Health Symposium: Do You Understand What I Am Saying?

This Health Symposium is the third that IRCAHC has conducted and the first to be co-hosted by the IRCAHC and The University of Queensland, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences. This Health Symposium will be held on 9 December and is our first Symposium since 2019. It brings together international and local experts in healthcare. All the talks will centre on the critical importance of effective communication across different healthcare settings. Professor Bernadette Watson, the Director of IRCAHC, will introduce and welcome participants to the session.

The first invited speaker, Professor Richard L. Street, Jr., from A & M University, Texas, a leading scholar in practically improving health communication, will discuss how we should rethink measuring effective communication. 

This will be followed by a presentation from Professor Bernadette Watson and Dr Amos Yung. They will discuss research that has been funded by the Faculty and which will shortly commence in Australia. The aims of the research and the global partnerships that have developed from it will be outlined. Dr Yung will discuss his findings from a review of Emergency Department (ED) literature regarding ED handovers.

Our co-host, The University of Queensland, will feature two presentations. Dr Christy Noble will present on video reflexive ethnography (VRE). Ms Kate Delaney will take us through a video game concerning teamwork in the Emergency Department.

Our final invited speaker is Dr Eric So from Queen Elizabeth Hospital, HKSAR, serving as Associate Director of Multi-disciplinary Simulation and Skills Centre (MDSSC) and Consultant in the Department of Anaesthesiology & Operating Theatre Services (Anaes & OTS), Hong Kong. He will discuss how a hospital can respond positively in times of pandemics such as COVID-19.

As of 24 November, we hope the Symposium will be hybrid. But we will keep participants updated.