Health – Page 8 – Slugger O'Toole

Provisional vaccine schedule released for Northern Ireland…

Mick Fealty on December 3, 2020, 6:16 pm

| Readers 2627

Well, where are you in the queue for the vaccine? I reck0n I’d be scheduled for phase seven… This afternoon, the BBC reports that priority groups one and two will be targeted this month, one being care home residents and staff, and… …in priority group two, there will be more than 71,000 health and social care workers, and about 82,000 people aged over 80, who don’t live in care homes. In January and February 2021, Phase two will cover Priority …

Welcome to the Era of Vaccine Politics…

John Moriarty on November 28, 2020, 8:17 am

| Readers 1118

If recent developments around COVID vaccination has reminded us of anything, surely it’s that nothing is easy. Proof of anything is hard to come by. Weighing up a 90%-effective vaccine against a 70%-effective one might seem straightforward, but that’s without knowing if those numbers remain stable as more evidence comes in, and if so, who are the 10 and 30% and when and why a vaccine can be ineffective in a given instance. Then you’re straight on to, well what …

To mask or not to mask?

Robert Campbell on November 24, 2020, 12:11 pm

| Readers 1793

The recent publication of a Danish study into the efficacy of mask-wearing to prevent the wearer from becoming infected with the coronavirus has become very controversial. Some have suggested that mask-wearing confers no benefit to the wearer. The question of whether “to mask or not to mask” is now a political one. I’m going to look at the Danish study, and Prof Carl Heneghan’s response — the view that he said Facebook had censored (here). The Danish study is here: …

We need to talk about Care Homes

thedissenter on November 18, 2020, 8:36 am

| Readers 971

Looking at the steadily rising numbers of Covid outbreaks in Care Homes through September it seemed as if ‘something’ was happening, and that ‘something’ wasn’t good. That ‘something’ is now beyond bad. There were a few learning points from the first wave of Covid earlier this year. The basic message of wash hands, face masks (sort of) and safe distance; Hands, Face, Space seemed a simple message, and the fundamentals underlying that message hold good and accepted by most that …

What’s your wee treat?

Brian O'Neill on November 15, 2020, 11:15 am

| Readers 2048

I was up in Ballycastle during the summer and they had an open-air artisan market at the seafront. It was the usual mix of handmade crafts as well as local food products. Having a bit of a sweet tooth at the best of times my eye was drawn to a homemade banana bread with chocolate pieces. ‘How much is it?’ I asked the lady. ‘£3.50,’ she replied. I was thinking it was a bit pricey. But I had that awkward …

Do we like being distracted?

John Moriarty on November 14, 2020, 8:30 am

| Readers 1133

It’s sunny and I’ve just ordered at my local cafe. My fellow customers and I wait in the little socially distanced phalanx we’ve been trained to form. Business seems to have been steady for the cafe since they reopened in May. I suspect they may be selling to customers who this time last year were queuing for coffees in Belfast city centre, but now come here to break up a day spent working from their breakfast table. All of a …

ESRC Virtual Festival – Creating a label to help us make more sustainable food choices…

Queen’s Policy Engagement on November 7, 2020, 11:01 am

| Readers 195

Recent years have been a remarkable increase in interest in our environment. TV programmes such as The Blue Planet and Planet Earth have been credited as increasing our awareness of the environment and even changing our behaviour. From cutting back on meat consumption to ditching single-use plastics, many of us have changed our lifestyles. While there are many ways in which our behaviour affects the environment, the production and consumption of food and drink has a strong impact. Some estimates …

ESRC Virtual Festival – Difficult conversations: when complaint communication falls short of patient expectations…

Ulster University on November 6, 2020, 11:40 am

| Readers 249

Catrin S Rhys (Ulster University), Bethan Benwell (Stirling University) & Jack B. Joyce (Ulster University) Real Complaints: www.realcomplaints.org In 2019/20, HSC Trusts in Northern Ireland received a total of 4,370 complaints, relating to 6,105 complaint issues. This equates to 84 complaints per week or approximately 12 complaints per day. Complaints about healthcare can be a positive; they can resolve problems for patients in the short term and in the longer term, they can help to improve services for other patients. …

ESRC Virtual Festival – Kids in the Kitchen: Now we’re cookin’

Queen’s Policy Engagement on November 5, 2020, 12:13 pm

| Readers 214

Childhood obesity has reached global epidemic rates and can have a detrimental impact on a child’s physical and mental wellbeing, with both dietary behaviours and physical activity levels being implicated in its rise. We have highlighted the importance of children and adolescents learning cooking skills for diet quality and cooking can be used as one method for changing children’s food behaviours. From a physical perspective, children may not be developing their motor skills (coordination of their muscle movements) at a …

What does behavioural science have to do with safe water interventions?

Ulster University on November 3, 2020, 10:41 am

| Readers 459

Over half of the world’s population lack safely managed sanitation services, while at least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces (WHO, 2017). This causes diarrhoeal disease which is responsible for the death of around half a million children under the age of 5 each year (WHO, 2017). Without the adequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) conditions in place, risks of contamination are everywhere, and practices that pose a risk to health become highly prevalent. Examples …

We’ve All Been Infected With a Covid Side-Effect… And There Is No Cure

CM Johnston on October 27, 2020, 4:14 pm

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In The Comey Rule then-FBI Director James Comey, played by Jeff Daniels, remarks that the Bureau losing the trust of its public is nothing less than “a bell that can never be unrung”. Similarly, the information vacuum created by the NI Executive’s confusion, frequent poor leadership at individual level and – in places – crude self-interest during the Covid crisis created a space now occupied permanently by cranks, conspiracy theorists, attention-clamouring ‘influencers’ and small government hyper-fanatics. In particular, and this …

What was the sense of closing the schools only to put all the kids into every shopping centre?

Brian O'Neill on October 26, 2020, 9:08 am

| Readers 1757

I imagine most parents had that sinking feeling when they learned that they were closing the schools – here we go again. Still, it was only one week extra so we had to suck it up and take one for the team. It could have been worse, it seems Sinn Fein were pushing for a ludicrous 6 weeks off. There has been lots of debate around the importance of school to children. There are obvious things like the value of …

The first Christmas Tree of the season…

Brian O'Neill on October 25, 2020, 9:29 am

| Readers 1527

I was out for a walk the other day, and I noticed that someone in the next street had their Christmas Tree up already. It was an odd mashup as they also had all their Halloween decorations up. It was likely everything in the attic was getting an airing at the one time. In normal times you would be tempted to tut and make an observation that Christmas is getting earlier every year, but these are not normal times. This …

Whether from Poots or Sinn Féin simplifying populism is useless in fight against Covid…

Mick Fealty on October 20, 2020, 6:15 pm

| Readers 2497

On Thursday I’ll be part of a panel hosted by the Clinton Centre at UCD, which will be looking at Populism in the US and Europe. Quite aside from the considerable wooliness of the term, it will be an opportunity to look at what it means in contemporary use and what it probably doesn’t. Register here for our upcoming webinar in collaboration w/ @_PiAP: https://t.co/ibLYEGnXqU Speakers:@mickfealty @ScottLucas_EA @DrAlbertazziUK @halikiopoulou @ProfTimBale pic.twitter.com/VKj27LfqCb — Clinton InstituteUCD (@Clinton_InstUCD) October 13, 2020 In Northern …

Siobhan O’Neill on the need to develop “pack leaders” at every level of society in our responses to Covid 19…

Mick Fealty on October 14, 2020, 3:44 pm

| Readers 361

Now today’s Cargo of Bricks with Siobhan O’Neill, Northern Ireland’s mental health champion was recorded before this morning’s announcement of a four-week circuit breaker lockdown, which in reality is some way short of the near-total lockdown we had in Spring. But in today’s podcast, we cover what we have learned so far and what are the issues that come with facing the uncertainty of a second wave and trying to balance a number of factors external to the core concern …

Build it back, build it better – NICON Health and Social Care conference…

Lisa Wells on October 13, 2020, 12:08 pm

| Readers 673

Last week I attended NICON 2020 usually held in La Mon hotel this conference was held virtually and although it is essentially an “industry” event, all stakeholders were welcome. Which included yours truly who as a service user was allocated a ticket through my involvement with The Patient Client Council The Department of Health website describes NICON as “a Health and Social Care platform which exists to influence policy, support and brief members, inform and influence the media and politicians …

Surviving Covid has to be done together

Andy Boal on October 12, 2020, 8:54 am

| Readers 2807

As cases of Covid rise, the Northern Ireland Executive meets today, reportedly to consider a circuit breaker to reduce community transmission, as concerns continue to be raised about the effect of lockdowns and shielding on mental health and jobs. We know that mental health is seriously affected by lockdown, businesses with fewer customers are likely to fail or at least require redundancies to survive, and the prioritisation of Covid has had a serious effect on elective Health Service treatments. Yet, …

Do we just need to learn to live with Covid-19 or do we need more lockdowns?

Brian O'Neill on October 6, 2020, 12:07 pm

| Readers 1797

Depending on your view of how we should deal with Covid-19 Leo Varadkar is either reckless or a political genius. He was able to get all the kudos for calmly handling the early stage of lockdown; then he was able to offload the leadership mantle to Micheál Martin for him to deal with the sh*tshow stage. Leo has positioned himself as a clear alternative voice to Fianna Fáil dithering. I expect to see Varadkar back in the Taoiseach seat within …

Who else needs Tesco Finest Naan Bread as much as I do?

Lisa Wells on October 4, 2020, 10:09 am

| Readers 1851

I was all set to write a piece on stoic philosophy as we head towards an uncertain autumn/winter period. Hoping to share some relevant personal experience of living with a chronic illness as a result of a serious infection. And then I revisited my online shopping basket and found that many items I had placed in my ethereal basket are no longer available. “Fack this” I thought, “who else needs Tesco Finest Naan Bread as much as I do?” Before …

#CargoOfBricks: Strategic response needed from Stormont for “education leavers”

Mick Fealty on September 30, 2020, 8:00 am

| Readers 573

One of the key reasons for having #TheReset project in a space like Slugger is to look behind the headlines and try to assay the effects of the Covid emergency, not just in health, but in other key areas of life. As we prepare for a second wave, the effects on those leaving education are acute. So this week I spoke to Professor of Education Tony Gallagher, to get his take on what that means in practice… Powered by RedCircle …