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Nurse home visiting (NHV) offers a potential platform to both address the factors that limit access to services for families experiencing adversity and provide effective interventions. Currently, the ability to examine program implementation is hampered by a lack of detailed description of actual, rather than expected, program development and delivery in published studies. Home visiting implementation remains a black box in relation to quality and sustainability. However, previous literature would suggest that efforts to both report and improve program implementation are vital for NHV to have population impact and policy sustainability. In this paper, we provide a case study of the design, testing, and implementation of the right@home program, an Australian NHV program and randomized controlled trial. We address existing gaps related to implementation of NHV programs by describing the processes used to develop the program to be trialed, summarizing its effectiveness, and detailing the quality processes and implementation evaluation. The weight of our evidence suggests that NHV can be a powerful and sustainable platform for addressing inequitable outcomes, particularly when the program focuses on parent engagement and partnership, delivers evidence‐based strategies shown to improve outcomes, includes fidelity monitoring, and is adapted to and embedded within existing service delivery systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Intergenerational Report (IGR) released by the Department of the Treasury of the Commonwealth of Australia in 2002 highlighted pressures that in the future would threaten the sustainability of the Australian government's budget balance. These pressures result from the growing needs of an aging population and labor shortages that will limit economic growth and taxation revenue. The IGR has become a driving force in planning government policy. The Treasurer has recently said that “the whole economic agenda of the government at the moment is drawn from the IGR.” In response, the Prime Minster and Treasurer have promoted deferred or gradual retirement as part of the solution. However, about 50% of men and 20% of women retire early as a result of ill health, indicating that poor health is potentially a limiter of economic growth. This paper reports lower labor force participation among persons with poorer health and that these persons move out of the labor force at a faster rate as they age. A range of measures suggests some decline in health in the pre-retirement age group (those aged from 40 to 64 years). This indicates that better health may be a facilitator of greater labor force participation in the baby boomer cohort. However, there is evidence that improving economic conditions in Australia leading to low unemployment has created an environment more favorable to the employment of older workers with health problems as there has been a rise in labor force participation in these groups, and measures to prevent chronic disease may further increase the employment prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the management of the aging body within the anti-aging discourse and its implications on notions of “successful” and “healthy” aging policies. By looking at some of the preliminary findings of our current study of ‘anti-aging medicine’ in Australia, including interviews conducted with stakeholders in the anti-aging debate, this study explores some recurrent values and perceptions regarding ‘anti-aging medicine,’ the renegotiation of boundaries between illness and health, and the social, cultural, and economic forces shaping understandings and practices around aging and decisions to use anti-aging technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The “babyboomer” generation, those who were born between 1946 and 1965, account for over 30% of the population in Australia, and it is no surprise that the government is concerned about the financial implications for future healthcare costs. While many babyboomers are more financially secure than previous generations have been on account of compulsory superannuation contributions made over the past 15 years, there are still some who are financially vulnerable and expect to rely on government pensions and welfare assistance. Changes to family structures and job security also mean that those who are less financially secure will need social support. Using an ecological framework model , we explored the retirement expectations and experiences of some Australian babyboomers through focus groups and individual interviews to identify key issues and their plans to address these issues. Four main themes are reported in this paper: retirement attitudes and expectations, finances, health, and food. The results suggested that for many persons retirement equated freedom. Little future planning was undertaken for retirement other than contributing to superannuation schemes, and expectations were reported in general terms, such as wanting to remain independent and healthy and to have time to socialize and travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rickettsial diseases of Australia are described in their chronological order of discovery. The include epidemic typhus ( R. prowazekii); murine typhus ( R. typhi) found Australia-wide; scrub typhus ( O. tsutsugamushi) only in tropical, northen Australia; Q. fever ( C. burnetti) found Australia-wide; Queensland tick typhus ( R. australis) along the east coast of Australia; Flinders Island spotted fever ( R. honei) in southeast Australia; Variant Flinders Island spotted fever ( R. honei, strain “marmionii”) in eastern Australia; Rickettsia felis, Western Australia; eight new RFG rickettsiae from ticks (of unknown pathogenicity); and two nonhuman pathogens in A. platys (dogs) and A. marginale (cattle). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition mechanisms characterizing changes from hurricanes to midlatitude cyclones and vice-versa (extratropical and tropical transition) have become a topic of increasing interest, partially because of their association with recent unusual storms that have developed in different ocean basins of both hemispheres. The aim of this work is to discuss some recent cases of transition and highly unusual hurricane developments and to address some of their wider implications for climate science. Frequently those dramatic cyclones are responsible for severe weather, potentially causing significant damage to property and infrastructure. An additional manifestation discussed here is their association with cold surges, a topic that has been very little explored in the literature. In the Southern Hemisphere, the first South Atlantic hurricane, Catarina, developed in March 2004 under very unusual large-scale conditions. That exceptional cyclone is viewed as a case of tropical transition facilitated by a well-developed blocking structure. A new index for monitoring tropical transition in the subtropical South Atlantic is discussed. This “South Atlantic index” is used to show that the unusual flow during and prior to Catarina's genesis can be attributed to tropical/extratropical interaction mechanisms. The “Donald Duck” case in Australia and Vince in the North Atlantic have also been examined and shown to belong to a category of hybrid-transitioning systems that will achieve at least partial tropical transition. While clearly more research is needed on the topic of transition, as we gain further insight, it is becoming increasingly apparent that features of large-scale circulation do play a fundamental role. A complex interaction between an extratropical transition case and an extreme summer cold surge affecting southeastern Australia is discussed as an example of wider climate implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]