Kirsten McCaffery

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Kirsten McCaffery
Alma mater University of Edinburgh [ citation needed ]
University College London [ citation needed ]
Scientific career
Institutions Sydney School of Public Health
University of Sydney
Thesis Participation in bowel cancer screening : examination of psychosocial processes  (2000)

Kirsten McCaffery is a British-Australian public health researcher who is Principal Research Fellow and Director of Research at the Sydney School of Public Health. Her research considers the psychosocial aspects of over diagnosis in healthcare. She was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2020.

Contents

Early life and education

McCaffery earned her undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Edinburgh.[ citation needed ] She held various research positions, including working in Tanzania and at Cancer Research UK.[ citation needed ] She decided to do a PhD and pursue a career in research after working as a research associate in the research group of Jane Wardle. [1]

Research and career

McCaffery joined the University of Sydney as a Research Fellow and was eventually appointed Professor of Behavioural Science and Director of Research at the Sydney School of Public Health. [2] Her research considers health literacy and patient communications. [3] [4]

McCaffery founded the Sydney Health Literarcy Lab, which seeks to empower people in their health outcomes. [5] Through meta-analyses of health literature, McCaffery has shown that 80% of patients did not understand their home-care instructions 36 hours after leaving hospital, with 40 to 80% of information forgotten almost immediately. She is interested in whether removing the label of 'cancer' in low-risk, likely harmless, conditions could help reduce over-diagnosis. [6] [7]

In October 2020, McCaffery was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. [8] During the COVID-19 pandemic, McCaffery studied disparities in COVID-19 knowledge amongst the Australian population. [9] As with much of the world, those with the greatest burden of chronic disease are the most disadvantaged. [9] She found that these differences in COVID understanding lead to social inequalities in health outcomes.[ citation needed ] Alongside health literacy, McCaffery studied the pandemic-induced rise and fall of Telehealth, and how to improve the patient experience. [10]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telehealth</span> Health care by telecommunication

Telehealth is the distribution of health-related services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies. It allows long-distance patient and clinician contact, care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, monitoring, and remote admissions. Telemedicine is sometimes used as a synonym, or is used in a more limited sense to describe remote clinical services, such as diagnosis and monitoring. When rural settings, lack of transport, a lack of mobility, conditions due to outbreaks, epidemics or pandemics, decreased funding, or a lack of staff restrict access to care, telehealth may bridge the gap as well as provide distance-learning; meetings, supervision, and presentations between practitioners; online information and health data management and healthcare system integration. Telehealth could include two clinicians discussing a case over video conference; a robotic surgery occurring through remote access; physical therapy done via digital monitoring instruments, live feed and application combinations; tests being forwarded between facilities for interpretation by a higher specialist; home monitoring through continuous sending of patient health data; client to practitioner online conference; or even videophone interpretation during a consult.

eHealth describes healthcare services which are supported by digital processes, communication or technology such as electronic prescribing, Telehealth, or Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The use of electronic processes in healthcare dated back to at least the 1990s. Usage of the term varies as it covers not just "Internet medicine" as it was conceived during that time, but also "virtually everything related to computers and medicine". A study in 2005 found 51 unique definitions. Some argue that it is interchangeable with health informatics with a broad definition covering electronic/digital processes in health while others use it in the narrower sense of healthcare practice using the Internet. It can also include health applications and links on mobile phones, referred to as mHealth or m-Health. Key components of eHealth include electronic health records (EHRs), telemedicine, health information exchange, mobile health applications, wearable devices, and online health information. These technologies enable healthcare providers, patients, and other stakeholders to access, manage, and exchange health information more effectively, leading to improved communication, decision-making, and overall healthcare outcomes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telenursing</span>

Telenursing refers to the use of information technology in the provision of nursing services whenever physical distance exists between patient and nurse, or between any number of nurses. As a field, it is part of telemedicine, and has many points of contacts with other medical and non-medical applications, such as telediagnosis, teleconsultation, and telemonitoring. The field, however, is still being developed as the information on telenursing isn't comprehensive enough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telepsychiatry</span> Mental-health care by telecommunication

Telepsychiatry or telemental health refers to the use of telecommunications technology to deliver psychiatric care remotely for people with mental health conditions. It is a branch of telemedicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rural health</span> Interdisciplinary study of health and health care delivery in rural environments

In medicine, rural health or rural medicine is the interdisciplinary study of health and health care delivery in rural environments. The concept of rural health incorporates many fields, including wilderness medicine, geography, midwifery, nursing, sociology, economics, and telehealth or telemedicine.

The doctor–patient relationship is a central part of health care and the practice of medicine. A doctor–patient relationship is formed when a doctor attends to a patient's medical needs and is usually through consent. This relationship is built on trust, respect, communication, and a common understanding of both the doctor and patients' sides. The trust aspect of this relationship goes is mutual: the doctor trusts the patient to reveal any information that may be relevant to the case, and in turn, the patient trusts the doctor to respect their privacy and not disclose this information to outside parties.

Karol Sikora is a British physician specialising in oncology, who has been described as a leading world authority on cancer. He was a founder and medical director of Rutherford Health, a company that provided proton therapy services, and is Director of Medical Oncology at the Bahamas Cancer Centre.

Health communication is the study and practice of communicating promotional health information, such as in public health campaigns, health education, and between doctor and patient. The purpose of disseminating health information is to influence personal health choices by improving health literacy. Health communication is a unique niche in healthcare that allows professionals to use communication strategies to inform and influence decisions and actions of the public to improve health.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Braithwaite</span> Australian academic

Jeffrey Braithwaite BA [UNE], DipIR, MIR [Syd], MBA [Macq], PhD [UNSW], FIML, FACHSM, FAAHMS, FFPHRCP [UK], FAcSS [UK], Hon FRACMA is an Australian professor, health services and systems researcher, writer and commentator, with an international profile and affiliations. He is Founding Director of the Australian Institute of Health Innovation at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia; Director of the Centre for Healthcare Resilience and Implementation Science, Australian Institute of Health Innovation; Professor of Health Systems Research, Macquarie University. His is President of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remote patient monitoring</span> Technology to monitor patients outside of conventional clinical settings

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is a technology to enable monitoring of patients outside of conventional clinical settings, such as in the home or in a remote area, which may increase access to care and decrease healthcare delivery costs. RPM involves the constant remote care of patients by their physicians, often to track physical symptoms, chronic conditions, or post-hospitalization rehab.

Patricia Mary Greenhalgh is a British professor of primary health care at the University of Oxford, and retired general practitioner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret McCartney</span> General practitioner, writer and broadcaster

Margaret Mary McCartney is a general practitioner, freelance writer and broadcaster based in Glasgow, Scotland. McCartney is a vocal advocate for evidence-based medicine. McCartney was a regular columnist at the British Medical Journal. She regularly writes articles for The Guardian and currently contributes to the BBC Radio 4 programme, Inside Health. She has written three popular science books, The Patient Paradox, The State of Medicine and Living with Dying. During the COVID-19 pandemic, McCartney contributed content to academic journals and broadcasting platforms, personal blog, and social media to inform the public and dispel myths about coronavirus disease.

Azeem Majeed is a Professor and Head of the Department of Primary Care & Public Health at Imperial College, London, as well as a general practitioner in South London and a consultant in public health. In the most recent UK University Research Excellence Framework results, Imperial College London was the highest ranked university in the UK for the quality of research in the “Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care” unit of assessment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Stebbing</span> British oncology doctor and cancer researcher

Justin Stebbing is a British clinician-scientist specialising in oncology and cancer research. He is a professor of biomedical sciences at Anglia Ruskin University and practices with the private sector Phoenix Hospital Group in London.

Caroline Susan E. Homer is an Australian midwifery researcher and international advocate for women's health rights. She is Co-Program Director, Maternal and Child Health at the Burnet Institute in Melbourne and Visiting Distinguished Professor of Midwifery at the University of Technology Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tania Sorrell</span> Australian infectious disease physician

Tania Sorrell is an Australian infectious disease physician who is a Professor and Director of the Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity at the University of Sydney. She serves as Chair of the National Health and Medical Research Council Research Translation Faculty Steering Group on New and Emerging Health Threats. She is interested in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the telehealth industry</span> Impact of coronavirus on telehealth

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth adoption was gradually increasing. With the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, healthcare professionals reduced in-person visits to minimize exposure. As a result, telehealth usage surged dramatically, experiencing a 5,000% increase from February to March 2020. Telehealth has since remained widely utilized in healthcare services.

Nachiappan Chockalingam, professionally known as Nachi Chockalingam is a British scientist, academic practitioner and expert in Clinical Biomechanics. He is a professor at Staffordshire University and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine and has been appointed to a panel of experts for the Research Excellence Framework. He was elected as a Fellow of the International Society of Biomechanics in 2023. Between 2016 and 2022, he has contributed to the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Panel and serves in multiple other review panels of global grant awarding bodies including the EPSRC, MRC and the European Commission. He contributed to development of podiatric biomechanics in the UK and played a pivotal role in the establishment of the journals such as the Footwear Science and is on the editorial panel for a number of scientific and clinical journals.

Karen Canfell is an Australian epidemiologist and cancer researcher.

Professor Angela Webster is a clinical epidemiologist at the Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, nephrologist and transplant physician at Westmead Hospital and director of Evidence Integration at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney.

References

  1. Jane Rigney. "Five minutes with: Professor Kirsten McCaffery – Cancer Prevention Group Blog" . Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  2. "Expert - Kirsten McCaffery | Australian Academy of Science". www.science.org.au. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  3. "Professor Kirsten McCaffery". The University of Sydney. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  4. "Professor Kirsten McCaffery – ASK" . Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  5. shlladmin. "Our Team". Sydney Health Literacy Lab. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  6. Nickel, Brooke; Moynihan, Ray; Barratt, Alexandra; Brito, Juan P.; McCaffery, Kirsten (12 August 2018). "Renaming low risk conditions labelled as cancer". BMJ. 362: k3322. doi:10.1136/bmj.k3322. ISSN   0959-8138. PMID   30100549. S2CID   51968638.
  7. McCaffery, Kirsten; Jansen, Jesse; Scherer, Laura; Thornton, Hazel; Hersch, Jolyn; Carter, Stacy; Barratt, Alexandra; Sheridan, Stacey; Moynihan, Ray; Waller, Jo; Brodersen, John (1 January 2016). "Walking the tightrope: communicating overdiagnosis in modern healthcare". Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive). 352: i348. doi:10.1136/bmj.i348. hdl: 2123/14516 . PMID   26850726. S2CID   7491871.
  8. "Academy elects 28 new Fellows". AAHMS - Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  9. 1 2 McCaffery, Kirsten J.; Dodd, Rachael H.; Cvejic, Erin; Ayrek, Julie; Batcup, Carys; Isautier, Jennifer Mj; Copp, Tessa; Bonner, Carissa; Pickles, Kristen; Nickel, Brooke; Dakin, Thomas (9 December 2020). "Health literacy and disparities in COVID-19-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours in Australia". Public Health Research & Practice. 30 (4). doi: 10.17061/phrp30342012 . ISSN   2204-2091. PMID   33294907.
  10. Isautier, Jennifer M. J.; McCaffery, Kirsten (2021). "Patients are a vital voice for the future of telehealth". Respirology. 26 (8): 729–730. doi: 10.1111/resp.14098 . ISSN   1440-1843. PMID   34148280.