Monday, 5 December 2011
That's Travel: Bupa International releases health guides to Hong ...
That's Travel: Bupa International releases health guides to Hong ...: Bupa International has published two new health guides for expatriates in Hong Kong and Singapore. The guides include information on vacci...
That's Technology: Advanced Health & Care is first to launch Electron...
That's Technology: Advanced Health & Care is first to launch Electron...: Advanced Health & Care (Advanced), a leading UK supplier of IT management systems f...
Sunday, 4 December 2011
Fall For The Comforting Flavours Of Dr Stuart's Beneficial Blends This Winter
If you're thinking of stocking up ready to fight off those winter ailments and ensure your immune system is firing on all cylinders during the coming cold months, you can rest assured that Dr Stuart's remarkable range of warming herbal teas has a beneficial blend to help you every step of the way.
It's a known fact that vitamin C is the most important nutrient in helping to bolster the immune system to help it fight off those unwanted winter coughs, colds and infections; but did you know in order to ensure that vitamin C is working to the max, bioflavanoids (found in a many plants) play a vital role in enhancing its absorption? Trace elements of these powerful vitamins and minerals can be found in many plant sources.
As Dr Stuart's herbal teas are made with 'Active Botanicals, the highest quality herbs from the most prized parts of the plant with the greatest essential oil content possible, why not stock up this winter on Dr Stuart's warming beneficial blends that can help boost your defences, while giving you that feel good factor?
Keep a pack of Dr Stuart's Echinacea Plus handy to help boost your body's natural defences and keep you fighting-fit. This refreshing herbal infusion is packed with hibiscus, peppermint, rosehip and blackberry leaves and enriched with echinacea to boost your immune system and help keep colds at bay.
When it's chilly outside, why not sit back and sip one of the newest blends, Dr Stuart's Elderflower and Lemon to keep you toasty on the inside? For hundreds of years people have looked to the elderflower for its healing properties, as it's thought that the plant can help lower a fever, reduce inflammation and soothe irritation. This fragrant combination will satisfy your palate as well as your body.
If you do succumb to a sore throat, Dr Stuart's offers a simple and altogether more enjoyable way to ease your discomfort. Make yourself a soothing cup of Dr Stuart's Throat Relief and let its blend of comforting herbs including liquorice root, marshmallow root, cinnamon, myrtle leaves and cloves coat your throat and help melt away your symptoms.
For those miserable wintry mornings when it's hard to climb out of bed, Dr Stuart's Detox, packed with the pure natural flavours of dandelion and burdock, sage, ginger, peppermint and spearmint, will help to cleanse and refresh your system from the inside out, giving you just the kick-start you need.
Finally, if you feel like a reviving pick-me-up, make yourself a delectable cup of Dr Stuart's Apple and Ginger tea. Its wonderfully spicy blend of fruity apple and invigorating ginger laced with cinnamon will warm you through and through!
And remember that it's only Dr Stuart's that are made with are made with 'Active Botanicals,' meaning you get the maximum taste and health benefit from each and every cup.
Dr Stuart's herbal teas are available to buy in all major supermarkets, leading health food shops and online from www.baldwins.co.uk and from www.goodnessdirect.co.uk. For more information please visit www.drstuarts.com.
It's a known fact that vitamin C is the most important nutrient in helping to bolster the immune system to help it fight off those unwanted winter coughs, colds and infections; but did you know in order to ensure that vitamin C is working to the max, bioflavanoids (found in a many plants) play a vital role in enhancing its absorption? Trace elements of these powerful vitamins and minerals can be found in many plant sources.
As Dr Stuart's herbal teas are made with 'Active Botanicals, the highest quality herbs from the most prized parts of the plant with the greatest essential oil content possible, why not stock up this winter on Dr Stuart's warming beneficial blends that can help boost your defences, while giving you that feel good factor?
Keep a pack of Dr Stuart's Echinacea Plus handy to help boost your body's natural defences and keep you fighting-fit. This refreshing herbal infusion is packed with hibiscus, peppermint, rosehip and blackberry leaves and enriched with echinacea to boost your immune system and help keep colds at bay.
When it's chilly outside, why not sit back and sip one of the newest blends, Dr Stuart's Elderflower and Lemon to keep you toasty on the inside? For hundreds of years people have looked to the elderflower for its healing properties, as it's thought that the plant can help lower a fever, reduce inflammation and soothe irritation. This fragrant combination will satisfy your palate as well as your body.
If you do succumb to a sore throat, Dr Stuart's offers a simple and altogether more enjoyable way to ease your discomfort. Make yourself a soothing cup of Dr Stuart's Throat Relief and let its blend of comforting herbs including liquorice root, marshmallow root, cinnamon, myrtle leaves and cloves coat your throat and help melt away your symptoms.
For those miserable wintry mornings when it's hard to climb out of bed, Dr Stuart's Detox, packed with the pure natural flavours of dandelion and burdock, sage, ginger, peppermint and spearmint, will help to cleanse and refresh your system from the inside out, giving you just the kick-start you need.
Finally, if you feel like a reviving pick-me-up, make yourself a delectable cup of Dr Stuart's Apple and Ginger tea. Its wonderfully spicy blend of fruity apple and invigorating ginger laced with cinnamon will warm you through and through!
And remember that it's only Dr Stuart's that are made with are made with 'Active Botanicals,' meaning you get the maximum taste and health benefit from each and every cup.
Dr Stuart's herbal teas are available to buy in all major supermarkets, leading health food shops and online from www.baldwins.co.uk and from www.goodnessdirect.co.uk. For more information please visit www.drstuarts.com.
That's Books: Britain's 110 Year Old Teenager Launches Her Autob...
That's Books: Britain's 110 Year Old Teenager Launches Her Autob...: On December 3 2011 teenager Hayley Okines was 14. Nothing unusual about that, you might say? But Hayley is unlike no other teenager. She...
35 million people cannot hear what's being said on TV
Can't clearly hear what's said on TV? Join the club. Because you and 35 million people are in the same boat, and cannot hear what's being said on TV.
The first study into speech intelligibility on TV has revealed that 71% of UK adults cannot always hear clearly what is being said. The research comprised two studies jointly planned and run in tandem. The first was co-funded by Danish hearing aid manufacturer Widex and Channel 4, and the second was undertaken by the BBC.
8,000 members of the BBC Pulse adult online panel, and 508 non-internet users aged over 65s took part in the study.
The Widex/C4 Study was the brainchild of a trio of retired BBC executives and research specialists. It was conducted to test the hypothesis – based on anecdotal evidence and complaints to the pressure group Voice of the Listener & Viewer - that intrusive background music was obscuring the speech of actors and presenters to the extent that it was impairing intelligibility and understanding.
In the study, 70% of the online adults surveyed recorded problems (59% occasionally, 11% always or often) hearing what was being said. For the over 65s age group this percentage rose to 76% (occasionally 59%, always/often 17%). “This is a worryingly large number of people whose enjoyment of TV programmes is being diminished by not being able to properly hear what is being said,” commented Widex hearing health expert Gary Holland.
However, the biggest surprise revealed by the Widex/C4 Study was that the issue of poor speech intelligibility had much more to do with technical issues during a programmes recording than with the subsequent overlaying of a soundtrack. Detailed analysis of 22 programmes identified as causing difficulties revealed that the majority of audibility problems resulted from the method by which speech is recorded. Adding background music made the audibility worse.
The BBC is so concerned at the findings that it has launched an industry-wide training initiative through the BBC Academy. A series of training modules based on the findings are being made available to the whole broadcasting industry. They will also be used in college courses including the National Film and TV School.
The Widex hearing health expert Gary Holland added: “Being able to hear clearly what people say is a pre-requisite of enjoying and sustaining social interaction. This includes being able to hear the spoken word on TV. Broadcasters and programme makers have got to get their act together to resolve a significant problem. The BBC should be congratulated for the speed with which it has taken on board the findings and the initiative it has launched.”
The full report is available from WidexUK
FACTFILE:
62% of over 65s from the Widex/Channel 4 survey describe the use of background music as reducing their enjoyment of a programme.
Of those over 65s with poor or very poor hearing 99% have difficulties hearing speech clearly on TV even though 61% use hearing aids.
Widex hearing health expert Gary Holland: “Speech intelligibility is one of the Widex keystones. The company strives to improve speech understanding for hearing aid wearers – investing heavily in technology that delivers just that through its hearing aids. But the effectiveness of that technology is seriously compromised if broadcasters are not transmitting speech at the appropriate sound levels. That’s why this project was so important.”
As many as 1 programme in 5 watched by those with poor/very poor hearing presented them with spoken word problems.
Acknowledgements:
The research was supported by Voice of the Listener & Viewer and undertaken with the support and assistance of the BBC and RNID (now called Action on Hearing Loss).
The project was initiated and directed by former BBC executives Dick Bates, Peter Menneer and David Walker.
The research company was GfK NOP.
Louise Willcox MIBS (Partner DWR Associates) also volunteered her services for the audio analysis of the programmes.
The over 65s diary-based study was funded by Danish hearing aid manufacturer Widex, Channel 4 and a private donor.
The first study into speech intelligibility on TV has revealed that 71% of UK adults cannot always hear clearly what is being said. The research comprised two studies jointly planned and run in tandem. The first was co-funded by Danish hearing aid manufacturer Widex and Channel 4, and the second was undertaken by the BBC.
8,000 members of the BBC Pulse adult online panel, and 508 non-internet users aged over 65s took part in the study.
The Widex/C4 Study was the brainchild of a trio of retired BBC executives and research specialists. It was conducted to test the hypothesis – based on anecdotal evidence and complaints to the pressure group Voice of the Listener & Viewer - that intrusive background music was obscuring the speech of actors and presenters to the extent that it was impairing intelligibility and understanding.
In the study, 70% of the online adults surveyed recorded problems (59% occasionally, 11% always or often) hearing what was being said. For the over 65s age group this percentage rose to 76% (occasionally 59%, always/often 17%). “This is a worryingly large number of people whose enjoyment of TV programmes is being diminished by not being able to properly hear what is being said,” commented Widex hearing health expert Gary Holland.
However, the biggest surprise revealed by the Widex/C4 Study was that the issue of poor speech intelligibility had much more to do with technical issues during a programmes recording than with the subsequent overlaying of a soundtrack. Detailed analysis of 22 programmes identified as causing difficulties revealed that the majority of audibility problems resulted from the method by which speech is recorded. Adding background music made the audibility worse.
The BBC is so concerned at the findings that it has launched an industry-wide training initiative through the BBC Academy. A series of training modules based on the findings are being made available to the whole broadcasting industry. They will also be used in college courses including the National Film and TV School.
The Widex hearing health expert Gary Holland added: “Being able to hear clearly what people say is a pre-requisite of enjoying and sustaining social interaction. This includes being able to hear the spoken word on TV. Broadcasters and programme makers have got to get their act together to resolve a significant problem. The BBC should be congratulated for the speed with which it has taken on board the findings and the initiative it has launched.”
The full report is available from WidexUK
FACTFILE:
62% of over 65s from the Widex/Channel 4 survey describe the use of background music as reducing their enjoyment of a programme.
Of those over 65s with poor or very poor hearing 99% have difficulties hearing speech clearly on TV even though 61% use hearing aids.
Widex hearing health expert Gary Holland: “Speech intelligibility is one of the Widex keystones. The company strives to improve speech understanding for hearing aid wearers – investing heavily in technology that delivers just that through its hearing aids. But the effectiveness of that technology is seriously compromised if broadcasters are not transmitting speech at the appropriate sound levels. That’s why this project was so important.”
As many as 1 programme in 5 watched by those with poor/very poor hearing presented them with spoken word problems.
Acknowledgements:
The research was supported by Voice of the Listener & Viewer and undertaken with the support and assistance of the BBC and RNID (now called Action on Hearing Loss).
The project was initiated and directed by former BBC executives Dick Bates, Peter Menneer and David Walker.
The research company was GfK NOP.
Louise Willcox MIBS (Partner DWR Associates) also volunteered her services for the audio analysis of the programmes.
The over 65s diary-based study was funded by Danish hearing aid manufacturer Widex, Channel 4 and a private donor.
Friday, 2 December 2011
Scrap All Drink Driving Laws, argues Libertarian body
The Libertarian Alliance, the radical free market and civil liberties think tank and pressure group, today calls on the British Government to repeal all laws against drinking and driving. Drivers should be free to drink as much alcohol as they like before and while driving. The Police should be allowed to intervene only if a driver appears from his actions to be a danger to other road users, or if he causes an accident.
Dr Sean Gabb, Director of the Libertarian Alliance, said: "The current law on drinking and driving is a prior restraint law. It can only be enforced by indiscriminate stops and searches. Most of the drivers stopped are not driving erratically and do not test positive. This is a breach of the Common Law prohibition of searches and seizures, except by judicial warrant and on evidence of some specific criminal behaviour.
"Moreover, every officer assigned to looking for drivers over the limit is one officer fewer to catch real criminals. This is specially the case at Christmas, which has lately become carnival a time for burglars and muggers. There are fewer officers around to deter them, and fewer to go looking for them after the event.
"Much of the propaganda against drinking and driving has nothing to do with reducing injuries to life and property, and everything to do with making it harder to enjoy a drink in good company.
"If we want to reduce the number of deaths on the roads, drinking and driving should not in itself be a crime. It should be possible for a person to drink a bottle of whisky, get into a car and drive away - and the authorities should have no power to stop this.
"Punishment should only come if a driver is so erratic that he is plainly dangerous - or if an accident is caused. But it should then in this latter case be very severe punishment.
"In general, we believe in real punishments for real crimes. Unless a real crime can be shown, we believe in telling the police to mind their own business."
(EDITOR: That's Health carries this story as a matter of public interest. Please do leave comments to this story.)
Dr Sean Gabb, Director of the Libertarian Alliance, said: "The current law on drinking and driving is a prior restraint law. It can only be enforced by indiscriminate stops and searches. Most of the drivers stopped are not driving erratically and do not test positive. This is a breach of the Common Law prohibition of searches and seizures, except by judicial warrant and on evidence of some specific criminal behaviour.
"Moreover, every officer assigned to looking for drivers over the limit is one officer fewer to catch real criminals. This is specially the case at Christmas, which has lately become carnival a time for burglars and muggers. There are fewer officers around to deter them, and fewer to go looking for them after the event.
"Much of the propaganda against drinking and driving has nothing to do with reducing injuries to life and property, and everything to do with making it harder to enjoy a drink in good company.
"If we want to reduce the number of deaths on the roads, drinking and driving should not in itself be a crime. It should be possible for a person to drink a bottle of whisky, get into a car and drive away - and the authorities should have no power to stop this.
"Punishment should only come if a driver is so erratic that he is plainly dangerous - or if an accident is caused. But it should then in this latter case be very severe punishment.
"In general, we believe in real punishments for real crimes. Unless a real crime can be shown, we believe in telling the police to mind their own business."
(EDITOR: That's Health carries this story as a matter of public interest. Please do leave comments to this story.)
Synuron announces Central Surrey Health as first Non-NHS Member
Central Surrey Health, a co-owned social enterprise based in Ewell that provides therapy and community nursing on behalf of the NHS to residents of central Surrey, has signed up for Synuron membership, making them its 1st non-NHS organisation and 9th member in total.
Synuron, also a social enterprise, offers membership to organisations working in the health, social care and charity sectors and gives them access to membership benefits including innovative technology, knowledge and a support network to help them save money by streamlining and improving their HR and recruitment processes.
Mary O’Shea, Executive Lead for HR at Central Surrey Health, said, "We're very positive about joining Synuron and have great expectations of the system. We are looking forward to taking advantage of some of the membership benefits available such e-Recruitment and e-Disclosure systems. We also hope to use the benchmarking and knowledge sharing available from other members. This membership is part of our aim to revolutionise healthcare in our community by applying new ideas to old problems and working smarter as a result."
She added, “Since 2006, we’ve had the freedom to use public funding in a more innovative way and have subsequently improved the services we offer. Joining Synuron is another step in this direction and fits with our approach of continuously improving the way we do things. .”
Marilyn Gardner at Synuron commented, “Central Surrey Health is our 1st non-NHS member, which is a significant landmark for us. We’ll be looking at how we can apply our methods, technologies and best practise approaches to streamline their HR and recruitment process to save money and make them more efficient in patient care.”
She added, “This is an example of how Synuron, as a social enterprise, is addressing some of the most complex challenges facing organisations and using innovative solutions that give a return to the wider community. For anyone hiring more than 50 people a year that is still using a ‘paper-based’ recruitment process or outdated online solution, find out how you could benefit from a Synuron membership by visiting www.synuron.org”.
Synuron, also a social enterprise, offers membership to organisations working in the health, social care and charity sectors and gives them access to membership benefits including innovative technology, knowledge and a support network to help them save money by streamlining and improving their HR and recruitment processes.
Mary O’Shea, Executive Lead for HR at Central Surrey Health, said, "We're very positive about joining Synuron and have great expectations of the system. We are looking forward to taking advantage of some of the membership benefits available such e-Recruitment and e-Disclosure systems. We also hope to use the benchmarking and knowledge sharing available from other members. This membership is part of our aim to revolutionise healthcare in our community by applying new ideas to old problems and working smarter as a result."
She added, “Since 2006, we’ve had the freedom to use public funding in a more innovative way and have subsequently improved the services we offer. Joining Synuron is another step in this direction and fits with our approach of continuously improving the way we do things. .”
Marilyn Gardner at Synuron commented, “Central Surrey Health is our 1st non-NHS member, which is a significant landmark for us. We’ll be looking at how we can apply our methods, technologies and best practise approaches to streamline their HR and recruitment process to save money and make them more efficient in patient care.”
She added, “This is an example of how Synuron, as a social enterprise, is addressing some of the most complex challenges facing organisations and using innovative solutions that give a return to the wider community. For anyone hiring more than 50 people a year that is still using a ‘paper-based’ recruitment process or outdated online solution, find out how you could benefit from a Synuron membership by visiting www.synuron.org”.
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