It's not the apple a day keeping some people away from the doctors' office.

For up to 60% of Australian adults reading a medication label, instructions on their referral, or filling in the forms in the waiting room can present a challenge to their literacy levels.

That avoidance of early care means a higher chance of ending up in the emergency department.

Vanessa Iles from the Reading and Writing Hotline says the pandemic highlighted the issue when many people found their usual support networked in locked down and unable to assist.

At Counterpoint community centre in Sydney Grant Nair says his staff are regularly helping clients who need support to complete medical referrals and submit medical histories and reports online.

There were many lessons learned from COVID-19, says Professor Kirsten McCaffery at Sydney University's Health Literacy Lab, but they need to be more widely implemented.

Literacy barriers for early health care

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While grief effects everyone differently, a small group of people can find themselves 'stuck' in intense grief.

It's not depression, it's known as prolonged grief disorder.

UNSW Professor Richard Bryant and his team compared cognitive behaviour therapy with mindfulness and found that while they both work in the short term, CBT is more impactful for long term recovery.

What is prolonged grief disorder and how is it treated

Researchers have found a possible link between iron and long-COVID

How long before that big overseas trip should you get your COVID booster?

And how a plant based diet may be a positive step with a prostate cancer diagnosis.

Iron for long-COVID, and plants for your prostate

If you’ve spent much time in the wellness space these past few years, you’ve probably heard of Health At Every Size – a movement that prioritises healthy habits over the size or shape of your body.

But while many people have found it freeing, a new review of the evidence shows that, at least when it comes to measures like cholesterol and blood pressure, it’s not enough on its own.

Laureate Professor Clare Collins is from the University of Newcastle.

A 'Health At Every Size' approach doesn't work on its own

A look at some of the Health Report correspondence this week, featuring "stoolgazing" and when to collect your own samples… or not.

You can email us at healthreport@abc.net.au

Health Report mailbag

For people with irritable bowel syndrome, one of the most common interventions is an elimination diet to try to identify a trigger.  But that diet might carry its own risk – of triggering disordered eating – a new study warns.

Dr Caroline Tuck is a senior lecturer in dietetics at Swinburne University

Literacy barriers for early health care

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