Monitoring and Advocacy Report of the Mental Health Commissioner, June 2020

The Mental Health Commissioner, Kevin Allan, says Aotearoa New Zealand has the opportunity to provide global leadership in responding to mental distress and addiction. This report provides an independent assessment of the state of mental health services and addiction services in Aotearoa New Zealand.
https://www.hdc.org.nz/news-resources/search-resources/mental-health/monitoring-and-advocacy-report-of-the-mental-health-commissioner-2020/

Articles – Challenging Patients/Moral Distress
 

1. Moral distress revisited: the viewpoints and responses of nurses.
Woods, M.
International Nursing Review, 2020, 67,68–75
Aim: To present and discuss the main themes that were revealed following an analysis of the qualitative research findings that were extracted from a national survey regarding the causes and effects of moral distress amongst New Zealand nurses
Open Access: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/inr.12545

2. Rural dialysis nurses' experiences with challenging patients: A thematic qualitative analysis
Jacob, Alycia;   Vafeas, Caroline;  Stoneman, Laurita & Jacob, Elisabeth
Renal Society of Australasia Journal, Mar 2020, 16(1), 13-19
This study explored the experience of nurses encountering challenging patient behaviour while working at a rural hospital-based haemodialysis unit. Focus groups were conducted with haemodialysis nurses at a rural hospital. Five participants across two focus groups were asked questions regarding their experiences of challenging patients, including impacts that the experiences may have had on their ongoing professional practice.

3. Difficult patients: Calm the storm
Cowie, Thea
Australian Pharmacist, Aug 2018, 37(7), 18-21
Dealing with aggressive or abusive patients is one of the least pleasant components of a community pharmacist's role. What's best practice for avoiding or de-escalating these situations?

4. Nurses abused over COVID-19 fears
Australian Nursing & Midwifery Journal, Jul-Sep 2020, 26(11): 17-17
The article talks about the abuses that healthcare workers in Australia have experienced as cases of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) grew nationally. Topics covered include the fear among the public that health workers may be spreading the disease, reports received by the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) from members who had been abused, and the introduction of laws to protect frontline workers during COVID-19.

5. Making Systemic Change.
Svetvilas, Chuleenan
National Nurse, Jan-Mar2020, 116(1), 14-15.  
The article discusses the effort of University of California nurses to win workplace violence prevention measures. Topics covered include injury rate of registered nurses (RNs) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2018, findings of a survey conducted among University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) nurses in May 2019, and actions taken by University of California (UC) nurses to advocate and organize to hold employers accountable for workplace violence prevention.

6. Violence widespread but under-reported
Lamp, Dec 2019/Jan 2020, 76(11), 14-14.
The article discusses the physical assaults on more than a third of New South Wales Nurses and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) members in a six-month period as of December 2019. Topics covered include the widespread but under-reported violence, managers' instructions not to report the issue, and the biggest risk factors of behavioural conditions and providing care to distressed, afraid, or ill people.

Articles – Health Literacy
 

7.  Associations Between Health Literacy and Medication Self-Management Among Community Health Center Patients with Uncontrolled Hypertension
Persell, Stephen D; Karmali, Kunal N; Ji Young Lee; Lazar, Danielle; Brown, Tiffany; et al.
Patient Preference and Adherence, 2020, Vol. 14, 87-95
Examine associations between health literacy and several medication self-management constructs among a population of adults with uncontrolled hypertension.

8. Communication and shared decision-making with patients with limited health literacy; helpful strategies, barriers and suggestions for improvement reported by hospital-based palliative care providers
Roodbeen, Ruud; Vreke, Astrid; Boland, Gudule; Rademakers, Jany; van den Muijsenbergh, Maria; et al.
PLoS One, Jun 2020, 15(6), e0234926
Communication and shared decision-making (SDM) are essential to patient-centered care. Hospital-based palliative care with patients with limited health literacy (LHL) poses particular demands on communication. In this context, patients’ emotions and vulnerable condition impact their skills to obtain, understand, process and apply information about health and healthcare even more.

9. Limited Health Literacy and Hearing Loss Among Older Adults
Wells, Timothy S; Rush, Steven R; Nickels, Lorraine D; Wu, Lizi; Bhattarai, Gandhi R; et al.
Health Literacy Research and Practice, Jun 2020, 4(2), e129-e137
Effective communications between health care providers and patients are critical for high-quality health care. This study sampled adults age 65 years and older to explore (1) characteristics associated with limited health literacy (LHL) and (2) medical costs and gaps in care based on health literacy, hearing loss, and hearing aid use status.

10. Facilitators and Barriers to the Development of Health Literacy Capacities Over Time for Self-Management
McKenna, Verna B; Sixsmith, Jane & Barry, Margaret.
Health Literacy Research and Practice, 4(2), (May 2020), e104-e118.
Health literacy is a dynamic construct that is content and context specific. An understanding of the facilitators and barriers involved in the development of health literacy over time can provide important insights for the health care providers (HCP) in supporting patients with chronic illness.

11. Measuring Oral Health Literacy of Refugees: Associations with Dental Care Utilization and Oral Health Self-Efficacy
Elkerdany, Amira., Gurenlian, JoAnn., & Freudenthal, Jacqueline.
Journal of Dental Hygiene (Online), Apr 2020, 94(2), 9-17.
The purpose of this study was to analyze associations between the oral health literacy of refugees and two oral health outcomes: dental care utilization and oral health self-efficacy. Methods: A convenience sample of refugees in the greater Los Angeles area attending English as a second language (ESL) classes sponsored by two refugee assistance organizations was used for this cross-sectional, correlational study.

Articles – Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, July 2019
 

12. Treatability Statements in Serious Illness: The Gap Between What is Said and What is Heard
Batten, Jason N; Wong, Bonnie O; Hanks, William F; Magnus, David C.
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Jul 2019, 28(3), 394-404.
Empirical work has shown that patients and physicians have markedly divergent understandings of treatability statements (e.g., “This is a treatable condition,” “We have treatments for your loved one”) in the context of serious illness. Patients often understand treatability statements as conveying good news for prognosis and quality of life. In contrast, physicians often do not intend treatability statements to convey improvement in prognosis or quality of life, but merely that a treatment is available.

13. Commentary: Dangerous Disconnections
Weinfurt, Kevin P.
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Jul 2019, 28(3), 413-414.
DOI: 10.1017/S096318011900032X
During their training, physicians are encouraged to avoid using medical jargon when communicating with their patients, and this can surely improve the quality of communication. However, as Jason Batten and colleagues1 point out, there is another category of clinical discourse that poses a challenge—the use of everyday language in very different ways by clinicians and patients.

14. Commentary: Treating Ambiguity in the Clinical Context: Is what you hear the doctor say what the doctor means?
Xafis, Vicki & Wilkinson, Dominic.
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Jul 2019, 28(3), 422-432.
Linguistic theory helps in the understanding of how and why language operates in the manner it does. It provides insight into ways we can improve communication strategies to achieve deeply rooted communicative expectations. This is particularly important in the clinical context, where patients and their families rely heavily on the information exchange they have with health professionals (HPs).

Conferences/Training
 

15. Change Communication
Change is a constant and disruptive element in a workplace often causing anxiety, uncertainty and perceived threat. Communicating through change requires refined and focused use of all your talents as a communication professional – and is especially relevant now as organisations adapt to a post-Covid world.
Date: 29/07/2020
Time: 09:30 am - 04:00 pm
Venue: Front and Centre, 69 Tory Street, Te Aro, Wellington
More information: https://www.prinz.org.nz/Events/Calendar/Change-Communication-WGT-2020

16. Community engagement and stakeholder relationships
Community engagement and relationships with stakeholders are fundamental to any successful business – whether profit or not-for-profit.
Date: 30/07/2020
Time: 09:30 am - 04:00 pm
Venue: Front and Centre, 69 Tory Street, Te Aro, Wellington
More information: https://www.prinz.org.nz/Events/Calendar/community-engagement-stakeholder-relationships-wgt-2020

17. How to develop effective PR content in the Digital Age
The Digital era offers many new and exciting ways for PR professionals to communicate with our audiences. Yet, despite having more channels available to us, it is harder than ever to capture our audiences’ attention now that we live in a ‘search and scroll’ society. Research shows the average person’s attention span is less than eight seconds.
Date: 22/09/2020
Time: 09:30 am - 04:00 pm
Venue: To be confirmed, Auckland
More information: https://www.prinz.org.nz/Events/Calendar/PR-content-in-the-Digital-Age-AKL-2020

18. Social Media Strategy for PR and Communication
It may be ubiquitous, but for some, social media and all things online remain a mystery -which is tricky if you are involved with public relations and communication management. Never fear – this session provides you with all you need to know about social media in just one day
Date: 11/11/2020
Time: 09:30 am - 04:00 pm
Venue: To be confirmed, Wellington
More information: https://www.prinz.org.nz/Events/Calendar/Social-media-strategy-PR-Communication-WGT-2020

19. Webinar: Bullying: Complaints, Investigations and Resolution
This webinar will address the issue of workplace bullying, and how it should be dealt with from a New Zealand legal perspective
Date: 05 August 2020
Time: 12:00pm – 1pm
To buy tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/webinar-bullying-complaints-investigations-and-resolution-tickets-94236412647?

News – National
 

20. COVID-19 Health and Wellbeing Survey
The COVID-19 Health and Wellbeing Survey provides information about how New Zealanders have been impacted by COVID-19. The survey started on 30 March 2020, 4 days after New Zealand moved to COVID-19 Alert Level 4. Every day nearly 300 people, aged 15 years and above, complete a 10−15 minute phone interview. Each day a different set of people are interviewed. A team from CBG Health Research Limited are interviewing people using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI).
Access the results so far: https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-novel-coronavirus-resources-and-tools/covid-19-health-and-wellbeing-survey#purpose

News – International

21. Coronavirus updates LIVE: NSW remains on high alert as Crossroads Hotel COVID-19 cluster grows to 30; Australian death toll stands at 110
https://www.theage.com.au/national/coronavirus-updates-live-woolworths-worker-in-south-west-sydney-tests-positive-for-covid-19-global-cases-surpass-13-1-million-as-australian-death-toll-stands-at-110-20200715-p55c3m.html