Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Impact Evaluation Of A Folate Education Campaign With And Without The Use Of A Health Claim, P. G. Williams, J. Mchenery, Anne Mcmahon, H. Anderson

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective To measure the impact of a Kellogg/Northcott Society multimedia folate education campaign, run nationally from July 1998 to June 1999, with and without the use of health claims.

Method Three national telephone surveys of over 500 Australian women aged 18-44 in July and November 1998 and May 1999.

Results Awareness of the role of folate in the prevention of birth defects rose by 8% in the first 6 months of the campaign (without health claims) and by 15% in the second half (when health claims were incorporated). Awareness of the recommendation to take folate before pregnancy rose from 21% …

Sugar: Is There A Need For A Dietary Guideline?, P. G. Williams

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

There have been dietary guidelines in Australia since 1979 and all editions have included recommendations about sugar. This paper reviews changing recommendations in Australia, current levels of conumption, recent studies on the potential effects of nutrient dilution and dental caries, and discusses potential risks associated with a dietary guideline.

Believability Of Anti-Drug Advertising As A Function Of Marijuana Usage Experience, Sandra C. Jones, John R. Rossiter

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Marijuana use is on the increase in Australia, particularly among teenagers. Information dissemination is likely to become the main vehicle for minimizing the harms associated with marijuana use, so there is a clear need to develop informative and convincing communication strategies to target young (potential and incipient) marijuana users. However, the Federal Government’s “zero tolerance” approach to drug use is accompanied by anti-drug messages that may lack credibility with young people who already use, or have used, marijuana. Cognitive dissonance theory, as well as research with warning labels on other products such as cigarettes, suggests that young people who currently …

Regulation Of Alcohol Advertising In Australia: Case Study Of A Failure, Sandra C. Jones, R. J. Donovan

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The aim of this paper is to further the bridging of marketing theory and practice by disseminating to marketing practitioners the results of a recent study conducted for a public health audience. This paper has direct implications for the practice of ethical marketing and advertising of alcohol beverages in Australia. The study was designed to assess young people’s perceived messages in three ads for a vodka-based pre-mixed alcohol beverage, and to assess the extent to which the ads appeared to be consistent with the industry’s voluntary code. Two convenience samples of young people, one aged 15-16 years and another aged …

A Review Of The Consistency Of Pamphlets Promoting Mammographic Screening In Australia, Sandra C. Jones

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in Australia and the most common cause of cancer death in Australian women. Early detection of breast cancers with mammography has the potential to dramatically reduce mortality rates. Thus, there is an obvious need for clear, accurate information about breast cancer screening to be disseminated to Australian women. A 1997 review of breast cancer screening pamphlets in Australia noted some inconsistencies in the nature and content of the information provided, and recommended that these be addressed. The current study, conducted in January 2001, examined whether consistency has improved since the …

Dealing With Diversity: Incorporating Cultural Sensitivity Into Professional Midwifery Practice, Moira Williamson, Lindsey Harrison

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In the Australian College of Midwives, Code of Ethics, Section 11. Practice of Midwifery, the following is stated "A. Midwives provide care for women and childbearing families with respect for cultural diversity while also working to eliminate harmful practices within those same cultures." However, it is difficult to know what is meant by "respect for cultural diversity". This paper presents the results of a critical review of the health literature. There is surprisingly little consensus about the meaning of terms such as cultural sensitivity and cultural appropriate care. Nor are there reflections on incorporating these concepts into practice. It could …

Physician Communication Skills: Results Of A Survey Of General/Family Practitioners In Newfoundland, F D. Ashbury, Donald C. Iverson, Boris Kralj

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Purpose: To describe the attitudes related to communication skills, confidence in using commnication skills, and use of communication skills during the physician-patient encounter among a population-based sample of family physicians. Procedures: A mailed survey, distributed to all family physicians and general practitioners currently practicing in Newfoundland. The questionnaire was designed to collect data in five general areas participant demographics, physician confidence in using specific communication strategies, perceived adequacy of time spent by physicians with their patients, physician use of specific communication strategies with the adult patients they saw in the prior week, and physician use of specific communication strategies during …

Effects Of Horizontal And Vertical Additive Disparity Noise On Stereoscopic Corrugation Detection, Stephen A. Palmisano, Robert S Allison, Ian Howard

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Stereoscopic corrugation detection in the presence of horizontal- and vertical- additive disparity noise was examined using a signal detection paradigm. Random-dot stereograms either represented a 3-D square-wave surface with various amounts of Gaussian-distributed additive disparity noise or had the same disparity values randomly redistributed. Stereoscopic detection of 2 arcmin peak amplitude corrugations was found to tolerate significantly greater amplitudes of vertical-disparity noise than horizontal-disparity noiseirrespective of whether the corrugations were horizontally or vertically oriented. However, this directional difference in tolerance to disparity noise was found to reverse when the corrugation and noise amplitudes were increased (so as to produce equivalent …

Implementation Of Malnutrition Screening And Assessment By Dietitians: Malnutrition Exists In Acute And Rehabilitation Settings, Eleanor Beck, Mandy Carrie, Kelly Lambert, Shellie Mason, Marianna Milosavljevic, Craig Patch

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The prevalence of malnutrition within hospital settings is a major concern to all health care workers. The recent development of a simple screening tool for use in such settings has increased the opportunity to identify at-risk patients in a reasonable time frame during their admission. This paper outlines the implementation of a routine nutrition screening and assessment, performed completely by dietitians, across both acute and rehabilitation settings. Dietitians were able to screen, on average, 72% of eligible patients, which ensured timely dietetic intervention. The routine malnutrition screening and assessment process highlighted differences (P < 0.01) in the rates of malnutrition between the acute wards (range 7 to 14%) and rehabilitation ward (49%). Significant differences between acute and rehabilitation patients were also found within the majority of individual diagnostic groups, including all surgery, fractures, cardiovascular incidents and respiratory illness (P < 0.01). The identification of rates of malnutrition between different wards, diagnoses and institutional settings provides dietetic managers with a sophisticated tool that can assist in the allocation of dietetic resources. This operational framework for routine screening of nutritionally at-risk patients in hospital, enables dietitians to develop patient outcomes and an effective nutrition care model.