12 NEWS SYNERGY NEWS FEBRUARY 2014 www.sor.org


Public health: If we don’t care, who will?


Health England conduct some excellent work in this field.


The question is, can one


organisation alone pass those key messages to the public, or do we all have a role to play? Radiographers certainly


have a role in the delivery of health information and promotion. Both diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers should be delivering such information to patients.


Last year, SoR professional officer Christina Freeman wrote an article which asked: ‘Public health: Who cares?’ The response was not overwhelming... As caring healthcare


professionals we are all aware of the importance of the delivery of health improvement information, but are any of us really


confident enough to pass these messages on? You could be wondering


why this issue keeps appearing in Synergy News – what is public health information and why is it relevant to radiography? Public health information


can take many forms, in fact a whole profession is dedicated to this and Public


These messages need to be passed on; the two largest contributors to cause of death in the UK are heart disease and cancer. Looking at aetiology of both diseases, many of these cases could be prevented.


Throughout 2010 a


person was diagnosed with cancer every two minutes in the UK and a death from cancer occurred every four minutes. If we briefly consider two public health


messages; alcohol and smoking account for more than 70,000 cancer related deaths per annum. The role for the diagnostic


radiographer is to use those opportunistic moments to have an informal chat with patients, with the aim of preventing future health problems with a change in lifestyle choices. How does the therapy


radiographer delivery health improvement information? This is a difficult task. We often feel it is too late if a patient already has a cancer diagnosis, but there is still an important role for health improvement information in oncology.


A change in lifestyle choices could help recovery in terms of energy levels, wound healing and reduce incidence of disease recurrence and an improvement to overall health.


There are barriers to the


delivery of public information in healthcare and specifically in radiography and such issues must be addressed. Patients have the right to be appropriately informed about risks related to the lifestyle choices they make. Using the right methods can prevent a patient feeling nagged or ‘told off’. A great example already in place is the 30 second smoking cessation programme. Patients are not told to stop smoking – they are simply asked if they do smoke and pointed in the direction of some support should they want it, remembering that quitting is the single best way someone can improve their health. Having discussions with patients about smoking cessation or alcohol abuse can be difficult, however, if we as health professionals are not prepared to pass the information on, then who is? Laura Pattinson


Radiography enters its 20th year of publication


At the meeting of the Editorial Board in January, members celebrated Radiography entering its 20th year of publication in its present format. Radiography had existed in various formats prior to its launch as an international peer reviewed journal in 1995 under the editorship of H. Brian Bentley. There have been many changes and innovations since the first edition. Most significantly has been the age of electronic publishing which has enabled the journal’s reach to be expanded worldwide. It is amazing that in just over a period


of five years the number of articles downloaded increased from 97,000 to 140,000; evidence that the journal is a key route for dissemination of research outcomes. In contrast to Volume 1 Issue 1 which published two original articles, the current edition has published 12 original articles. It is encouraging that overall, yearly submissions are continuing to increase.


The Board meeting was chaired by outgoing Editor-in-Chief Prof Richard Price for the last time before he hands over to Dr Julie Nightingale in April.


He thanked the Board for their support and work in developing and promoting the journal, acknowledging the particular support given by Prof Peter Hogg, the previous Editor-in-Chief, during the last hand- over period. Prof Price also expressed a sincere thank you to Prof Audrey Paterson and the team at the SoR for their work in supporting the journal and to Cathi O’Hara, executive publisher, and the Elsevier team without whose work it could not exist. Best wishes go to Dr Nightingale as she begins her period of Editor-in- Chief.


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