Missing your Think: Health fix? We’ve got something else for your podcast app. Introducing a new season of All Things Equal. This series will take you into the school yard and beyond, where kids learn that things aren't always fair. Through the stories of real students and staff, Uniform will change the way you think about education; because when it comes to learning, one size does not fit all. Subscribe to All Things Equal in your favourite podcast app, or listen to the show here: https://www.w...
May 09, 2019•2 min•Season 3Ep. 30
"I don't know how I knew, but I've known my whole life" In this episode of Think: Health, we explore the complexity of intergenerational trauma and the impact it has on mental health. A new study conducted by Kim Slender, PhD Student at the University of Technology Sydney is looking at the epigenetic transmission of trauma across generations within the Jewish community and how this trauma can become embedded into ones genetic makeup. Featuring: Kim Slender - PhD Student in the Graduate School of...
Jan 29, 2019•25 min•Season 3Ep. 29
Non-communicable diseases are the leading cause of death around the globe responsible for more than 70% of global deaths. NCD's refer to an umbrella of chronic non-transmissible diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. While the extent of the burden is internationally recognised, efforts to tackle this growing health crisis are failing to address the root cause - social and economic inequality. This episode we look at how non-communicable diseases are impacting our poorest and most ...
Dec 19, 2018•25 min•Season 3Ep. 28
In 2014, women from South Asian communities - from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and Bhutan - had the lowest rates of breast cancer screening in New South Wales. Breast cancer screenings, or mammograms, are vital for the early detection and treatment of breast cancer in women aged 50 to 74. But for some reason, only 1 in 5 women from South Asian communities were getting them. This is the story of the public health initiative that not only turned this statistic around, but in doing so brought...
Dec 10, 2018•25 min•Season 3Ep. 27
Amyl Nitrites (known as “amyl” or “poppers”) are a part of life for many queer Australians, particularly gay men. A prescription level relaxant, it has been used as a party drug and sex aid for decades. Now, the Therapeutic Goods Administration has proposed criminalising amyl, moving it to the same classification as heroin. Since amyl is a non-addictive substance with significantly lower health risks, many in the queer community are seeing this move as an act of discrimination. Producer/Presente...
Dec 04, 2018•23 min•Season 3Ep. 26
Where we've typically ascribed trauma to the individual, climate change now sees large groups of people sharing the same damaging experience in what's being called 'collective trauma'. But as post-disaster care continues to prioritise physical safety, the mental health of survivors often falls to the wayside. This episode we explore the global implications of climate change on mental health and why our mental health services aren't ready for what's to come. Featuring: Lucy Chen - Student at the ...
Nov 29, 2018•25 min•Season 3Ep. 25
When tobacco company Philip Morris sued Australia over our plain packaging laws, it's fair to say we were taken by surprise. How can a foreign company take a nation's government to tribunal for protecting its citizens health? The answer is Investor State Dispute Settlement, an obscure clause in free trade agreements allowing corporations to sue foreign governments for what it perceives to be unfair discrimination. In practice, this tends to end up happening over regulations in two areas: health,...
Nov 20, 2018•27 min•Season 3Ep. 24
Our smart devices may know us better than our doctor. There's a range of apps currently available that can help us monitor and manage our health. But can our smart devices also help diagnose medical problems in the first place? This episode explores the possibilities and potential ethical issues around digital diagnoses. Producer/Presenter: Evie Maguire Speakers: Caleb Ferguson, Senior Research Fellow at the Western Sydney Nursing & Midwifery Research Centre Sally Inglis, Associate Professor...
Nov 06, 2018•27 min•Season 3Ep. 23
How do you communicate cancer to children? How do you explain a diagnosis? Is there a limit to what you can say? This episode you'll hear from two people who specialise in explaining cancer to children and explain why the message is particularly difficult for young people to digest. Featuring: Chris Jacobs - Senior Lecturer in the Graduate School of Health at the University of Technology Sydney. Stanley Browning - Primary School Education Coordinator at Camp Quality. For more information: https:...
Oct 30, 2018•21 min•Season 3Ep. 22
We continue our series unpacking the field of psychology. In this episode, Megan Williams chats to three white professionals working and researching mental health about the importance of cultural humility and learning to make space for Indigenous voices. Presenter: Megan Williams, Head of Girra Maa Indigenous Health Discipline at the University of Technology Sydney Producers: Megan Williams, Miles Herbert, Cheyne Anderson Speakers: Adam Dickes - Masters of Clinical Psychology, PhD candidate Univ...
Oct 15, 2018•31 min•Season 3Ep. 21
How did it come to be that a field of inquiry, whose primary purposes are to understand and benefit people, fails so miserably at both? Suntosh Pillay (2017:136) In the first instalment of this three part series, Megan Williams challenges the Western framework of psychology and how Aboriginal-lead approaches can make a huge difference when it comes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' emotional and mental wellbeing. Producers: Miles Herbert, Cheyne Anderson Speakers: Megan Williams,...
Oct 09, 2018•23 min•Season 3Ep. 20
"The ways that we listen to each other and learn are through the art and science of storytelling". Featuring: Dr Lisa Roberts - Artist-in-residence in the Faculty of Science at the University of Technology Sydney. Dr Megan Williams - Senior Lecturer and Head of the Indigenous Health Discipline in the Graduate School of Health at the University of Technology Sydney. Aunty (Dr) Frances Bodkin - Educator of D'harawal Knowledge. Darren Charwood - Artist and Masters Candidate in Visual Arts and Archa...
Oct 02, 2018•26 min•Season 3Ep. 19
The American Medical Association in June announced drug shortages were posing an urgent public health crisis with nearly 200 drugs currently in short supply. With a number of these being anaesthetic drugs used in surgery, what risks does a shortage pose for the patient? Featuring: James Grant - President of the American Society of Anaesthesiologists. Judy Smith - Coordinator of Perioperative Nursing in the Faculty of Health at the University of Technology Sydney. Rodney Mitchell - President of t...
Sep 25, 2018•28 min•Season 3Ep. 18
For those who find themselves in the justice system, it can be hard to find a way out. Between 2015 and 2016, almost 45% of all Australian prisoners returned to jail within two years of being released. But one provincial prison in Argentina has found a creative way of addressing the problem. They are reducing recidivism, but also boosting prisoner mental and physical health. So what can being behind bars in South America, teach Australians about what it means to be free? Featuring: Danielle Logu...
Sep 18, 2018•25 min•Season 3Ep. 17
We started making this episode in May when the annual count of women who had died due to violence in Australia was 24. We finished making this episode in August when the count was 41. And in the time it took us to finish this episode, and upload it to your podcast feed, another woman he been allegedly murdered. This episode is about counting dead women, why we do it and what it means. Hosted by Verity Firth and produced by Ollie Henderson, Miles Herbert and Ninah Kopel. This episode originally a...
Aug 30, 2018•20 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Australians have until the 15th of November to opt out of having a My Health Record. On this episode, we explore why that's a problematic way to draw users into a system. Featuring: Lisa Jane Hall - Distinguished Professor of Health Economics in the University of Technology Sydney Business School Joshua Badge - Research Assistant from Deakin University Producer: Joe Koning.
Aug 21, 2018•31 min•Season 3Ep. 15
When you think about contaminated sites, there are many health concerns that might come to mind. Breathing in toxic fumes or dust, or consuming food and water tainted with chemicals. But what does living near a contaminated site do to your mind? Research from the University of Technology Sydney is drawing connections between contamination and worry, proving that it can be as much about your psychological health as it is physical wellbeing. Featuring: Erica McIntyre - Postdoctoral Research Fellow...
Aug 14, 2018•23 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Prior to the advent of modern medicine, bloodletting from the neck was once considered an acceptable treatment for Parkinson's disease. Oral medications and deep brain stimulation are now common practice in treating the disease, but there's another method which doesn't involve sending electrical pulses through the brain. And it's as simple as strapping on some gloves and throwing some good punches. This episode we look at how boxing and punching can be used for healing instead of hurting. Featur...
Aug 07, 2018•25 min•Season 3Ep. 13
New legislation introduced in February makes it mandatory for health service providers to report when they've experienced a data breach. But as practices and hospitals around the county remain unsure as to what constitutes a breach, how secure is our health data? Featuring: Dr Peter Walker - GP and Risk Advisor at Avant Mutual. Natalie Mason - Senior Associate in the Health Law team at DWF Australia. David Carter - Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Technology Sydney. Dr Robert ...
Jul 31, 2018•30 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Antibiotics have been a fundamental in healthcare, but their overuse has led to a resistance movement that threatens the face of modern medicine. How can we tackle the problems of overprescription and misuse without losing the vital drug forever? Featuring: Laura McCaughey - Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the iThree Institute at the University of Technology Sydney. Amanda McCullough - Research Fellow in the Centre for Research and Evidence Based Practice at Bond University. Kirsty Buising - In...
Jul 24, 2018•24 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Sophie Smith is never sure what to say when people ask her how many children she has. The answer is five, but when she was pregnant with triplets Sophie gave birth prematurely and none of her three boys – Henry, Jasper, Evan - survived. But to tell the truth starts a conversation on a topic that many find awkward: death. Featuring: Sophie Smith. Claudia Virdun - Senior Lecturer in Nursing specialising in Palliative care at the University of Technology Sydney. Marian Krawczyk - Medical Anthropolo...
Jun 19, 2018•28 min•Season 3Ep. 10
The 2018 Federal Budget set aside $33.8 million to boost crisis support group Lifeline's 24-hour telephone service to address what some have described as a ‘mental health crisis’. However, what has been left out is any sort of targeted plan towards dealing with a different health crisis; the rates of depression, self-harm and suicide among transgender Australians, particularly young trans people. The numbers are shocking, but the solutions to the subsequent problems are not as complex as you mig...
Jun 12, 2018•21 min•Season 3Ep. 9
A report released in January by Deloitte Access Economics found the cost of cancer for 15-25 year olds in Australia nears $1.4 million over their lifetime. This episode we look at what these costs are and what’s being done to bring them down. Featuring: Gemma Crawley. Alison Pearce - Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation at the University of Technology Sydney. Sondra Davoren - Senior Legal Policy Advisor in the McCabe Centre for Law ...
Jun 05, 2018•34 min•Season 3Ep. 8
3D Printers are looking set to change the way we deliver healthcare, and the technology is ready to go. But are we ready for the technology? Featuring: Joshua Chou - Lecturer in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney. Richard Matthews - PhD Candidate from the University of Adelaide. Judy Smith - Scholarly Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Health at the University of Technology Sydney.
May 29, 2018•24 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Our Emergency Departments are failing mental health patients. A new report has found mental health presentations account for only 4.5% of people in Emergency, yet they represent 30% of people waiting for a bed. This episode examines why some of us wait so long in hospital, and how this problem can’t be fixed by more time targets. Featuring: • Julia • Margaret Fry, Professor of Nursing at UTS and Northern Sydney Health District • Dr Simon Judkins, President, Australasian College for Emergency Med...
May 22, 2018•23 min•Season 3Ep. 6
As is the case for many autoimmune disorders, making sense of the symptoms can sometimes see you wandering around in circles. Coeliac disease is one of these disorders, where the very general yet in some cases severe symptoms of an aversion to gluten are often mistaken for something else, or in three out of four cases never properly diagnosed. This episode you’ll learn what it is about coeliac disease that makes it hard to fully recognise, and some of the innovative measures trying to identify g...
Apr 24, 2018•21 min•Season 3Ep. 5
With the global probiotics market projected to grow to $64 billion USD by 2022, there are more gut health related products on our shelves that ever before. But with so many to scrounge through, and an abundance of misinformation online, are probiotics all they're cracked up to be? Featuring: Dr Catherine Burke - Microbiologist and Lecturer in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney. Beata Bajorek - Pharmacist and Associate Professor in Pharmacy in the Graduate School o...
Apr 17, 2018•23 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Last month Stephen Hawking - a physicist just as well known for his contributions to cosmology as he was for being a wheelchair user - passed away aged 76. Hawking was an avowed disability activist in the public sphere, however his death has highlighted the problematic ways the media represents disability. This episode examines cultural narratives of disability and the people fighting to change them. Featuring: Robin Eames, student, writer, activist Simon Darcy, Professor at the University of Te...
Apr 10, 2018•23 min•Season 3Ep. 3
During the mid 20th century, male circumcision reached its peak in Australia with more than 90% of males undergoing the procedure shortly after birth. However, today this percentage has not only dropped by half, but seen many medical professionals, parents and men speak out against the practice entirely. What caused this cultural shift? And why did the Western world adopt the practice in the first place? Featuring: Melissa Kang - Associate Professor in Public Health in the Faculty of Health at t...
Apr 03, 2018•29 min•Season 3Ep. 2
In early 2017 Rachael and Jonny welcomed their first child into the world, a daughter named Mackenzie. But something was wrong, and at 10 weeks Mackenzie was diagnosed with the terminal genetic disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1. With 1 in 50 of us carriers of SMA, there’s a chance you or someone you know could be carriers. So why have we never heard of it? Speakers: Rachael CasellaDr Michelle Farrar, child neurologist at Sydney Children’s HospitalAlison McEwen, genetic counsellor and Associ...
Mar 27, 2018•27 min•Season 3Ep. 1
