Effective treatments exist for the acute management and prevention of stroke, but their uptake depends upon public awareness of stroke symptoms and risk factors. A recent study by Julia Slark and colleagues published in the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disease assessed both types of knowledge amongst patients who had suffered a stroke and who were therefore at high-risk of suffering another stroke. The study found that knowledge was poor amongst many patients in this group. This is concerning as they are at high risk of stroke and other cardiovascular diseases.The findings suggest that more effective methods are needed about educating stroke patients about their risk factors; and how they can reduce their risk of a subsequent stroke, as well as recognising the symptoms of a new stroke should one occur.
As part of a session on primary care data in the Health Informatics module on the Imperial Master of Public Health Programme, I asked students to work in two groups to present arguments for and against the NHS Care.Data programme. Care.Data is an NHS programme that will extract data from the medical records held by general practitioners (GPs) in England. The Care.Data programme takes advantage of the very high level of use of electronic medical records by GPs in England. After extraction, data will be uploaded to the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). The data will then be used for functions such as health care planning, monitoring disease patterns and research. The programme has been controversial with proponents arguing that the programme will bring many benefits for the NHS and the population of England; and opponents arguing it is a major breach of privacy. You can view the two presentations to help inform you further about these arguments: Arguments fo...
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