• Australian Policy Online

09 December 2011The ten most viewed research reports in APO's Health section in 2011 based on number of pageviews:

1. Safe sex after 50 and mature women's beliefs of sexual health

Hyojin Kim, Cynthia R. Morton The Journal of Consumer Affairs

Research has found that women over 50 are uncomfortable talking to their doctors about the risk of sexually transmitted disease, and may not be willing to talk to their partners about using a condom for fear of rejection or conflict. 
Views: 2,879

2. Medicare Locals: guidelines for the establishment and initial operation of Medicare Locals

Department of Health and Ageing

These guidelines provide an overview of the arrangements for the establishment of Medicare Locals. The Commonwealth Government is establishing Medicare Locals to drive improvements in primary health care and ensure that primary health care services are better tailored to meet the needs to local communities. Medicare Locals will be primary health care organisations, established to coordinate primary health care delivery to address local health care needs and service gaps.
Views: 1,556

3. Marketing obesity? Junk food, advertising and kids

Rhonda Jolly | Parliamentary Library

This paper examines the debate over the importance of foods high in fat, sugar and salt in childhood obesity. It also looks at policy approaches to junk food in a number of countries and consequent actions taken to control or prohibit the influence of advertising. In particular, the paper notes recent Australian government approaches to dealing with this issue.
Views: 2,147

4. National disability strategy 2010-2020

Council of Australian Governments

The National Disability Strategy sets out a ten year national plan for improving life for Australians with disability, their families and carers. The Strategy draws on the findings of extensive consultation conducted in 2008-09 by the National People with Disabilities and Carer Council and reported in Shut Out: The Experience of People with Disabilities and their Families in Australia (2009).
Views: 1,123

5. Cardiovascular disease: Australian facts 2011

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a very common and serious disease in Australia with about 3.5 million people reporting having the condition in 2007-08. Despite significant advances in the treatment of CVD and for some of its risk factors, it remains the cause of more deaths than any other disease - about 50,000 in 2008 - and the most expensive, costing about $5.9 billion in 2004-05.
Views: 886

6. Mental health provisions in the 2011-12 budget

Lesley Russell | The Menzies Centre for Health Policy

After much prodding and shaming, the Government finally delivered on its commitment to mental health reform in the 2011-12 budget. However, given the magnitude of the burden of mental illness and the scope and extent of the needs in mental health, even this significant down payment on new services cannot be considered the endpoint of work in mental health but only the beginning.
Views: 855

7. Disability care and support

Draft report

Productivity Commission

The current disability support system is underfunded, unfair, fragmented, and inefficient, and gives people with a disability little choice and no certainty of access to appropriate supports, according to this report.
Views: 852

8. Women, health and ageing

Findings from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health

Julie Byles, and others | Australian Longitudinal Study on Women‘s Health

The latest major report from the ongoing Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health has been released, focussing on the health of older women.
Views: 768

9. Young motherhood and child outcomes

Bruce Bradbury | Social Policy Research Centre

There is considerable evidence that childbearing at a young age is associated with poorer outcomes for both mother and child. However, international research suggests that much of this association is not causal – children born to young mothers might still have had poor outcomes even if their mother had delayed their childbearing.
Views: 731

10. Wellbeing and the Australian quality of life

Tim Soutphommasane | Per Capita

In this paper, Tim Soutphommasane examines state of Australia’s quality of life, and finds that, despite concerns, Australians have very little reason to feel a sense of crisis.
Views: 706

What research report or paper do YOU think was the best for the year?

Email admin@apo.org.au, leave a comment below, or on the APO blog. Follow the conversation and make a suggestion on Twitter by using the hashtag #APOBest2011, or leave a comment on our Facebook page.  We will compile an APO reader Best of 2011.