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The New Zealand education system is recognised internationally for its overall high quality. At the same time, there is a persistent gap in achievement between students in low socio-economic status (SES) schools in which there is an over-representation of Maori and Pasifika students, and students in more affluent communities. In this paper, we present the findings of a study that explored the participation and achievement rates of secondary school students in selected literacy standards, and used classroom observations to record practices and resources used in literacy teaching. Our findings show the extent to which unequal opportunities to learn (OTLs) for Maori and Pasifika and other students from low SES communities exist at the systems level as well as at the level of classroom instructional offerings. We discuss the factors specific to the New Zealand curriculum and assessment systems that contribute to the current situation and suggest possible ways to achieve a more equitable outcome for all students.

There is currently very little research on how physicians respond to patients with cancer who decide to forgo or stop medically recommended "curative" therapy. The purpose of this article is to report on a qualitative study with 12 oncology specialists in Israel and Australia that addresses this question. The findings indicate that physicians tend to construct patients and their decisions in terms of mutually exclusive categories that focus on curability of the disease, rationality of the patient's decision, and patients' personal attributes. Physicians' constructions of their experience focus on uncertainty and concern. Although contextual factors play a role in how physicians act in this situation, Israeli and Australian oncologists are remarkably similar in how they describe their own and their patients' experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a study that depicted the lived world of caring for a family member with chronic mental illness. Description of the phenomenon of family care-giving in the context of chronic mental illness; Methods and findings of the study; Conclusions.

In this paper we discuss differing discourses of research ethics committees and the clinical research field. Reflections on our experience of conducting research in a nursing home are used to highlight the tensions and inconsistencies that arise from these discourses and the need to behave ethically in the field. While accepting the need for adherence to guiding principles of duty based ethics, we have found that practical moral decisions in the field required that, as individual researchers, we needed to exercise discretionary judgement, informed by the ethic of care and the concern for the well-being of research participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prostate cancer is the most common internal cancer in Australian men; more than 3000 men die annually from it. Public awareness of prostate cancer is an important factor in early detection and treatment. Women are known to act as 'health managers' for their families and may have a role to play in early detection., Objective: To describe community perceptions of prostate cancer and identify information needs within the Australian context., Method: A qualitative study using focus group and individual interviews with 44 community volunteers, 18 men with recent diagnosis of prostate cancer and nine of their wives/partners (n=71)., Discussion: Men in the community are poorly informed about prostate cancer, prefer to ignore (male) health issues, and expect their general practitioners to provide authoritative advice on testing for prostate cancer. While women are also poorly informed, they are keen to change the prevailing situation of silence and lack of information in the community, and need to be included in public education campaigns.

Background: There is limited information about general practice nurses in Australia and the role they play., Methods: A qualitative study, using semistructured interviews conducted with 27 general practitioners and 15 practice nurses (PNs) from 19 general practices in New South Wales., Results: Practice nurses are typically middle aged women, employed part time with extensive professional experience. Their role is influenced mostly by the demographic characteristics of the practice population, their expertise, and GPs' attitudes and past experiences of working with PNs, rather than the size or urban/rural location of the practice., Discussion: Practice nurses are an important, but not always fully used, resource in general practice. They can reduce the workload of GPs, extend the range of services provided and enhance the quality of primary health care. Their current and potential contribution to primary care needs to be documented and evaluated more fully.