Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Why-The-United-States-Needs-A-National-Birth-Cohort-Study.Pdf, Ezekiel J. Dixon-Román

Ezekiel J Dixon-Román

Identifying And Describing Feelings And Psychological Flexibility Predict Mental Health In Men With Hiv, Jodie Landstra, Joseph Ciarrochi, Frank Deane, R Hillman

joseph Ciarrochi

Early detection screening programmes have been well established for a variety of cancer types. More recently, anal cytological screening for anal cancer has been recommended (New York State Department of Public Health AIDS Institute, 2007). Population rates of anal cancer are 1.6 per 100,000 (Darragh & Winkler, 2011). However, men who have sex with men (MSM) and are HIV infected have considerably higher rates, estimated at between 42 and 137 per 100,000 (Darragh & Winkler, 2011). The psychological impact of cancer screening has been demonstrated in many different programmes and typically includes increased anxiety, reduced quality of life (QOL) and …

Improving Implementation Of Evidence-Based Practice In Mental Health Service Delivery: Protocol For A Cluster Randomised Quasi-Experimental Investigation Of Staff-Focused Values Interventions, Virginia Williams, Lindsay G. Oades, Frank P. Deane, Trevor P. Crowe, Joseph Ciarrochi, Retta Andresen

joseph Ciarrochi

Background There is growing acceptance that optimal service provision for individuals with severe and recurrent mental illness requires a complementary focus on medical recovery (i.e., symptom management and general functioning) and personal recovery (i.e., having a 'life worth living'). Despite significant research attention and policy-level support, the translation of this vision of healthcare into changed workplace practice continues to elude. Over the past decade, evidence-based training interventions that seek to enhance the knowledge, attitudes, and skills of staff working in the mental health field have been implemented as a primary redress strategy. However, a large body of multi-disciplinary research indicates …

A Preliminary Exploration Of The Working Allliance And 'Real Relationship' In Two Coaching Approaches With Mental Health Workers, Belinda J. Sun, Frank Deane, Trevor Crowe, Retta Andresen, Lindsay G. Oades, Joseph Ciarrochi

joseph Ciarrochi

Objectives: The coaching relationship has been described as the catalyst for change. This study explores the coaching relationship by comparing the working alliance and the 'real relationship'- the undistorted and authentic experience of the other- in participants in skills coaching and transformational coaching. Design: A 2 (coaching condition) x 2 (time) factorial design was used. Method: Staff from community psychiatric recovery services were trained in a new service delivery approach (Collaborative Recovery Model), followed by coaching from intemal coaches once per month to enhance implimentation of the training. All trained staff were invited to participate in the research. Forty coachees …

Value Congruence, Importance And Success In The Workplace: Links With Well-Being And Burnout Amongst Mental Health Practiticioners, Stephanie Veage, Joseph Ciarrochi, Frank Deane, Retta Andresen, Lindsay G. Oades, Trevor Crowe

joseph Ciarrochi

Living according to one׳s personal values has implications for wellbeing, and incongruence between personal and workplace values has been associated with burnout. Using the SGP Card Sorting Task (Ciarrochi & Bailey, 2008), this study explored mental health practitioners׳ personal life values and personal work-related values, and their relationships with wellbeing and burnout. Congruence between life and work-related values was related to wellbeing and perceived accomplishment at work. Those whose personal values were consistent with the commonly-shared values of a caring profession experienced lower burnout and higher personal wellbeing. Successfully pursuing one׳s work values predicted lower burnout and greater wellbeing. Honesty, …

Education Resources In Remote Australian Indigenous Community Dog Health Programs: A Comparison Of Community And Extra-Community-Produced Resources, Sophie Constable, Roselyn Dixon, Robert Dixon

Rose Dixon

Commercial dog health programs in Australian Indigenous communities are a relatively recent occurrence. Health promotion for these programs is an even more recent development, and lacks data on effective practices. This paper analyses 38 resources created by veterinary-community partnerships in Indigenous communities, to 71 resources available through local veterinary service providers. On average, community-produced resources used significantly more of the resource area as image, more imagery as communicative rather than decorative images, larger fonts and smaller segments of text and used images of people with a range of skin tones. As well as informal registers of Standard Australian English, community-produced …

Approaches To Dog Health Education Programs In Australian Rural And Remote Indigenous Communities: Four Case Studies, S Constable, R Dixon, R Dixon, J Toribio

Rose Dixon

Dog health in rural and remote Australian Indigenous communities is below urban averages in numerous respects. Many Indigenous communities have called for knowledge sharing in this area. However, dog health education programs are in their infancy, and lack data on effective practices. Without this core knowledge, health promotion efforts cannot progress effectively. This paper discusses a strategy that draws from successful approaches in human health and indigenous education, such as dadirri, and culturally respectful community engagement and development. Negotiating an appropriate education program is explored in its practical application through four case studies. Though each case was unique, the comparison …

Where Do Older Australians Receive Their Health Information? Health Information Sources And Their Perceived Reliability, Pippa Burns, Sandra C. Jones, Donald C. Iverson, Peter Caputi

Sandra Jones

Background: Chronic disease prevalence is increasing, in part due to the ageing population, adding further pressure to Australia's over-stretched primary health care services. While patients are encouraged to self-manage their chronic disease(s) in order to minimise the impact on their day-to-day functioning, little is known about where older adults receive health information and their perceptions of the reliability of these sources. Such knowledge would facilitate the development of self-management support strategies using health information sources that are acceptable to older adults. Methods: A cross-sectional design was utilised to investigate where older adults receive their health information and their perceptions of …

Asthma In Older Adults: The Need For Asthma Health Promotion Interventions, Uwana Evers, Sandra C. Jones, Peter Caputi, Donald C. Iverson

Sandra Jones

Asthma is a serious health issue for older adults. Among Australians aged 55 years and older, asthma prevalence, morbidity, and mortality are relatively high by international comparison and compared to other age groups. As people age, the diagnosis of asthma becomes more complicated, primarily due to comorbid conditions. Treatment and self-management are also more difficult in this age group due to the different medications prescribed for multiple conditions. At the same time, older adults do not perceive that they are susceptible to developing asthma, and they do not consider asthma to be a particularly serious disease, especially compared to other …

The Impact Of A Cancer Diagnosis On The Health Behaviors Of Cancer Survivors And Their Family And Friends, Nancy Humpel, Christopher Magee, Sandra C. Jones

Sandra Jones

Goals The aim of this study was to examine the effect of a cancer diagnosis on the health behaviors of cancer survivors and their family and friends, and to determine whether a cancer diagnosis could be a teachable moment for intervention. Materials and methods This was a cross-sectional study of the health behaviors of individuals taking part in a cancer fundraising event. The questionnaire was completed by 657 participants. Main results Participants were 81.4% women, had a mean age of 46 years, and comprised of 17.2% cancer survivors. For cancer survivors, 31.3% reported an increase in physical activity, 50% of …

Peer Support In A Mental Health Service Context, Lindsay G. Oades, Frank P. Deane, Julie Anderson

Lindsay G Oades

This chapter will first summarise the range of definitions that have been provided for peer support, in a mental health context. Clarifications of the different aims of peer support initiatives aud the potential psychological processes that underpin them are then provided. Three key forms that peer support groups may take are then described and we track Sam as he experiences peer support in the context of job seeking. A summary of existing empirical evidence for peer support groups is provided before examining some of the necessary tensions that may exist between the alternative views of those coming from inside the …

Service Based Internship Training To Prepare Workers To Support The Recovery Of People With Co-Occurring Substance Abuse And Mental Health Disorders, Trevor P. Crowe, Peter Kelly, James Pepper, Ross Mclennan, Frank P. Deane, Mark Buckingham

Peter Kelly

A repeated measures design was used to evaluate a 12 month on-site counsellor internship programme aimed at training staff to support the recovery needs of people with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders. Fifty-four interns completed measures of recovery knowledge, attitudes, confidence/competence, as well as identifying significant learning events. Statistically significant improvements were found in terms of attitudes and confidence/competence, and only one recovery knowledge factor, 'roles of self-definition and peers in recovery'. Recovery knowledge at the end of the internship was positively associated with increases in interns' confidence/competence but was not associated with changes in the interns' attitudes. …

Policy, Schools And The New Health Imperatives, Valerie Harwood, Jan Wright

Valerie Harwood

No abstract provided.

Combining The Health Belief Model And Social Marketing To Develop A Community-Level Campaign About Asthma For Older Adults, Uwana Evers, Sandra C. Jones, Peter Caputi, Donald C. Iverson

Sandra Jones

This conceptual paper provides a rationale for combining health behaviour theory with a social marketing framework in order to develop a community-level asthma campaign for adults aged 55 years and older. The prevalence of asthma in older adults in Australia is approximately 10%, higher than in many other countries, and asthma mortality increases with age. In addition, older adults' perceptions of asthma causes and treatments are often inaccurate. Many older adults believe that asthma is a childhood disease and that the effects of the condition are relatively minor and would not impact on daily life. In order to address these …

Using Health Risk Assessments To Target And Tailor: An Innovative Social Marketing Program In Aged Care Facilities., Sandra C. Jones, Keryn M. Johnson, Lyn Phillipson, Danika Hall, Laura Robinson, Andrew D. Bonney, Joanne Telenta

Sandra Jones

The number of Australians over the age of 65 years is expected to double by 2021. Many older Australians suffer from one or more chronic diseases - including cancer, coronary heart disease, respiratory diseases (AIHW, 2009) resulting in increased morbidity and mortality, lower quality of life and a higher need for health care (Hickey and Stilwell, 1991). There is increasing evidence that the adoption of healthy lifestyles can have significant benefits even into older age (Haveman-Nies et al, 2002). This project utilized a social marketing framework to support aged residents of retirement homes to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviours to improve …

Social Change, Professor Vibhuti Patel

Professor Vibhuti Patel

Rights of Adolescent Girls in India: A critical Look at Laws and Policies by Saumya Uma is timely publication about the most neglected segment of our society namely adolescent girls. Perceived as burden by their parents, neglected by policy makers, subordinated by patriarchal system, crushed before they bloom due to omnipresent misogyny; adolescent girls in India have to tread tight rope walk. The author rightly avers that in India experiences of adolescence for girls are greatly different from that for boys. For boys, adolescence is marked by greater autonomy in decision making about career, financial independence, enhanced status and expanded …

State Of The Urban Youth, India 2012, Professor Vibhuti Patel

Professor Vibhuti Patel

State of the Urban Youth India 2012: Employment, Livelihoods, Skills Executive Summary Every third person in urban India is a youth. In less than a decade from now, India, with a median age of 29 years will be the youngest nation in the world. India’s demographic transformation is creating an opportunity for the demographic burden of the past to be converted to a dividend for the future. For this to happen the country needs to adopt a three-pronged policy that will address the issues of employment, livelihoods and the skill status of youth. The State of the Urban Youth India …

The Foundations Of Student Affairs: A Guide To The Profession, Dallas Long

Dallas Long

Student affairs is a large, complex area of campus operations and is comprised of many departments with professionals from a wide variety of educational backgrounds. Long provides a short history of the student affairs profession, followed by an overview of the departments in a typical student affairs division and the responsibilities and goals of the professionals in those departments. Long also describes the values that guide the work of student affairs professionals and the contemporary challenges they face.

Gender Mainstreaming In Social Protection By Vibhuti Patel, Professor Vibhuti Patel

Professor Vibhuti Patel

Gender mainstreaming has become a buzzword in development discourse in the 21st century. The volume under review is a timely publication in the context of the ever increasing pauperisation and immiserisation of millions of people, especially women and children. Naila Kabeer has performed a daunting task in examining the effect of economic globalisation on gender relations for a large majority of the poor around the world and the affirmative actions taken by the nation states.

Gatekeeper Training For Youth Workers: Impact On Mental Health Help-Seeking And Referral Skill, Coralie J. Wilson

Coralie J Wilson

The Youth Empowerment Series (YES!) Workshops (Wilson et al, 2000) were developed to improve gatekeepers' mental health literacy and skills for promoting effective help-seeking and social problem-solving among adolescents and young people. The curent study the skills of those attending the YES! Workshops 9 months after training.

Economics: Labor And Health In South Asia By Vibhuti Patel, Professor Vibhuti Patel

Professor Vibhuti Patel

In Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, inferior terms of women’s employment perpetuate their subordination in family and society and impact their health adversely. How women are paid and valued in the fields, factories, and offices has direct bearing on women workers’ status within and outside the workplace. The statistical profile of women’s work in South Asia reveals ahigh maternal mortality rate, adverse sex ratios, low levels of literacy, the highest work participation of women in agriculture, and women’s estimated earned income as less than half that of men, signifying the undervaluation and unpaid nature of women’s productive economic …