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An increasing focus in aged care policy is supporting older people to age at home. However, there is little recognition of the health and independence of older private renters living in a space they do not own or control. This paper draws on in-depth interviews and assessments undertaken in the homes of 27 older tenants in the Brisbane environs aiming to understand how renting privately influenced their ability to meet their basic needs. An analysis of the findings highlights the disadvantage experienced by many older private renters. Most older private renters were unable to meet their basic needs given unaffordable rent whilst reliant on the aged pension. Further, with limited access to community aged care including home modifications, the health and independence of older private renters was found to be at risk. IMPLICATIONS Community aged care is difficult for older private renters to utilise in Australia, with unaffordable services and tenancy law limiting access to community aged care services including home modifications. It is vital social workers advocate for the community aged care needs of older private renters in practice and policy settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of dementia is increasing with more healthcare workers being required to care for people living with this progressive neurological disorder. The knowledge level and attitude of healthcare workers caring for those living with dementia need to be assessed and resources targeted effectively to ensure best quality care is provided. Healthcare workers for the purpose of this paper include anyone employed to care for those living with dementia. Aim: To investigate the attitudes of healthcare workers towards people living with dementia. Methods: A survey of 110 healthcare workers was undertaken between October 2016 and December 2017, using the Dementia Attitude Scale to measure attitudes towards people living with dementia. Demographic data were collected by a survey to explore whether a person's age; cultural background; qualification level; or experience level had an impact on their attitude towards people living with dementia. Results: The full survey was completed by n = 85 healthcare workers with the majority having strongly positive views about people living with dementia, with an average score of 88.31/100. However, a large number reported being afraid of people living with dementia (n = 76, 89.4%) and would avoid people with dementia who were agitated (n = 51, 61.4%). While 100% (n = 85) agreed or strongly agreed that it was possible to enjoy interacting with people living with dementia, they were more ambivalent with n = 26 (31.6%) strongly agreeing with the statement that working with people living with dementia is rewarding. A significant difference in attitude was found using one-way analysis of variance within groups due to age (p <.000) and cultural background (p <.035). Conclusions: Healthcare workers within this study had mainly positive attitudes towards people with dementia as demonstrated by the high attitude scores. However, this paper has shown that healthcare workers may require further education to improve attitude and care towards those living with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Drawing on survey data (N = 7,826) collected in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, this paper examines whether sexual orientation is a differentiating factor in explaining relationship quality and maintenance. Previous research suggests that sexual orientation is not significant in determining relationship satisfaction; however, these analyses have used traditional variable driven approaches, which do not provide an holistic view of the relationship by considering the unique combination of characteristics. Method: In this study, latent profile analyses were used, which is a person-centered approach that allows for identification of different types of long-term relationships. Results: Data suggested that LGB individuals had marginally higher levels of relationship quality compared to their heterosexual counterparts, and sexual orientation was also associated with differing types of long-term relationships. Discussion: These findings are interrogated in more detail, in particular, how sexual orientation is associated with types of long-term relationships and how everyday practices are associated with relationship quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current international targets aim for 90% of people diagnosed with HIV to be on antiretroviral treatment (ART). This paper aims to identify sociodemographic and attitudinal factors associated with ART non-use over time in three samples of Australian people living with HIV (PLHIV). Data for this paper were derived from an Australian cross-sectional survey of PLHIV that was repeated at three different time points: 1997, 2003, and 2012. There were approximately 1000 respondents to each survey (n = 3042 in total). The survey included approximately 250 items related broadly to health and well-being, ART use, and attitudes towards ART use. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used. While the proportion of participants using ART increased between 1997 and 2012 (78.8–87.6%,p < .001), there was a decrease between 1997 and 2003 to 70.6% (p < .001). Factors linked to ART non-use remained steady over those 15 years. In all cohorts, people less likely to be using ART were younger and had a more recent diagnosis of HIV. In 2003 and 2012, people in full-time employment were less likely to be using ART, while those whose main source of income was a pension or social security were more likely to be using ART. Multivariate models showed that, at each time point, a belief in the health benefits of delayed ART uptake was associated with non-use. These findings suggest that there may be barriers to ART uptake that have persisted over time despite changes to clinical guidelines that now encourage early uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aims: Knowledge of public opinion towards drug policy is often limited to analyses of individual survey questions. There has been less thought given to the underlying structure of public opinion, and how attitudes towards different facets of drug policy, for example, law enforcement and harm reduction, might align into ideological positions. This paper aims to assess the extent to which distinct ideologies are present among the general public in Australia in relation to drug policy. Method: The study involved a Latent Class Analysis of data taken from the 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey. The analysis categorized individuals into mutually exclusive groups (classes), according to their responses to 15 attitudinal items. Findings: Six classes of individuals were identified, and were labelled as: uninformed, ambivalent, detached prohibitionists, committed prohibitionists, harm reductionists and legalizers. Conclusions: The unique analysis presented in this paper demonstrates the existence of six distinct classes of opinions towards drug policy in an Australian sample. Whilst there were a large proportion of respondents in support of both drug legalization and harm reduction, there were also many who opposed drug legalization, yet supported harm reduction. Any assumption that supporting harm reduction automatically equates with support for legalization, is erroneous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, people with intersex variations have been mainly studied via small-scale clinical research, with only a small amount of reflective commentary contributed by sociocultural scholars. This paper reports on findings from a 2015 online Australian survey of 272 people with intersex variations, which aimed to redress the gap in research on this groups’ experiences and perspectives concerning education. Participants ranged in age from 16 to 87 years, and represented all Australian states and territories. Most had experienced two medical treatment interventions related to their intersex variation: commonly reported interventions included hormonal treatment and genital surgery delivered to participants when they were aged under 18 years of age. Participants reported various physical and psychological impacts from these treatments. Well-being risks were high; most of the group had engaged in suicidal ideation, particularly when individuals first found out about their variation. This impacted on their schooling – almost one-fifth of survey respondents had received no high school certification due to their early dropout and the overwhelming majority did not attend schools with inclusive puberty/sex education provision or counselling. Most survey participants had not disclosed their intersex variation to staff, although more than half had done so to their classmates. Many had experienced bullying. Only one-quarter of participants rated their overall education experiences positively. Participants suggested improvements to schools’ information provision and support features. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Alcohol disproportionately affects socially disadvantaged groups including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Methods to assess alcohol intake for disadvantaged communities need to be able to capture variable or episodic drinking. The ability of a seven-day diary to capture typical consumption for a predominantly Aboriginal sample has not been assessed. Objective: One aim of this paper was to examine agreement between a seven-day retrospective diary and 'usual' drinking assessed by a modified version of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test question 3 (AUDIT-3m; two questions). Other aims were to describe drinking patterns as reported in the seven-day diary. Method: In 2012, consecutive adults attending an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service completed a cross-sectional health risk survey on a touch screen laptop ( n = 188). Alcohol consumption questions included the retrospective diary and AUDIT-3m. Agreement was assessed using weighted kappa analysis. Results: There was good agreement between the two measures of consumption; however, the AUDIT-3m questions identified more current drinkers. Respondents who were drinkers (54%) tended to consume large amounts per drinking occasion: almost half (46%) of diary completers reported nine or more standard drinks on at least one occasion in the last week. Conclusions: The seven-day diary did not adequately capture variability in alcohol consumption common among this sample. Although the AUDIT-3m appeared acceptable, alternative approaches to assess usual or risky alcohol consumption, such as asking about specific drinking occasions, or allowing participants to respond in non-standard drink sizes, also need to be considered for indigenous and other disadvantaged communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenges associated with facilitating an organizational environment that promotes work engagement and is supportive of employee psychological well-being are well documented. This study focused on the longitudinal relationships between work engagement and three supportive job resources: supervisor support, colleague support and individual perceptions of the wider resource of work culture support. The sample comprised 1196 employees of an Australian state police service, both police officers and civilian staff, who completed self-report surveys across three waves of data collection. Work culture support predicted higher supervisor support, colleague support and work engagement over time lags of 12 and 18 months. Furthermore, work engagement was a significant predictor of work culture support over the two time lags. Significant indirect relationships were also observed. With the large volume of work-related factors potentially influencing work engagement, the results of this research assist in clarifying the specific supportive job resources that impact upon work engagement over time. The paper discusses practical implications for the promotion of support and work engagement within high-stress occupations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) have consistently been shown to report elevated levels of anger and rates of violence perpetration. Given that heightened anger can increase risk for violence and also impede treatment for SUD, it is important to identify correlates of anger and violence among individuals in SUD treatment settings. While previous research has identified factors associated with anger and violence among individuals with SUD, these studies tend not to adequately address the role of comorbidity or trait aggression in their samples. This is particularly important given that comorbid mental health disorders, for example post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), have been shown to be associated with anger and violence perpetration among individuals with SUD. This paper aims to examine demographic and mental health correlates of anger and violence among individuals in treatment for SUD. Structured interviews were carried out with 58 participants recruited from a residential detoxification clinic. Findings indicate that individuals with comorbid mental health symptoms, particularly symptoms of anxiety, are also likely to present with elevated levels of anger. In addition, a history of childhood trauma exposure and high levels of trait aggression were significantly associated with violence perpetration in the sample. This information can assist clinicians in identifying individuals prone to anger and violence and aid in the development of interventions designed to reduce anger and the likelihood of violence among individuals entering substance use treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents an evaluation of an instrument to measure teachers' attitudes toward reporting child sexual abuse and discusses the instrument's merit for research into reporting practice. Based on responses from 444 Australian teachers, the Teachers' Reporting Attitude Scale for Child Sexual Abuse was evaluated using exploratory factor analysis. The scale isolated three dimensions: commitment to the reporting role, confidence in the system's response to reports, and concerns about reporting. These three factors accounted for 37.5% of the variance in the 14-item measure. Alpha coefficients for the subscales were 0.769 (commitment), 0.617 (confidence), and 0.661 (concerns). The findings provide insights into the complexity of studying teachers' attitudes toward reporting of child sexual abuse and have implications for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores which measures of health accurately reflect the functional capabilities of individuals -- that is, in what measures of health do those classified as having poorer health actually have poorer functional outcomes. Using the 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, cross-tabulations, chi-squared analysis, and logistic regression models were used to identify the relationship between functional outcomes (core activity limitations and employment and education participation) and various measures of health and disability (composite disability measure, health utility scores and general health assessment). Both the composite disability measure and the health utility score accurately capture individual functional capacity -- with both measures being related to employment participation, employment and education restrictions, and core activity imitations. The health utility scores can also be divided into a categorical measure and still reflect this functional capacity. The general health assessment measure is also related to functional capacity and can potentially be used in the place of both the composite disability measure and the health utility score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]