Vhi HealthClub

VHI Health Club September 18th

Welcome to Vhi Health Club - Ireland's health podcast show. In this edition I talk to dietician Nuala Collins, who gives us advice on making healthy school lunches which will set children up for healthy eating for the year. RTE TV weatherwoman, Nuala Carey, shares her personal tragedy and loss with us which sparked her to sing for charity and raise awareness of Alzheimer's disease. I also visited Dublin's St John of Gods hospital to hear about a new quick response mental health service led by consultant Dr Eadbhard O'Callaghan which can save lives and help prompt a full recovery. That's Vhi Health Club available free on podcastingireland.ie and vhi.ie. Let us know your health views and news on healthclub@vhi.ie

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(11 mins 32 sec)

Alzheimers Personal Story

RTE weather presenter, Nuala Carey, shares her personal tragedy with us of her Aunt's death as a result of Alzheimer's disease and why this sparked her to participate in 'Your A Star' and sing for charity to raise awareness of this disease. Nuala tells us of the great services The Alzheimer's Society of Ireland offer which can be extremely beneficial and her shock at the number of cases of Alzheimer's disease in this country every year.

Listen to the episode by clicking here

(3 mins 41 sec)

Mental Health Early Detection

I visit Dublin's St John of Gods hospital to hear about a new quick response mental health service called the 'Detect Project' led by consultant Dr Eadbhard O'Callaghan which can save lives and help prompt a full recovery. Mr O'Callaghan talks to us about the importance of early detection and also that the average time it takes for detection of mental illness in the Republic is 2 years.

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(3 mins 30 sec)

Nutritious School Lunches

We are joined by dietician, Nuala Collins, who gives practical advice to parents and guardians on how to make children's lunches that they will eat, but that are nutritious and filling at the same time. She explains to us why the beginning of the year is always easier as there is an excitement about going back, and how to prevent the boredom of sandwiches setting in.

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(3 mins 25 sec)

Vhi Health Club September 4th

Welcome to a new season of Vhi Health Club, Ireland's online health radio show. In this edition with thousands of school children returning to school we tackle a routine health hazard during termtime - head lice! It can be the bane of parents lives and in primary school many young girls can suffer repeated infestations of the irritating little parasites. We hear from a pharmacist about the standard treatments out there and RTE's woman in the North West, Eileen Magnier shares her own pet tips for treating lice. A busy working mum with three school going children Eileen says she's found natural remedies work and that the old idea of plaiting and tying up your daughter's hair is one of the best way of avoiding catching the pesky little creatures. Eileen also shares tips on keeping your children healthy during terms and says her three walk to and from school and she loves the healthy eating policy at their school.

We also hear a moving story on one woman's campaign to make hospitals face up to death. Writer Anne Dempsey tells presenter Aileen O Meara about the dehumanising death she feels her husband Dave experienced in hospital and why she thinks things could be betters.

From the Rotunda Hospital we hear from advanced midwife Christine McDermott on how babies are surviving at just 23 weeks as medical science advances the care for extremely premature babies. Christine explains why Ireland is experiencing a baby boom and how late motherhood, increasing immigration and infertility treatment is behind Ireland's rising rate of premature births.

Vhi Health Club is a fortnightly health podcast. You can email us at healthclub@vhi.ie and access the programme through podcastingireland.ie and vhi.ie.

Listen to the complete show here

(15 mins 47 secs)

or choose from the stories below

Dealing with death in hospital

The death of a loved one is never easy to cope with but the experience that faced writer Ann Dempsey while her husband passed away in hospital was more difficult than most. Ann tells her moving story of her husband Dave’s final hours and questions the manner in which he was treated. Ann has since lead a campaign to improve hospital practices when it comes to dealing with death as she says thousands of people die each year in hospital and they should have the right to die with dignity.

The Irish Hospice foundation programme to change hospital practices around death and dying – www.hospice-foundation.ie

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(4 minutes 56 secs)

Head lice – Advice for parents

Its that time of year again – back to school – and parents all around the country are gearing up to deal with a common problem – headlice. While Pharmacist Lisa Flune talks about the treatments available, RTE correspondent and mother Eileen Magnier talks about her preference for aromatheraphy treatments and combing to get rid of the pests and also suggests the simple tack of tying long hair back in a pony-tail!

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(5 minutes 18 secs)

Premature Babies

The Rotunda Maternity Hospital is celebrating it’s 250^th year and it’s highest birth rate with an expected 8000 births this year. With this comes an increase in premature births with about 100 babies passing through the neo natal unit in the last year. Advanced Care Practitioner Christine McDermott joins Aileen O meara to talk about the chances of survival for premature babies, the advances in premature care and some reasons for the rising number of premature births in Ireland.

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(4 minutes 31 secs)