we introduce a new award: The Outstanding Psychologist award to recognise the tremendous contribution of Psychologists make to patients in so many ways.

YOU CAN NOMINATE somebody in any of the following awards categories by clicking on the award category below:

To the Health Technology Assessment Policy and Methods Review

This review looks at ways to improve the efficacy of Australia’s assessment system in bringing health technologies (including pharmaceuticals) to the market, and also examines ways to improve input from patients/consumers. A copy of our submission can be downloaded here.

Heart Valve Disease Awareness Week

Heart Failure happens when the heart isn’t able to pump enough blood to the body, or when your heart cannot fill properly with blood.

Do you have heart failure, or know someone who does?

In collaboration with Hearts4heart and Global Heart Hub, we are searching for a number of people who are willing to participate in a short anonymous survey. This will help other heart failure patients in Australia and around the world achieve better health outcomes. We will also connect you with Hearts4heart, Australia’s only patient led patient advocacy education and support for people living with Heart Disease.

Please visit this link to find out more https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JYGMJQR

GET WELL/STAY WELL

Australian Healthcare Week

The Australian Patients Association (APA) is excited to announce its involvement in the upcoming 13th Annual Australian Healthcare Week (AHW), taking place in Sydney from 20-21 March 2024. The event brings together leaders and professionals from all sectors of the healthcare industry, providing a platform for the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and networking opportunities. Register for free by clicking here.

Articles and tips:

Did fermented foods fuel brain growth?

The human brain is a marvel of evolution, but how it evolved from a smaller primate brain into the creative, complex organ of today is a mystery and why it happened when it did has remained elusive. While some have theorized that the use of fire, and the subsequent invention of cooking, provided enough nourishment for our larger-brained ancestors to become dominant, a new theory points to a different spark: fermentation. In the article published in Communications Biology dt 23 November 2023, Erin Hecht, one of the authors of “Fermentation technology as a driver of human brain expansion” says that the key to understanding how our brains grew is most likely rooted in what — and how — we eat. Click here to access the article.

1 in 10 preterm births linked to common plastic chemical

For around a century a group of chemicals called phthalates have been used in a variety of household products, primarily as a way to soften plastics. The chemicals have become so prevalent that almost every person in the Western world is likely to harbor some trace of the substance in their system. Exposure to phthalates has been estimated to be the primary cause of one in 10 preterm births, according to a new study led by researchers from the New York University Grossman School of Medicine. Click here to read the article published in New Atlas dated 8 February 2024.

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