Sam Harkus

Tammy Shipley drank 67 glasses of water before her death in custody from water intoxication, inquest hears The state coroner will examine why police failed to identify the Aboriginal mother of five’s acute mental health conditions at the time of her arrest, despite having previously detained her under the ...

Just so sorry and aggrieved to read this. In how many ways was Ms Shipley let down by people not following the systems meant to protect her. Another day, another Black death in custody.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

@croakeynews.bsky.social is this of interest to you?

Validating the Parent-evaluated Listening and Understanding Measure (PLUM): caregiver observations reliably reflect long-term otitis media-related hearing status in young Aboriginal and Torres Strait ... We aimed to establish how accurately the Parent-evaluated Listening and Understanding Measure (PLUM) identifies longer-term otitis media (OM)-related hearing status in young Aboriginal and Torres S...

The just-published paper on PLUM accuracy is free & open access: doi.org/10.1080/1499...

The PLUM is free to access 👉🏽 www.plumandhats.nal.gov.au

This also strengthens parents’ & caregivers’ ability to advocate for their child — family-centred practice that recognizes parents often know something is wrong before our tests confirm it.

PLUM makes space for that knowledge to inform decisions.

The exchange works both ways. Parents share observations we can’t access through clinic tests.

Through the conversation, they learn about listening as a developmental skill — what to watch for and nurture at home.

What makes this possible is parents bringing their expert knowledge of their child’s listening behaviors to the conversation. PLUM creates a structured way to capture it.

The PLUM listening skills checklist drastically shortens this timeline.

A child with bilateral OM who is “not yet on track” is 46 times more likely to have persistent infection with hearing loss >30 dB HL.

As per the guidelines, the family is asked to return in 3 mths if they think their child still has OM, then get a hearing test, then back to GP, who will consider whether Ear Specialist referral is needed.

Suddenly 4-5 months has passed — an ETERNITY at this developmental age ⏳

For Australian primary care practitioners seeing young Aboriginal kids, picking concerning ear infections (otitis media/OM) lasting > 3 mths from short-term ones is tricky. Often, there are no symptoms.

Our OM guidelines are an essential tool: otitismediaguidelines.com/resources/Gu...

📣 New accuracy evidence for the PLUM listening skills checklist now avail, free & open access 🎉

Young Aboriginal kids with ear infection (otitis media) found ‘not yet on track’ on PLUM are 46 x more likely to need Ear Specialist referral. V useful tool for primary care 💡

doi.org/10.1080/1499...

Otoacoustic emissions for the preliminary screening of otitis media in children: a systematic review using a diagnostic test accuracy approach To summarise the accuracy of otoacoustic emissions (OAE) testing relative to other methods used to screen for otitis media and related conditions in children.Systematic review and meta-analysisSix ...

JUST PUBLISHED 🧒👂 Our systematic review found otoacoustic emissions (OAE) testing has moderate–high accuracy for screening otitis media in children. TEOAE has a role in primary care screening, but more studies are needed due to heterogeneity. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Those teeny tiny wax filters in the tips of hearing aids - never knew they were mini screens until this week when I used my phone to check whether this one was blocked. Revelation + a learning moment for us both - my client suddenly GOT what it is/what it does/why to check/clean/change 💡

Cheers.

Rolling Penny cafe, Newtown. A great place to think & write on a hot Sydney day. Just starting to form the story for a paper on the relationship between presence & nature of parent/caregiver concern and their child’s ear health & hearing clinical results, to talk about with team members later.