Take Two Friends and Call Me in the Morning. There’s a little town in England that’s done a remarkable thing. In a reasonably short amount of time, the township of Frome has been able to reduce emergency hospital admissions by 15%. Meanwhile, hospital admissions in neighbouring towns rose by 30%. What is Frome’s secret life-saving technology? The local medical practice … Read More
Using Nudge Theory To Improve Health
Generally speaking, a nudge is a light touch or push used to attract attention or point someone in the right direction. Nudge theory is a way of “offering small clues that support decision-making”. Nudging tries to improve people’s decisions by changing the ways options are presented to them, rather than changing the options themselves or rewarding or punishing people, also known … Read More
Creating a Sense of Belonging at Work: What Leaders Need to Do
During a visit to the NASA space centre in 1962, President J F Kennedy noticed a cleaner carrying a broom. He interrupted his tour, walked over to the man and said, “Hi, I’m Jack Kennedy. What do you do?”. The cleaner responded, “Well, Mr President, I’m helping put a man on the moon.” Whatever your role in an organisation, it … Read More
The Social Prescribing Revolution is Here
Nursing one of his beloved daughters to her death at age ten led Charles Darwin to consider the role of suffering and compassion in natural selection. He would later theorise in Descent of Man that sympathy, a word probably closer to what we understand today as empathy, is an instinct even stronger than self-interest. Darwin’s work offers insight as to why the act of suffering together – … Read More
Suicide Prevention Starts With Community
Suicide. Everyone has different reactions when I mention the word. These reactions include sadness, loss, guilt, interest, anger, surprise, concern, unsure, jokes, laughter, remembrance, and silence. For some, they remember the person they lost. Others talk about suicide with keen interest, perhaps from a philosophical, ethical, social, or personal viewpoint. No matter whom I’ve spoken with, I have found that … Read More
Mind the Gap when you Return to Work
Getting back into the office offers an opportunity for us to rethink how we socialise with colleagues and make the most of our work relationships. This is our chance to improve our wellbeing as well as how we work in the 21st century. You are what you need. As a human, I miss you. I miss being near you. When … Read More
What a Car Accident Taught me about Pain and Community
A summer day turned into the scariest day of my life Saturday 23rd December 2017 was a beautiful summer day in Melbourne. I was about to experience my first Christmas in summer, and my fiance had decided we would get ourselves some nice food from our favourite Italian supermarket. That morning he wanted to take the car, but I insisted … Read More
Advanced Listening Skills That Therapists Know and You Need To
Have you ever had that feeling after speaking with someone that they didn’t really hear what you were trying to say? You’re not alone. On the flip-side, have you ever had a long conversation with someone and felt that you never really figured out the points they were trying to make? As human beings, we tend to take communication for … Read More
How to Deal with Lockdown Fatigue
How Can We Deal With Lockdown Fatigue? If I never hear the words; lockdown, close contact, primary contact, secondary contact, household contact, community cases, vaccine hesitancy, contact tracing, robust data, outbreak, Delta variant, it will be too soon. All of Australia has had a taste of lockdown by now, but for Melburnians this is lockdown number five, which equates to more than … Read More
Ghosts of a Lockdown Past: Stories of Melburnians in a Post-Isolation World
After seven months of ‘lockdown’, Melburnians are now finally starting to get back to the things and people they love. Many are rejoicing, and so they should! It’s safe to say lockdown was tough for all of us. Losing loved ones, relationships, jobs, social interaction, holidays and housing; lockdown proved challenging, to say the least. The recent easing of restrictions has provided a light … Read More