HEAR (Health Evidence Awareness report) is a newsletter designed to signpost information about specific health topics. HEAR is the result of a collaboration between librarians in a number of hospitals and health care settings across Ireland. This newsletter has useful information for both clinicians and patients. It contains information for patients, families and carers with links to support groups & organisations, books, multimedia and patient education. It also contains links to latest systematic reviews and Irish research in this topic.

Cystic fibrosis affects the internal organs, especially the lungs and digestive system. It causes them to become clogged with thick, sticky mucus. It is caused by a faulty gene that controls the movement of salt and water in and out of cells in the body. When cystic fibrosis occurs, too much salt and not enough water pass into the cells and turn the body’s secretions, which normally act as a lubricant, into a thick mucus. This mucus clogs up many of the body’s tubes, ducts and passageways so they cannot work properly. In the lungs, this leads to frequent and severe infections.

View volume 4, issue 5 on Lenus

Welcome to the 3rd issue of HEAR for 2018. The purpose of the Health Evidence Awareness Report is to provide specialised information to health professionals, patients and the public about specific health topics. Each issue is a result of the collaboration of librarians from health organisations across Ireland. This issue looks at some aspects of traumatic brain injury and concussion. 

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

A TBI is caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head that disrupts the normal function of the brain. Not all blows or jolts to the head result in a TBI. The severity of a TBI may range from “mild” (i.e., a brief change in mental status or consciousness) to “severe” (i.e., an extended period of unconsciousness or memory loss after the injury). Most TBIs that occur each year are mild, commonly called concussions. 

Concussion

Concussion is defined by the HSE as “the sudden but short-lived loss of mental function that occurs after a blow or other injury to the head. The medical term for concussion is minor traumatic brain injury”. Symptoms include memory loss, confusion, brief loss of consciousness, vision disturbance HSE A-Z Health Topics Concussion

View volume 4, issue 3 on LENUS

The purpose of HEAR is to provide specialised information to health professionals, patients and the public about key health topics. Each issue is the result of the collaborative effort of librarians from health organisations across Ireland.

This month, the focus is on Bereavement. As the only certainly we have in life is our own mortality, bereavement is an issue that affects every single one of us at some point in our lives.

Inside this issue:

•  80 people die in Ireland every day.
•  Approximately, 30,000 people die every year
•  At any one time, one in 10 people are likely to be affected (McGuinness, 2007).
•  53% or Irish people have experienced the death of someone close to them in the last two years.
•  Research by the ESRI (Growing up in Ireland) demonstrates that 2.2% of nine year olds have lost a parent, 1.1% a sibling, 7% an aunt or uncle and 28% a grandparent.

View this issue of HEAR on Lenus

HEAR (Health Evidence Awareness Report). volume 4, issue 1. Focus on homelessness. March 2018. 

The purpose of HEAR is to provide specially selected information to patients, the public and to health professionals about key health topics. Each issue is the result of the collaborative effort of librarians from health organisations across Ireland.

Homelessness is an increasingly common phenomena in Irish society at present. Individuals who are homeless face a myriad of challenges in accessing health care services. Additionally, they tend to make more frequent use of emergency departments, to have mental or physical health problems and to have different priorities in terms of their health.

This issue of HEAR is available through the LENUS repository