Tag: public health

A penny for your lifestyle change?

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By Emily Feng-Gu

Everyone knows that if you’re in an OSCE station the first-line management for a chronic disease is lifestyle modification.

Lifestyle choices contribute to many of the chronic diseases that are topping the list of Australia’s causes of mortality, including cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and some types of cancer.1

Behavioural change is difficult, and a lot of how we approach the challenge of motivating patients is rooted in patient education. We lay out the benefits and risks, we set SMART goals, and we hope that information is enough to spur patients into action. That is, we assume people are perfectly rational – but maybe we shouldn’t.

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Pokémanic: Tales from the rural frontline

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By Thomas de Vries

Pokémon GO pandemic stuns rural GPs

KYNETON — The recently released open world, augmented reality smartphone game challenges users to walk around outside to find and catch virtual Pokémon. It has been blamed for the inundation of healthcare providers with patients with trauma from accidents related to inattention. Rural and remote communities have been hit the hardest, with local GPs often having no access to hospitals often being forced to come up with novel ways to deal with emergencies on the fly.

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