Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Case Study Of Factors Influencing Remote University Nursing Graduates And Their Decision To Work In A Remote Hospital, Sally Clark

Theses

The health of the rural population in Western Australia (WA) is predicated on equity and access to healthcare facilities with nurses being the main component of front line staff. There continues to be a nurse shortage particularly in remote regions of Australia where the poor health status of Australian Indigenous people, and an increasing ageing population are a perennial problem. The Kimberley, the setting for this study, is a remote region in the north of WA. It has a landmass of 423,517 square kilometres with a significantly low-density population compared to the total WA population. Nearly half of the Kimberley …

The Effects Of Maturational Variation On The Performance Of Young Australian Footballers And Their Selection Into The Australian Football League's Talent Pathway, Ashley Cripps

Theses

Traditional player development pathways share a common goal, to identify and accelerate the development of talented adolescent players for senior competition. Players who gain selection into development programs gain greater access to experienced coaches, training facilities, support staff and competition. However, despite such advantages, research has shown that few players who gain initial selection into development pathways progress into professional senior competition. A major factor which potentially contributes to poor player retention in development pathways is the initial misidentification of talented athletes due to variations in biological maturity.

Earlier maturing individuals have been shown to be at a physical advantage …

Early Life Events And Motor Development: A Longitudinal Study, Tegan Grace

Theses

Longitudinal studies are important to fully understand the processes of neurological development during gestation and how risk factors present during this time impact motor development outcomes, yet few to date have focused on this critical time period.

The purpose of this study was to identify modifiable risk factors influencing motor development during the prenatal period. Of particular interest was finding out whether these risk factors differed between the sexes.

Participants (N=2900) were from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. The Raine Study began in May 1989 and women were recruited between 16-20 weeks gestation (m = 18 weeks) from …

Does Temporarily Altering Visual Perception Of Limb Size Have A Modulatory Effect On Deep-Tissue Pain? A Repeated-Measures Within-Subjects Randomised Study, M Van Selm

Theses

No abstract provided.

Attitudes Of Mental Health Care Professionals Toward The Provision Of Tobacco Dependence Treatment In The Transition To A Smoke-Free Mental Health Unit: An Exploratory Mixed Method Study., Jane Chambers

Theses

Smoking rates among people with a mental illness have not declined and remain a significant and preventable risk factor contributing to increased morbidity and reduced life expectancy. This study aimed to measure commitment, thus underlying attitude of mental health professionals towards provision of tobacco dependence treatment and enablers and barriers to implementing routine tobacco dependence treatment and smoke-free policy in an acute inpatient mental health setting.

A convenience sample of health professionals from an acute inpatient mental health unit were surveyed. This exploratory mixed method study included the Tobacco Treatment Commitment Scale (TTCS), smoking status, the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine …

Evaluating The Impact Of A Falls Prevention Community Of Practice In A Residential Aged Care Organisation, Jacqueline Francis-Coad

Theses

Falls in the residential aged care (RAC) sector are a global concern with humanitarian and economic consequences. Reducing falls using a multifactorial approach involving multidisciplinary staff is recommended, but it is not clear how RAC organisations in Australia can achieve this in a resource constrained environment. One potential solution is to develop a sustainable means of addressing falls prevention from within an organisation, creating a forum for staff to share ideas, expertise and achieve goals in a community of practice (CoP). The purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact of a falls prevention CoP on falls outcomes in …

The Impact Of Peer-Led Falls Prevention Education On Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Mixed Methods Evaluation, Linda Khong

Theses

Older adults are not optimally engaged in falls prevention strategies. Peer education may be an approach to improving engagement and uptake of falls prevention strategies by community-dwelling older adults. However, empirical research regarding this approach has been inconclusive. Accordingly, the primary aim of this research was to design a peer-led falls prevention education program and evaluate its impact on community-dwelling older adults’ beliefs, knowledge, motivation, and intention to engage in falls prevention strategies. This research was a mixed methods study conducted in two phases. Phase 1 comprised three concurrent studies. These aimed to elucidate the issues regarding falls prevention education …

Dna Methylation Biomarkers For Esophageal Adenocarcinoma And Precursor Disease, Melissa L. Thomas

Theses

Esophageal adenocarcinoma has one of the poorest outcomes of all solid tumors, attributable, at least in part, to lack of an early stage diagnostic test. Aberrant methylation is an early and frequent event in carcinogenesis providing an opportunity for early cancer detection. The overall aim of this thesis is to identify and validate regions of aberrant methylation as a biomarker for early detection of esophageal adenocarcinoma and the dysplastic stages of its precursor disease, Barrett’s esophagus. By using well-classified patient data and stringent, quality controlled biospecimen selection for training and validation cohorts, I found regions of diseaseassociated aberrant methylation that …

An Investigation Of Nurse Education Service Models In Acute Care Metropolitan Hospitals Across Australia, Carolyn Keane

Theses

The provision of continuing professional development for nurses is necessary to support the delivery of safe patient care. Nurse education departments need to function as effectively and efficiently as possible, producing measurable outcomes to justify their cost in regard to the organisation’s financial bottom line. In reviewing the literature, three recognised models of nurse education services within hospitals were identified. These are described as centralised, decentralised and combination models. All of these models have advantages and disadvantages that can affect service delivery, quality of service and cost.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the different nurse education service …

The Case For Health Literacy Research In Qatar: Identifying Avenues For Progress, Yasar Alani

Theses

Abstract This thesis studies the attitudes of healthcare provider and consumer groups in Qatar towards health literacy via health promotion. Using Q methodology, data from healthcare providers and consumers was analysed to determine relative attitudes towards previous and future health campaign strategies in Qatar. Consumer data was also collected to determine attitudes towards current health promotion campaigns and the perceived effectiveness of campaigns in encouraging behaviour change. The research also investigates the obstacles that prevent healthcare consumers from adopting the healthier lifestyle choices advocated by some of these campaigns. Participants were residents of Qatar.

The concept of health literacy was …

Risk Assessment And The Utility Of Ct Coronary Angiography For Coronary Artery Disease In Hiv Infection, James Nadel

Theses

Background

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is now considered a chronic, treatable disease, although treatment is associated with increased rates of coronary artery disease (CAD). Screening of this at-risk population for CAD remains contentious. The aim of this thesis is to provide some guidance into the management of cardiovascular disease in HIV and examine the utility of screening CTCA in this population group.

Methods

We set out to disseminate our generated results via publications. The first paper was a literature review that sought to provide insight into the management of this complex population, in particular focusing on the risk assessment …

Towards The Identification Of Metabolite Markers Of Nipple Pain And Inflammation In Human Milk, Erin Fee

Theses

Background: Human milk is considered the best source of nutrition for all newborns as it contains important growth, developmental and immunological factors. The WHO (2003) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of age, with complementary breastfeeding up to two years and beyond. However, some women experience complications of the breast that lead to early cessation of breastfeeding, which can adversely affect the well being of the developing infant and her own health.

Nipple pain is the most commonly cited reason for weaning in the first week postpartum. Nipple pain is also linked to mastitis from milk stasis and …