Systems thinking is tip-toeing its way into the world of preventive health and health promotion. It’s a mindset that doesn’t reduce a complex system to the sum of its parts; rather it emphasises the connections between the different parts, seeing the system as a creation of their interaction. Systems thinking encourages people working in prevention to find new ways to shift or recombine parts of the system to get better outcomes.
Topics: Health services research
COVID-19: new research reveals impacts to healthcare services
The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on the provision of health services in NSW, reducing activity across many areas in ways that could have longer-term consequences on people’s health, new research shows. The study, published in the Sax Institute’s peer-reviewed journal Public Health Research & Practice, uses administrative data … Read more
Childhood obesity prevention is hard – but here’s one program that has worked
Around a quarter of NSW children are either obese or overweight, according to NSW Health – a shocking statistic which is likely to be replicated across the country. And while we’ve long known what we need to do to combat the problem – get kids to eat better and exercise more – the issue has … Read more
Virtual hospitals: a new way to ease healthcare burdens
The global COVID-19 pandemic has raised real concerns about how our health system can cope with dramatic spikes in use. Could an innovative ‘virtual hospital’ concept help ease the burden on our hospitals, in good times and bad?
When health research becomes traumatic
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers are leading research that empowers Indigenous women to share their stories of health and wellbeing. But what happens when health researchers relive the trauma of their participants?
Same condition, different treatments: the problem of unwarranted clinical variation
Recent years have seen an upsurge of interest among public health experts in what’s known as unwarranted clinical variation. It’s a problem that arises when similar groups of patients or populations are treated for the same conditions with different medications or procedures for no clear, evidence-based reason.