eHealthspace interview

My interview with eHealthspace newsletter about the television distribution technologies, the digital divide and rural and rural and remote Australia has just been published.

ABC Radio interview on Indigenous TV program

My interview on ABC Radio North Queensland (Cairns) went to air this morning – about the Rural Health Education Foundation’s program “Sharing Solutions”, preventing and treating chronic disease in Indigenous Australians.  The ABC link is http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/07/2865896.htm and the news release is at http://www.rhef.com.au/2010/04/05/all-indigenous-panel-tackles-chronic-disease-in-april-27th-broadcast/.

Diabetes Channel video

A video of me has just (October 23) been released on the Australian Diabetes Channel, which is run by Diabetes Australia – NSW.  In this short segment, I discuss the work of the Rural Health Education Foundation and its four-part educational television series on diabetes type 2.  Go to http://www.diabeteschannel.com.au and click on the News and Research tab to view the video.

Interview on technology in The Australian IT section

I was interviewed by The Australian‘s IT section (journalist Jennifer Foreshew) on Monday 28 September 2009.  The article discussed the Rural Health Education Foundation’s use of technology in delivering its programs.  You can view the full article online through this link http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,26136966-5013040,00.html (but note that The Australian often does not keep its pages accessible that long).  The full article is reproduced below:

Jennifer Foreshew | September 29, 2009

THE Rural Health Education Foundation expects to trial the delivery of its training programs, which reach an audience of 100,000 health professionals, via handheld devices within a year.

The non-profit foundation produces and packages information on a range of health and medical issues and makes it available to rural and remote areas via satellite, webcast and DVD.

It operates a network of more than 660 satellite receiving sites nationally, called the Rural Health Satellite Network. The network is one of the largest dedicated networks of its kind in the world, reaching more than 90 per cent of rural doctors and other health professionals.

Rural Health Education Foundation chief executive Don Perlgut said the organisation was producing most of its live programming via simultaneous satellite television and webcasts.

The foundation, which used the Optus Aurora platform, was focused on accessibility and content delivery to its audience.

“One of the things we are examining is how we make our programs as suitable as possible for delivery to handheld devices, not just the mobile,” he said.

The next stage was to “retro-fit a program for use on a handheld device”.

Another issue was formatting and, Mr Perlgut added: “Do we need to shoot them differently and offer them in six or seven-minute programs rather than 60 minute programs.”