Health economics and occupational therapy

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I attended the Australian Occupational Therapy Conference last week, for the first time in nearly 15 years! I went to support some OT’s I’ve been working with on an economic evaluation, but it was lovely to catch up with friends and colleagues from my OT life before health economics. I also realised there wasn’t much ...

Best Health Services and Policy Research Papers – 2018 Award winner

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Best Health Services and Policy Research Papers - 2018 Award winner
I was thrilled to be awarded the Overall winner of the 2018 HSRAANZ Best Health Services and Policy Research Paper last night. These awards recognise the best scientific works in the field health services and policy research. The award was for my paper on cancer-related lost productivity in the developing countries Brazil, Russia, India, China ...

Treating anxiety in people with cancer could save the health system money

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Treating anxiety in people with cancer could save the health system money
It is normal to experience distress after a cancer diagnosis, but for some people distress can become so severe it affects a person’s mental health. We found that people who have anxiety as well as cancer often cost the health system more, particularly when anxiety is undiagnosed and untreated. Cancer patients with clinical levels of ...

5 great quotes from the Women in Economics Retreat

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5 great quotes from the Women in Economics Retreat
Last week I attended the 2018 Women in Economics Retreat, organised by the Economics Society of Australia Women in Economics Network. It was 2 days in the Southern Highlands with a wonderful group of early and mid-career researchers, led by an amazing selection of mentors. The attendees worked in a broad range of economics roles, ...

$46 billion in productivity lost to cancer in developing countries

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$46 billion in productivity lost to cancer in developing countries
Premature – and potentially avoidable – death from cancer is costing tens of billions of dollars in lost productivity in a group of key developing economies that includes China, India and South Africa. Over two-thirds of the world’s cancer deaths occur in economically developing countries, but the societal costs of cancer have rarely been assessed ...

The reality of chemotherapy side effects

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The reality of chemotherapy side effects
My latest publication shows that over three-quarters of people having chemotherapy in New South Wales experience multiple side effects during their treatment, and for over 60% of people this included a serious side effect. These results confirm previous research that suggests side effects might be more common, and more serious, in clinical practice (ie ‘real ...

Comparing the Australian and Irish Cancer Registries

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Having just moved from Australia to Ireland to do a post-doc at the National Cancer Registry, I was interested in comparing the Australian and Irish cancer registration systems.  Both countries have excellent cancer registries, with some similarities as well as differences between them.  A table comparing the features of each system is below, but the primary differences ...

Multiple regression ‘cheat sheet’

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This was a ‘cheat sheet’ I put together during the ACSPRI 2012 Winter Program course “Fundamentals of Multiple Regression” (Fun Reg). The cheat sheet simply summarises the concepts, formula’s and assumptions often used in regression analysis which were discussed in the course. Fun Reg Cheat Sheet This was a fantastic course that I would highly ...