NUI Galway launches Bug Run School Days: an ‘Antibiotic Awareness’ iPad App

Pictured are the team behind ‘BugRun School Days’ iPad app, from the Discipline of General Practice, School of Medicine at NUI Galway, (clockwise from left) Post Doctorate Fellows Sinead Duane, Sandra Galvin and Aoife Callan, and the project leader Dr Akke Vellinga

Bug Run is a fun and interactive iPad app to educate children and adults on the issue of Antibiotic Resistance

The Discipline of General Practice at NUI Galway have launched Bug Run, a free iPad app that combines a game and an educational video to educate children and adults on the issue of antibiotic resistance. Funded by the Health Research Board (HRB), the app has two parts; a game and an educational video. The game teaches children (4 – 10 years) about the importance of staying healthy and that taking antibiotics comes at a price. The accompanying short video developed for adults highlights the issue of antibiotic resistance and provides suggestions on how to discuss this with their General Practitioner.

Bug Run recently received the 2014 Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy Award, which recognises and rewards excellence in health literacy in the healthcare sector. Bug Run received the award in the category ‘Best Project in General Practice’ for improving a patient’s understanding and help them take more responsibility in managing their health.

Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to patients’ safety in Europe because it can result in treatment failure of serious infections. To address the issue of antibiotic resistance it is important that antibiotics are used in the right way to secure their use in the future.

View full Press Release here

New Editions - Oxford Handbooks

Two recent editions have been added to the library collection -

Oxford Handbook of Endocrinology and Diabetes - 2014 (3rd edition)

616.4 OXF Oxford Handbook of General Practice -2014 (4th edition) 616 SIM

School of Nursing and Midwifery Research Paper Wins at Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland

(L-R) NUI Galway’s Dr Dympna Casey, Professor Andrew W. Murphy and Professor Kathy Murphy.

A paper published by the Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Nurse-led Community Environment (PRINCE) research team won the General Practice category at the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland (RAMI) Doctor Awards recently.

The winning paper examined the effectiveness of a structured education pulmonary rehabilitation programme for improving the health status of people with moderate and severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in primary care. The study was funded by the HRB and consisted of a two-armed randomised cluster trial. In one arm (intervention group), persons with COPD received a structured education pulmonary rehabilitation programme, while the other arm (control group) received usual care. The study found that people who attended the programme were significantly better able to manage their breathing difficulties than those who did not attend.

Principal study investigators for the study were Professor Kathy Murphy and Dr Dympna Casey of NUI Galway’s School of Nursing & Midwifery, and involved collaboration with researchers in NUI Galway, the UK and the HSE. The authors were Dr Dympna Casey, Professor Kathy Murphy, Professor Declan Devane, Dr Adeline Cooney, Bernard McCarthy, Lorraine Mee, Dr John Newell, Professor Eamon O’Shea, Dr Carl Scarrott, Dr Paddy Gillespie, Collette Kirwan and Professor Andrew W. Murphy.

Andrew W. Murphy, Professor of General Practice at NUI Galway, accepted the award on behalf of the team: “The RAMI awards recognise excellence in international peer reviewed clinical research papers which have been carried out in Ireland. Our study involving 32 general practices and 350 participants, found that a primary care based pulmonary rehabilitation programme facilitated by trained physiotherapists and practice nurses who had no prior COPD expertise, is feasible, safe, and effective.”

Co- principal study investigator Dr Dympna Casey said: “We are thrilled that our paper received this award, we both feel strongly that health care research must make a real difference to patients’ lives and we are delighted that the findings of our large trial does just that.”

The winning paper is available from the following linkhttp://thorax.bmj.com/content/early/2013/06/09/thoraxjnl-2012-203103.long#aff-5

General Practice - How to Find?

General Practice or Primary Care titles may be found at a variety of locations in the
James Hardiman Library;  eg 362.172   -   610  -   616

The Art of General Practice -     362.172 MOR

100 Cases in General Practice -  616 STE

General Practice Medicine      - 610 TAY