During COVID-19 vaccine rollouts social media has been a breeding ground for anti-vaccine sentiments, which have led to vaccine hesitancy. This can increase vaccine-preventable diseases and create public health crises.
Health-related misinformation in social media has been shown to lead to poor health outcomes, including delayed treatment, unnecessary treatment, and wrong treatment. False information can spread rapidly: Social media platforms allow information to be shared quickly and widely, which means that false information can spread rapidly. This can result in a large number of people being exposed to incorrect information and acting on it, which can have serious consequences.
More significant changes in recent years have been health-related misinformation eroding trust in healthcare professionals, leading to people seeking alternative treatments or avoiding medical advice altogether. This can make it more difficult for healthcare professionals to provide effective treatment and care.
With this in mind, recent vaccines delivered as part of the COVID-19 response, are having a consequential impact on the uptake of routine vaccines.
Australian Health Journal spoke with Dr Paul Griffin, an Infectious Diseases Physician and Microbiologist at Mater Health, and who has been involved in over 150 clinical trials in the field of infectious disease.
Now the Director of Infectious Diseases at Mater Health, Paul talks about coming into the field of infectious disease clinical trials, starting in malaria to now focusing on influenza, RSV and COVID-19 vaccines.
Paul reflects on the opportunity to learn and be involved in clinical trials from an early career stage and a turning point being in a senior role for a Phase 1 clinical study.
On the topic of misinformation in public health perception and literacy, Paul sees the issue continuing to circulate on the purpose of vaccines in general. This has also created hesitancy in ‘routine’ vaccine uptake.
Paul talks about the importance of having reputable sources of information that can used to encourage people to understand what is involved in clinical trials and the roles of vaccines.
Whilst the past 5 years may have improved public health literacy, it’s been outweighed by significant misinformation that does require an active campaign to encourage people to seek out information from reputable sources.
In closing, Paul talks about his advice for anyone looking to enter the field of clinical trials and vaccines: Early on, take the opportunities that arise, to be involved, help increase experience and new learning.
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International Clinical
Trials Day 2020Today is International Clinical Trials Day 2020. The day commemorates the day James Lind started his study to determine the cause of scurvy. By dividing 12 sailors into separate groups and testing the effect of providing different treatments to each group, Lind was able to provide evidence of the link between fruit and preventing scurvy. This is the first recorded controlled clinical trial and changed modern medicine. Around the world International Clinical Trials Day is celebrated to raise awareness of the importance of clinical trials and research in healthcare.
Today we hear from Christine Zahren Co-Founder and Director of White Coats Foundation about the importance of clinical trials and involving the patient in the protocol design, to ensure success from “lab bench to bedside”. She also references where information on clinical trials can be found, through government sites, healthcare professionals and also ClinTrial Refer where she works as business development manager.
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Strong primary care nursing solutions for a healthier Australia
The CEO of Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA), Ken Griffin spoke with Australian Health Journal about the following:
– APNA President Karen Booth representing Primary Care Nursing in the Australian Government led Strengthening Medicare Task Force
– The current key challenges in primary care nursing
– Programs on diversity and student placement proposed in APNA’s pre-budget submission to Federal Government
– A proposed initiative called Nurse-Supported Self-Care, with broadening role primary care nursing would play in the community
– Hopes for other health priorities addressed in the Federal BudgetIn the lead up to the Australian Federal Budget in May 2023, Australian Health Journal reached out to peak health industry bodies to hear about their priorities, either noted in pre-budget submissions lodged with Federal Government in January 2023 or in recent forums such as the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce.
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Smart technology in wound care
Throughout her journey around wound care, Santosh Kaur was frustrated to see the simple gaps in wound care resulting in negative patient outcomes. Santosh is the founder of SmartHeal which launched in 2020.
SmartHeal replaces the nurses taking cumbersome manual measurements and manual sharing of important wound data with a no touch technique. It aims for healthcare professionals to have live remote access to wound data, make wound assessments and assist with speech to text notes thus saving time, cost and people. SmartHeal also aims to assist healthcare professionals in providing optimum wound care by analysing the wound tissue for infection, moisture and providing suggestions for suitable dressing.
