Tagged: healthcare

Featured image: Selling a buffalo for a brain scan: India’s COVID-19 crisis reveals deep fractures in its health system

Selling a buffalo for a brain scan: India’s COVID-19 crisis reveals deep fractures in its health system - News

Guest Author • May 06, 2021 •

Kaaren Mathias, University of Canterbury As India’s COVID-19 crisis continues, the percentage of the population testing positive for the virus has grown from 4.2% to 18.4% in the past 30 days. With more than 300,000 new cases reported each day, hospitals and crematoria face collapse. Global media have been awash with heartbreaking images, statistics and stories showing the … Read More

Featured image: How crowdfunding campaigners market illness to capture the attention of potential donors

How crowdfunding campaigners market illness to capture the attention of potential donors - Hot off the press

Guest Author • Apr 28, 2021 •

Tom Baker, University of Auckland; Ann E. Bartos, University of Auckland; Caitlin Neuwelt-Kearns, University of Auckland; Octavia Calder-Dawe, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington, and Susan E Wardell Liam’s* crowdfunding campaign page is direct: his “sole purpose is to survive”. Before his diagnosis with inoperable brain cancer, Liam was a “healthy, fitness and sports minded 44-year-old, [who gave] … Read More

Featured image: Pandemic priorities

Pandemic priorities - The Dismal Science

Eric Crampton • Apr 28, 2021 •

Prior to Covid, successive governments’ approaches to public health meant that we had central government ready and able to command District Health Boards to stop the sale of soda at hospital cafeterias, but unable to tell whether hospital staff were vaccinated during a measles outbreak caused by failure to make sure everyone was getting their measles shots. I worry that … Read More

Featured image: No one is mourning the end of district health boards, but rebuilding trust in the system won’t be easy

No one is mourning the end of district health boards, but rebuilding trust in the system won’t be easy - News

Guest Author • Apr 27, 2021 •

Tim Tenbensel, University of Auckland This week’s announcement that all district health boards (DHBs) would be abolished and replaced with a centralised health agency took a lot of people by surprise. Most key health sector interest groups appear to support the proposed agency, provisionally known as Health NZ. But the Labour government has created some very high expectations, … Read More

Featured image: With closer ties to GPs, NZ’s new central health agency could revolutionise treatment of major diseases

With closer ties to GPs, NZ’s new central health agency could revolutionise treatment of major diseases - News

Guest Author • Apr 26, 2021 •

Verna Smith, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington It is rare to get excited about institutional reform, but the government’s announcement of wholesale changes to the health system has the potential to be transformative. The restructure comes in response to last year’s Health and Disability System review. Among other changes, it will create a centralised organisation, … Read More

Featured image: New authority could transform Māori health, but only if it’s a leader, not a partner

New authority could transform Māori health, but only if it’s a leader, not a partner - News

Guest Author • Apr 22, 2021 •

Dominic O’Sullivan, Charles Sturt University and Heather Came, Auckland University of Technology As part of a major overhaul of the health system, health minister Andrew Little yesterday announced a new Māori health authority. The authority will be able to commission primary health services and make joint decisions with a newly created centralised health agency. It’s a simple idea, … Read More

Featured image: How New Zealand’s healthcare system is failing people with osteoarthritis

How New Zealand’s healthcare system is failing people with osteoarthritis - Guest Work

Guest Author • Apr 03, 2021 •

J. Haxby Abbott and Ross Wilson Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting almost 650 million people over the age of 40 worldwide. In New Zealand, around one in eight adults have osteoarthritis, but it is a rapidly worsening problem. An ageing population and increasing rates of obesity and joint injury are contributing to the … Read More

Featured image: Don’t ignore the ‘omics

Don’t ignore the ‘omics - Genomics Aotearoa

Genomics Aotearoa • Jul 23, 2019 •

Professor Cristin Print ‘Omics technologies are an advance that few health practitioners can ignore. The last five years has seen an expanding range of technological advances. Genomics and related ‘omic technologies are rapidly penetrating into the mainstream of primary and secondary care and transforming our knowledge of disease through research. Some of these new technologies are destined to be used … Read More

Featured image: Before replacing a carer with a robot, we need to assess the pros and cons

Before replacing a carer with a robot, we need to assess the pros and cons - Guest Work

Guest Author • Nov 09, 2018 •

Helen Dickinson, UNSW and Catherine Smith, University of Melbourne If you have seen science fiction television series such as Humans or Westworld, you might be imagining a near future where intelligent, humanoid robots play an important role in meeting the needs of people, including caring for children or older relatives. The reality is that … Read More

Featured image: The further future of healthcare

The further future of healthcare - Ariadne

Robert Hickson • Oct 23, 2018 •

Following on from my last post, the UK has just released its Future of healthcare policy paper. It’s essentially a fluffy digital health information policy. No timelines and no systems-level thinking (apart from IT systems). Just add digital and other technological bits, encourage innovation, and it’s sorted is the short version. I found it a dispiriting read. It … Read More