Public health research & practice
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Public Health Res Pract · Mar 2020
How readable are Australian multilingual diabetes patient education materials? An evaluation of national English-language source texts.
Multilingual patient education materials (PEMs) in Australia are normally prepared initially in English (source text) and then translated into other languages. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the source texts for publicly available multilingual diabetes PEMs in Australia were written at the reading level recommended by health literacy guidelines (eighth-grade reading level). ⋯ English-language source texts for national multilingual diabetes PEMs examined in this study were written at a readability level significantly higher than that recommended in health literacy guidelines. This was likely due to the use of polysyllabic words and complex medical terms, which are especially problematic when they are not defined. Improving readability of English-language source texts may help to ensure that the translated PEMs are more readable and accessible to their target readers. In conjunction with addressing other features that can make written materials easier to understand, this may help to better support diabetes self-management.
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Public Health Res Pract · Dec 2019
Defining, controlling and analysing Indigenous data: commitment to historical consistency or commitment to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples?
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Standard Indigenous Question (SIQ) uses a question about 'origin' to collect data on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. A 2014 review found strong support among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders for a question focusing on cultural identity, rather than origin. ⋯ Brief consultations found that Aboriginal health professionals and academics preferred the 'identify' question as a more accurate descriptor of social realities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities. Statistical collections could adapt to improve the quality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data, and seek to reflect reality, not define it.
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Public Health Res Pract · Sep 2019
Talking about a nanny nation: investigating the rhetoric framing public health debates in Australian news media.
Objectives and importance of study: News media portrayal of public health issues influences public opinion, policy action and decision making. This study aimed to analyse the use of 'nanny state' frames in Australian news media coverage; identify the stakeholders invoking this frame; determine which public health-related policies attract such framing; and investigate whether 'nanny state' framing is directly challenged in news coverage.
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Public Health Res Pract · Jul 2019
Benefits, harms and cost-effectiveness of cancer screening in Australia: an overview of modelling estimates.
There are three government-funded population-based screening programs in Australia - the national breast cancer screening program (BreastScreen Australia), the National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP), and the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP). Options for early detection of other cancers (e.g. hepatocellular carcinoma and melanoma) are under investigation. This study provides an overview of the health benefits, harms and cost-effectiveness of population-level breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening, targeted-risk screening for lung cancer and Lynch syndrome, and prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing in Australia. ⋯ Current evidence supports a favourable cost-effectiveness and benefit-to-harm balance for the NCSP and NBCSP. An updated cost-effectiveness and benefits-to-harms analysis for BreastScreen Australia is required. Carefully founded quantitative estimates of health benefits, harms and cost-effectiveness provide an important aid to policy decision making, and form the basis for developing decision aids to guide individual screening decisions. Opportunities exist for lung cancer screening, systematic Lynch syndrome testing and informed decision making about PSA testing. However, more evidence is required on risk assessment, targeting of screening tests, optimal referral pathways, managing potential harms and delivering services in a cost-effective framework.