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The purpose of the Active By Community Design (ABCD) project was to engage residents in the redesign of two public open spaces to increase park visits and park-based physical activity (PBPA). It was anticipated that by adding local preferences to park design considerations along with collected data and available evidence, the study would achieve increased levels of community engagement and subsequent increases in park visits and PBPA. This study summarizes two case studies outlining the community engagement and research translation process. Utilizing a pre–post evaluation design, baseline measures were completed with a series of validated tools for park use and park quality. Baseline data, evidence, community and stakeholder input were synthesized and presented to a "design subcommittee" to translate into "real-world" park redesigns. Park audits, a household survey, and park open days identified the spaces were not designed for the activities residents wanted, while park observations identified usage was low, and those observed were mostly children and adults walking. Park redesigns focused on maximizing access, infrastructure to enable physical activity (PA), PA programs and enhancements to improve aesthetics and safety concerns. The ABCD project successfully demonstrated a process of combining data and community and stakeholder engagement input to translate evidence into the creation of more supportive environments for PA. Stakeholder and resident input to the redesign processes contributed to satisfaction and ownership that residents reported on the redesigned parks, which may increase the likelihood of increased park usage and park-based physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Access to services and workforce shortages are major challenges in rural areas worldwide. In order to improve access to mental health care, it is imperative to understand what services are available, what their capacity is and where existing funds might be spent to increase availability and accessibility. The aim of this study is to investigate mental health service provision in a selection of rural and remote areas across Australia by analysing service availability, placement capacity and diversity. Method: This research studies the health regions of Western New South Wales and Country Western Australia and their nine health areas. Service provision was analysed using the DESDE-LTC system for long-term care service description and classification that allows international comparison. Rates per 100,000 inhabitants were calculated to compare the care availability and placement capacity for children and adolescents, adults and older adults. Results: The lowest diversity was found in northern Western Australia. Overall, Western New South Wales had a higher availability of non-acute outpatient services for adults, but hardly any acute outpatient services. In Country Western Australia, substantially fewer non-acute outpatient services were found, while acute services were much more common. Acute inpatient care services were more common in Western New South Wales, while sub-acute inpatient services and non-acute day care services were only found in Western New South Wales. Conclusion: The number and span of services in the two regions showed discrepancies both within and between regions, raising issues on the equity of access to mental health care in Australia. The standard description of the local pattern of rural mental health care and its comparison across jurisdictions is critical for evidence-informed policy planning and resource allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health promotion core competencies are used for a variety of reasons. Recently there have been moves to gain international consensus regarding core competencies within health promotion. One of the main reasons put forward for having core competencies is to guide curriculum development within higher education institutions. This article outlines the endeavours of one institution to develop undergraduate and postgraduate curricula around the Australian core competencies for health promotion practitioners. It argues that until core competencies have been agreed upon internationally, basing curricula on these carries a risk associated with change. However, delaying curricula until such risks are ameliorated decreases opportunities to deliver dynamic and current health promotion education within higher institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although there has been an increase in the availability of effective, evidence-based physical activity interventions in school settings during the past decade, there is a paucity of published research focusing on the translation of these effective interventions into real-world practice. The purpose of this research was to examine the translatability of an existing school-based physical activity intervention. More specifically, this research sought to identify the barriers and facilitators in adopting, implementing, and maintaining a school-based physical activity intervention using RE-AIM as a theoretical evaluation framework. It was concluded that interventions that consider issues around complexity and compatibility with the school setting are more likely to be adopted, implemented, and maintained. It was recommended that future evaluations of physical activity interventions should not be limited to testing internal validity, but should consider external validity and ecological aspects, relevant to increasing dissemination in real-world settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]