UpToDate is here! UpToDate is now available to all Monash Health employees; it is an evidence-based point of care resource with continuously updated evidence summaries and expert opinion covering many thousands of clinical topics. Visit the Library website for instructions on creating your own UpToDate account, accessing it onsite or remotely and setting up time-based tracking to accrue CME/CPD credits. You may also be interested in signing up for our July webinar demonstrating key features of UpToDate.

Do you know what the phrase ‘grey literature’ refers to? This is one of our most commonly asked questions. Come along to our new webinar on grey medical literature to learn more about what constitutes grey literature, why it is an important part of a thorough literature search and how to locate suitable resources.

BMJ Learning – available online to all Monash Health employees – has 10 new quality improvement modules. Each 30-minute module is designed to equip you with practical tools and techniques that you can apply to your everyday practice. Choose from individual modules such as Clinical Leadership, Human Factors, and Patient Safety, or complete the full set. Login to BMJ Learning with your BMJ Best Practice account, or register for an account within the Monash Health network.

At the close of May, WHO announced a new system for naming and tracking key variants of SARS-CoV-2 that assigns variants of concern and variants of interest labels derived from the Greek alphabet. These labels are intended to be easy to use – and free from stigma – in order to reduce reporting errors and aid public discussions with non-scientific audiences. Established conventions for naming and tracking genetic lineages will still be used by scientists and scientific research. When searching for literature on COVID-19, be aware that subject headings such as SARS-CoV-2 from the MeSH thesaurus are consistently applied to all articles on COVID-19. You can then narrow your search to a specific variant by adding keywords. Get in touch with us for assistance with literature searching.

In June, the National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce published Australian guidelines for SARS-CoV-2 infection prevention and control of COVID-19 in healthcare workers (Version 1.0) which were welcomed by the Australian Medical Association. The Taskforce also endorsed the BESSI Principles in June. The BESSI Collaboration advocates for “effective behavioural, environmental, social and systems interventions (BESSI) to reduce transmission”, rather than overreliance on vaccines and medical treatment.

Keep up-to-date on COVID-19 literature with LitCovid, a curated literature hub from the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Browse articles on specific topics – including transmission or forecasting – or check the front page to see the latest publications at a glance.

Selected COVID-19 articles:

• Delta variant: What is happening with transmission, hospital admissions, and restrictions? from BMJ considers the current situation in the UK, where the delta variant accounts for 90% of cases.
   
• This article in the American Journal of Nursing examines the impact of COVID-19 on nurses and nursing, based on results from recent surveys. Both positive and negative impacts are discussed, including increased collaboration and innovation, the growth of telehealth, and burnout.
   
• Correspondence in The Lancet highlights the importance of ethnic minority representation in study recruitment and participation design, particularly for studies relating to COVID-19. The authors note that “the ethnic groups most affected by COVID-19 are under-represented in the COVID-19 vaccine trial data published so far”. 
   
• In the midst of an ongoing indoor mask mandate in Melbourne, a newly published Canadian study found that mandatory indoor face masks are an effective non-pharmaceutical intervention to help curb transmission.  
   
• The latest issue of The Medical Journal of Australia features a retrospective study of emergency department presentations by residents of Sydney’s quarantine hotels. The study highlights the need for increased psychological support and other services for people in quarantine.

Choosing Wisely Australia has new recommendations from the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nephrology, Australasian College of Dermatologists, Faculty of Pain Management, ANZCA, Australasian College of Dermatologists, Australian and New Zealand Society of Nephrology and Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has introduced new arrangements which allow health professionals, businesses and media outlets to produce materials about TGA-approved COVID-19 vaccines. The arrangements also allow the offer of rewards or incentives to fully vaccinated people.

Over at the Victorian Department of Health, the Medicines and Poisons Regulation has released its newest document in a series assisting health practitioners to understand common legislative requirements. The new document – Dispensing medicines: Requirements for pharmacists – clarifies requirements regarding electronic prescriptions and labelling dispensed medicines, among other issues.

After a successful trial in NSW last year, the Australian Digital Health Agency announced that Provider Connect Australia will now be rolled out nationally. The service is intended to reduce administrative burden on healthcare organisations, support the expansion of secure messaging, and increase interoperability across the health system.  

• "How do users with comorbidity perceive participation in social services?" Article investigates participation in social services for people with comorbidity of mental illness and substance use, important for social process and building mutual trust. 
   
• Preliminary results of this randomised controlled pilot trial found that yoga and pilates may be effective in reducing involuntary urine leakage in older women with stress incontinence. Standard pelvic muscle-floor training also improved urinary incontinence.
   
• Instead of setting time goals for physical activity which may seem unreachable, it's enough to promote any amount of movement – however small – for people at risk of health problems related to a sedentary lifestyle.
   
• In a qualitative study on nurse listening as perceived by patients, participants identified specific verbal and non-verbal behaviours which led them to conclude that their nurse was either listening or not. These perceptions may directly impact patient outcomes.
   
• Obstetrics & Gynecology has published their latest roundup of Cochrane systematic reviews, including a review of interventions to prevent gestational diabetes.
   
• This meta-analysis from General Hospital Psychiatry assessed whether collaborative care is more effective than usual care at reducing suicidal ideation in people with depression.