Care coordination for cancer cost-effective

Monday, September 2nd, 2013 | TONY BLAKELY | 2 Comments

Professor Tony Blakely

Dedicated cancer care coordinators – a clinical nurse specialist charged with navigating patients through their care – appears to be cost effective, at least for stage III colon cancer.

The Government’s 2012 Budget included $33 million for “better and faster” services for cancer patients, of which $16 million dollars was for care coordination nurses.  This all seems sensible, in that the immediate and net cost of cancer care coordinators may be negligible – putting in place coordinators frees up other staff to do other things as we show in a publication last week in the NZ Medical Journal. Continue reading

The High Burden from Mental Health Disorders – but also an Opportunity for Cost-Effective Interventions

Thursday, August 29th, 2013 | Nick Wilson | No Comments

Assoc Prof Nick Wilson

Two new studies published today in the Lancet, highlight that mental and substance use disorders are the leading cause of non-fatal illness worldwide (Whiteford et al; Degenhardt et al). These two studies are a valuable contribution to knowledge about health problems and come from a massive international research project. The results should help guide policymakers around the world in taking the cost-effective steps needed to prevent and treat the high health burden from mental and substance use disorders.

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Can earthquakes be good for public health?

Saturday, August 17th, 2013 | TONY BLAKELY | 2 Comments

Associate Professor Nick Wilson

There is no doubt that earthquakes have historically had a terrible impact on human populations – and the shocking damage to Christchurch and its citizens in 2011 is still very much in the minds of New Zealanders. But living in shaky Wellington, makes one regularly wonder what might be the potential long-term benefits of earthquakes for public health. So here are a few examples relating to urban design and building design, disaster preparedness, and increased use of stairs over lifts. Continue reading

“100% Pure” – Public Health Goal Setting

Thursday, August 15th, 2013 | gibju57p | 2 Comments

Associate Professor Nick Wilson, University of Otago, Wellington

 

The “100% Pure” marketing of NZ is marketing hype and an easy target for UK tabloid journalists (see this NZ Herald piece). Nevertheless, there is a case for striving to achieve the “100% level” with certain threats to public health – for example, by achieving Smokefree New Zealand by 2025. Continue reading