Immunisation Guidelines for Ireland

This revised report on immunisation guidelines for Ireland has been prepared with the assistance of an active committee from associated disciplines in Paediatrics, Infectious Diseases, General Practice and Public Health. The report itself is designed to be simple and concise and of course does not claim to contain all information on any pharmacological material. It does, however, give the current information and guidelines concerning immunisation. Vaccines are continually evolving and guidelines will obviously change given the nature of these developments. This is a tribute to the pharmaceutical industry who invest so much money in research and development in this particular field. Download document here

Healthy child, healthy future: speech and language therapy for children

This resource is designed to reinforce a collaborative approach between speech and language therapists, referrers and parents in the identification and management of children with developmental speech and language and communication needs (including children with feeding and/or swallowing difficulties). It includes a comprehensive key skills section, which provides details on the communication-related skills a child should have acquired at each stage in his/her early years development. It also includes specific criteria and guidelines for referral, should there be concern about whether the child has a significant problem. The resource provides additional guidance on: • communication and child play; • speech sound development; • dummies; • stammering; • dysphonia; • bilingualism; • feeding and swallowing difficulties. Lists of supplementary leaflets, handouts and websites, as well as a bibliography, are also included.

Highly educated men and women likely to live longer

Life expectancy by educational attainment is a very important indicator of socio-economic inequalities in health. Based on the available data for a selection of EU Member States and Norway, a systematic relationship between educational attainment and mortality can be observed: at any age, life expectancy is less among persons with the lowest educational attainment and increases with educational level.Large differences in life expectancy by educational attainment can be observed among Member States. Moreover, these differences are more pronounced for men than for women.

Investing Effectively in Information and Communication Technology in Schools, 2008-2013

Learning is changing. A pivotal force in bringing about this change is the use of information and communications technology (ICT) which provides richer, more immediate, world-relevant educational resources and opportunities. When used well, ICT enriches learning and enhances teaching. It invigorates classroom activities and is a powerful motivational tool that encourages learners to progress in more personalised and self-directed ways. Ireland has achieved rapid change and growth in the past decade, but to sustain this we must prepare the next generation for the knowledge society in which they will live. The challenge we face is to ensure that the emphasis on ICT in schools shifts, in the immediate future, from technology provision to a focus on its deliberate use by the learner. Fostering personal creativity has always been a desirable educational value. The pursuit of creativity and inventiveness are now pivotal skills in a knowledge economy and the embedding of ICT in learning can greatly facilitate their development. Web 2.0 will facilitate greater interactivity and enable greater levels of user-generated content. It is crucial that young people acquire the ICT and related skills to support these new opportunities.