Analysis of 111 calls suggests most responses to calls from people in mental health distress could be led by social service providers without the need for police.
A virtual ED is typically staffed by emergency doctors, nurses and support staff who can assess patients’ symptoms, provide medical advice, and direct care to the right place.
Broadband is noticeably missing in rural, remote or Indigenous areas.
Grant Faint/The Image Bank via Getty Images
Here’s where we could lift our game to ensure reliable, equitable and culturally safe telehealth for First Nations people in Australia, whether living remotely or in our cities.
Jon Wardle, Southern Cross University and Amie Steel, University of Technology Sydney
‘One-stop-shops’ that offer health services, advice and information can be great for self-care. But what about when big corporate players enter the game?
Exemptions from funding cuts are needed to ensure trans and non-binary people can get medical care.
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Online and phone consultations might ease pressure on local clinics and mean you can access paperwork when visiting a GP isn’t possible. But there are downsides to be aware of too.
As diabetes progresses, insulin injections become the only treatment option. But the transition from oral medication to injectable insulin is often a bumpy one.
The Albanese government will reinstate the pandemic leave payment for workers who have to isolate but do not have sick leave, after earlier vigorously defending its ending on budgetary grounds.
More and more people are experimenting with mental health apps and discovering their benefits and limits.
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Three experts answer questions about the effectiveness, safety and side effects of medication abortion, using mifepristone followed by misoprostol.
Frailty is a state of reduced physical function for seniors living independently in the community. It can affect endurance, balance, cognition or social engagement.
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Frailty — the physical limitations of seniors living in the community — needs to be assessed before it can be addressed with social and health support. Virtual assessments can speed up this process.
Removing ultrasound and pelvic exam requirements for medication abortion could help expand access to care.
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During the pandemic, health care providers began prescribing abortion pills without requiring in-person exams. This practice could help people access the care they need when abortion rights are in limbo.
Given the success of telehealth and virtual care during the pandemic, it would be a mistake to automatically return to pre-pandemic norms of health care.
An illegal coltan mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Erberto Zani/Alamy Stock Photo
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne