An elderly lady needs to change the time a carer visits to help her shower. The reality of today’s market-driven home care system means she has to call a centralised 1800 number to arrange this.
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Health – Articles, Analysis, Comment
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When my kidneys stopped working properly, my dad gave me one of his kidneys. Thanks, Dad.
The government will keep increasing the number of subsidised home care services, but it needs to find the right funding balance for the system to remain sustainable.
Unlike health care for the rest of our body, dental care mostly comes out of our own pocket – and it’s not cheap. Many Australians go without and their health suffers.
When you enter a public hospital, you are likely to be asked if you have private health insurance, and if you want to use it. This is what you need to consider.
The royal commission will give people with disabilities an opportunity to share their experiences. But it needs to ensure they’re supported and have the same access to services as others do.
What’s often missing from domestic violence responses are investments and strategies to stop men perpetrating violence in the first place.
The brain itself can’t actually feel pain. It can’t sense damage to itself the way your finger can. We know this because people can have brain surgery while they are totally awake.
Our ability to smell is a function of the brain, so it makes sense that an impaired sense of smell can point to cognitive decline. The good news is training our noses may be effective.
When it comes to weight loss, there’s no such thing as a quick fix. But some foods will keep you feeling fuller for longer.
Q fever is a flu-like infection that spreads to people from animals. The bacteria that causes it can withstand harsh environmental conditions – in particular, drought.
When we have a panic attack, our body is mobilising to respond to a high level of stress. As unpleasant as panic attacks may be, it’s helpful to keep in mind they’re not dangerous.
Evidence that people who drink moderately are healthier is probably influenced by many other health and lifestyle factors. We’re now seeing that even modest amounts of alcohol could impact our health.
The amount of alcohol you’d have to drink before glyphosate posed even a negligible risk would harm you well before the glyphosate would.
There are many things we can do to support our immune systems. It turns out going vegetarian might be one of them.
Seeking and making sense of specialist fees is an unfair burden to place on vulnerable patients. A website might be helpful for some – but health professionals need to be held to higher account.
Sarah and Donna are 26 weeks pregnant and have the same blood sugar levels. But while Donna is diagnosed with gestational diabetes, Sarah is spared from the label. It comes down to where she lives.
An adult brain weighs about 1.5kg. It’s mostly water with some fat, protein, sugar and a dash of salt. Sounds like pancakes, I know, but I once tried chicken brains and, well, pancakes are tastier.
Online therapies for mental health can be as effective as talking therapies. If we want to expand access to mental health care, it’s important we embrace digital approaches.
There’s little evidence that longer courses of antibiotics benefit patients so why are they prescribed?
Not eating animals might make you feel more virtuous, but is it good for your health?
Paying doctors a fee for each service they provide isn’t delivering optimal value for the health dollar. Instead, we should pay doctors a lump sum to care for a patient’s medical problem over time.
A new breast cancer test predicts whether a patient will benefit from endocrine therapy, allowing patients and their doctors to make better treatment decisions.
Some doctors’ websites give the impression that women’s genitals that diverge from the “ideal” need surgery. This is nonsense – genitals are as diverse as our faces.
Semi-identical or sesquizygotic twins occur when two sperm fertilise one egg. A boy and a girl in Brisbane are only the second set of semi-identical twins known in the world.