Fixing Australia’s home-based aged care system

Lens article featuring Professor Velandai Srikanth, Peninsula Clinical School, Director, National Centre for Healthy Ageing

We know the system of home-based aged care isn’t working well – it lacks integration, is mostly labour-driven and susceptible to workforce challenges, and uses limited technology that could benefit older people and the staff working to help them.

See full article on the Lens site.

In their own words: Healthcare workers’ tales of toil amid COVID-19

Original article reproduced from Monash Lens, featuring Associate Professor Natasha Smallwood

One of the significant anecdotal narratives out of Australia’s COVID-19 nightmare has been the enormous psychological and physical toll on frontline healthcare workers.

The high rates of burnout, depression, and even thoughts of suicide and self-harm. The continual rollercoaster of emotions, self-care struggles, and the doomed juggle between work and home.

Victoria’s COVID-19 lockdown: Getting ahead of the spread

by Dr Michael Lydeamore, Research Fellow, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Alfred and Central Clinical School

Today, Victorian Acting Premier James Merlino announced that all of Victoria will be subject to a “circuit-breaker” lockdown for seven days as a result of the most recent COVID-19 outbreak. The outbreak currently contains 26 known cases, with health authorities expecting more to roll in over the next few days.

The jury's in on acquired brain injury rehabilitation

A citizen jury generates helpful ideas for improving care and
rehabilitation for people with acquired brain injury. 

Republished from Monash Lens 23 April,
featuring Professor Natasha Lannin

The idea of a jury – 12 impartial men and women hearing evidence, just like in a courtroom – isn’t absolutely new to medical research, but it is unusual.

The principle is to get ordinary people with no previous involvement or biases in an area of healthcare to get a crash-course in it, and report back.

Until We Tweet Again: What Happens Next? podcast on social media and mental health, part three

This episode of What Happens Next? features all the best tips and guidance from our experts about how to help young people manage their social media use for mental health and wellbeing, and how it can be used to build communities and share stories. Gemma Sharp is one of three interviewees in this podcast, speaking on how to be aware of when social media use is becoming unhealthy.

Autoimmune encephalitis: When your body attacks your brain, and people think you’re going mad

It’s described as feeling like your brain is on fire. People with autoimmune encephalitis (AE) are often misdiagnosed as suffering from a psychiatric illness, delirium or dementia. The condition can mimic many other diseases, and hence there can be delays in diagnosis resulting in brain damage and a largely poor prognosis. The patients can be young or old, and the burden of misdiagnosed, late diagnosed or wrongly diagnosed disease can be high.

Is COVID-19 reshaping the Australian psyche?

by Professor Jayashri Kulkarni
reproduced from Lens 9 Sept 2020

Perhaps one of the unexpected impacts of COVID-19 on Australians is a reshaping of our national psyche. We've seen a rise in mental ill health, with greater numbers of people experiencing anxiety and depression due to the impacts of the pandemic.

Women, the elderly and the vulnerable are particularly experiencing more mental health problems. However, the community’s response has not been to ignore this and say, "She’ll be right, mate", but to insist on greater resources for Australians struggling with mental ill health.

COVID-19: We must stay the course, or risk undoing everything we've so far achieved

Reproduced from Monash Lens

Dr Michael Lydeamore, Department of Infectious Diseases

The COVID-19 pandemic is a narrative being told by its numbers. By ship. By city. By state. By nation. The world.

It’s measured by trajectory, and the trajectory of COVID-19 in Victoria has changed dramatically since Stage 3 restrictions were introduced in late March.

Dr Elspeth Hutton: The burden of the 'suicide' headache

Dr Elspeth Hutton, Research Fellow
Department of Neuroscience

They’re called suicide headaches because the pain is frequent and unbearable.

Commonly known as cluster headaches, they can occur up to eight times a day. They start suddenly, last for up to three hours, and can be very painful. A bout of regular attacks, known as a cluster bout, can last weeks to months.

Video of the week: Wendy Brown talks about obesity and addiction

Professor Wendy Brown is one of a number of Monash researchers featured in a documentary produced by the Monash Lens team and published this week, on the science of addiction. She says that addiction centres in your brain sit very close to your appetite centres, so there is a real cross-over between addiction and this disease state [of obesity]. "Once you've gained weight, only about 3% of people can lose a substantial amount of weight and keep it off".
See complete video at: https://lens.monash.edu/@a-different-lens/2018/05/28/1350176/science-of-addiction