Category Archives: Ideas

I think therefore I am? – If only there was an App to help us through COVID-19…

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Mentemia

My 10 year old son and I watched a story about the Mentemia App on TV last night. Mentemia means ‘my mind’ in Italian.

Mentemia is a wellbeing App that has been co-developed by NZ’s Sir John Kirwan, famous former All Black and long-time Mental Health Advocate. Mentemia is currently free to download for all New Zealanders thanks to a funding deal between Mentemia and the NZ Ministry of Health. It is available on the Google Play and Apple App Stores.

We downloaded it last night and we both started using it.

It has a nice user interface and is easy to navigate, with good use of Simple English throughout. We found the interactive exercises fun to do, and things like spinning the wheel to choose a daily act of kindness to perform are also cool additions.

The ability to record how your mood is at anytime will be useful.

Lots of links to useful videos and articles to read, including lots of staying calm through COVID-19 articles.

At first glance Mentemia looks like an useful wellbeing app that we will both be returning to on a daily basis.

Some parts of the app are still a bit buggy, so far we’d give it a 7/10.

Summary of WHO Mask Guidance Article released on 06/04/2020

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Hi everyone,

I summarised this latest article from the WHO for my workmates.

COVID-19 is transmitted by:

  1. Droplets coughed or sneezed out
  2. Close contact – within 1m

Incubation period (Time from exposure to symptoms developing) = Pre-symptomatic period is average 5-6 days, but could be as long as 14 days (hence self-isolation period of 14 days recommended by MOH)

Pre-symptomatic transmission possible but person would be coughing or sneezing to produce droplets, and contaminating their surface surroundings.

Non-Medical masks (Do It Yourself), e.g. cotton masks, no current evidence to support or not support use. One study of health care workers using cotton masks showed that they were at increased risk of infection compared to those who wore medical masks.

Medical masks:

Should be reserved for health care workers.

Masks by themselves – Not adequate protection. Continue reading →

Accessible video about NFR (not for resuscitation) orders for patients and families

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Dr Barbara Hayes and Prof Joe Ibrahim have combined forces to make this elegant simple Youtube resource to explain not for resuscitation orders, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and advance care planning for patients and families.

It works through the differing perspectives of medical teams and patients and their families to explain why sometimes CPR can do more harm than good.

Happy #advancecareplanning week!

Sonia

#PalliCOVID #PallANZ tweetchat 7/4

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#PalliCOVID #PallANZ (3)

Please join us for another tweetchat on Tuesday 07/04/2020 to discuss palliative care in Australia and New Zealand during the COVID-19 / novel Coronavirus pandemic. Find out from special guests Prof Meera Agar @meera_agar (Board Chair of Palliative Care Australia @Pall_Care_Aus) and A/Prof Leeroy William @drleeroyw (President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine @ANZSPM) what has been happening in this space since our last tweetchat – and share your experiences and resources with other palliative care practitioners from across our region!

When?

Who?

  • Palliative care clinicians, researchers, managers, policymakers, patients and carers
  • Interested / involved in helping our communities live, die and grieve well in the face of the life-threatening COVID-19 / novel Coronavirus pandemic
  • Living or working in Australia and New Zealand

How?

What?

  • Topic 1: Social distancing rules (e.g. restricting visitors & limiting funeral gatherings) have changed the way we care for the dying & grieve for the dead. How can we help patients & families to live well, die well, grieve well AND flatten the curve?
  • Topic 2: Telehealth and working-from-home poses unique challenges to a touchy-feely, team-based specialty like palliative care. Please share a story about how you’ve adapted (or not!) to these evolving work practices.
  • Topic 3: Meera & Leeroy – can you please give us an update on the work of the Australian COVID-19 Palliative Care Working Group? Does anyone else have any updates / policies / resources that they would like to share?

We hope you can join us for another great discussion!

 

#PalliCOVID #PallANZ tweetchat 23/3

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#PalliCOVID #PallANZ

Please join us and other palliative care clinicians from across Australia and New Zealand on Monday 23/03/2020 for a tweetchat on the COVID-19 / novel Coronavirus pandemic.

When?

Who?

  • Palliative care clinicians, researchers, managers, policymakers, patients and carers
  • Interested / involved in helping our communities live, die and grieve well in the face of the life-threatening COVID-19 / novel Coronavirus pandemic
  • Living or working in Australia and New Zealand

How?

What?

  • Topic 1: Please share a story about your #COVID19 #Coronavirus experience so far – at work, at home and/or online
  • Topic 2: Have you come across any useful #COVID19 #Coronavirus resources that others might find helpful?
  • Topic 3: How can we look after ourselves and each other during the #COVID19 #Coronavirus pandemic?

We hope you can join us for a great discussion about this global public health challenge!

 

Research on health practitioner norms and wellbeing in the context of assisted dying legislation

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question Stefan Baudy

Health practitioners are invited to participate in research concerning the assisted dying legislation in Victoria, and how it will affect health practitioner well-being and norm development, particularly in the work context. This study is being conducted by researchers from Flinders University.

Interested health practitioners can find out more and participate in the research here.

The researchers would also like to request that if you think it is appropriate, you share this invitation with other health practitioners. Please also feel free to contact the research team directly with any comments or questions (via the link above).

Love is not enough: National Advance Care Planning Week 2020

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ACPWeek2020 video

This video, produced by Advance Care Planning Australia, encourages fit and healthy Australians to more seriously consider why advance care planning is important in their lives.

Australian couples were put to the test by asking them how well they know their loved one. While they were mostly able to correctly answer questions about preferred foods and holiday destinations, when it came to questions about end-of-life choices, things take an interesting turn…

Please watch the video and feel free to share it with your network #LoveIsNotEnough
National Advance Care Planning Week runs from 23 – 27 March 2020, and currently has 140 events scheduled, in locations across Australia. For more information, or to host an event, visit the ACP Week website

 

 

Advance care planning survey for health professionals in Australia

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Message from Advance Care Planning Australia:

 

Are you a doctor, nurse, social worker or allied health professional working with people affected by cancer?  We need your help to better understand the barriers and enablers of advance care planning for people with cancer.

Advance Care Planning Australia, supported by funding by Cancer Australia, is leading research to help more Australians affected by cancer to access the benefits of advance care planning.

Participation is easy and requires only 15 minutes of your time to complete an online survey. With your involvement we can help more people with cancer to receive care consistent with their values, goals and preferences.

Survey: http://bit.ly/2Cm44Es

AusDoc article – Dying doctor has some lessons on how to tell patients bad news

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I have shamelessly reposted from AusDoc and therefore some readers may not be able to see this behind the paywall – if so I do apologise!

As a doctor of almost 40 years, US internal medicine specialist Dr Ron Naito started to suspect he may have pancreatic cancer from his symptoms and test results.

Dr Ron Naito
Dr Ron Naito. Photo: Vimeo

But his own doctors made such a poor job of telling him the diagnosis, that he’s devoting his final months of life to teaching students the skills of delivering bad news.

“When doctors deliver bad news to their patients, every word carries meaning, and you need to choose your words very wisely. We can and must do better at this. All doctors can learn these skills, and the good news is that there are now excellent training programs available to support them.”

For more reading see here.

Sonia

#advancecareplanning seminar in Melbourne 9 August

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Featuring not one but two Palliverse tweeps, @csinclair28 and @sonialf, this seminar at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in central Melbourne, Australia will be of interest to the healthcare sector including aged care and acute care.

Well-coordinated and appropriate person-centred care is a key priority. It’s becoming increasingly important for the healthcare sector to better understand advance care planning, which supports an individual’s values, goals and preferences.

Presented by Advance Care Planning Australia, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of the Public Advocate and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, this Melbourne-based Victorian seminar will be run by recognised leaders in the field of advance care planning in Australia. To find out more about the program, see the agenda here.

The topics covered include advance care planning across sectors, legal considerations and local initiatives. The event is recommended for professionals leading and implementing advance care planning in health services, residential aged care and primary care.

Venue: Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre – Lecture Theatre B, 305 Grattan Street, Melbourne VIC 3000.

Date: Friday, 9 August 2019, 9:00am – 4:30pm. Registration and refreshments start at 8:00am.

Program: see the agenda here.

Cost: $100 (including GST).

Catering: Included in the ticket price.

Registration

Register on Eventbrite here.

Registration closes Friday 26 July 2019 at 9pm AEST.