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With growing concerns about the efficacy and costs of intrusive child protection interventions and increasing recognition of citizen rights to participation in governance, jurisdictions are looking to collaborative alternatives that divert families from the courts and out‐of‐home care. In Queensland (Australia), "intervention with parental agreement" (IPA) is one such response. Under IPA, the statutory child protection authority can work collaboratively with families, without a court order, to respond to children assessed as "in need of protection." In this paper, we use procedural justice theory as a lens to explore how IPA policy is enacted in practice. Procedural justice relates to the quality of treatment a person receives and the fairness of the process than an authority uses during decision‐making (Tyler,). It is associated with voluntary cooperation and compliance; key practice concerns when working to address child maltreatment via parental agreement rather than court ordered intervention. We report on a qualitative study that utilized semistructured, in‐depth interviews to capture the perceptions of 30 practitioners regarding the factors that shape the extent to which they enact IPA policy in a procedurally fair manner. Strategies for enhancing procedurally just enactment of IPA policy in practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the importance of involving families in care provision in residential care facilities is recognised, how to achieve an inclusive care space that balances the needs of families, residents, staff and the sector's regulatory requirements remains problematic for social work and the aged care sector. In this paper, a spatial perspective is used to examine the role of family carers in residential care facilities. Information obtained from focus groups with families, naturalistic interviews with staff and families, and observations of mealtimes in one case study site is analysed thematically to demonstrate how the physical, social and symbolic meanings of space interact to produce or impede family care-giving. The findings provide important guidelines for social work in this setting suggesting practice at micro, mezzo and macro levels. These include the acknowledgement of families in care-giving, genuine partnerships between staff and families, and family-inclusive policies within facilities. In addition, this paper highlights how the social work profession and the residential care sector more generally can strengthen their person-centred focus, engage with families and lessen the marginalisation of families in care-giving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous women are disproportionately affected by the prevalence and severity of domestic and family violence (DFV) perpetrated by men against women in Australia. The impact of their experiences is further exacerbated by the level of social and cultural marginalisation affecting Indigenous communities, families and individuals along with regional, rural or remote living. The pervasive, ongoing impact of colonisation, dispossession and transgenerational trauma continues to shape the experiences of Indigenous women and their communities, including their help‐seeking decisions and opportunities, and their level of trust in and access to adequate and culturally sensitive support services. In this paper, we explore the experiences of Indigenous women affected by DFV in two regional Australian settings through face‐to‐face interviews with women (n = 13) and community stakeholders (n = 18). The findings of this study highlight the complex role of social and cultural marginalisation, spiritual (dis)connectedness and role of family as both a stressor and a protective factor. Implications for policy and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While many remote places in Queensland, Australia have access to schools, very few have provision for preschool education. Recent efforts to change this have included the development of a kindergarten program delivered through the local school. An impact assessment undertaken in 2017 involved visiting 30 remote sites offering the program. Analysis of interview data indicated the importance of sense of place in the delivery of this program. Educators and family members were overwhelmingly supportive of the option of a kindergarten program in their sites, regarding it as an equity and social justice imperative to provide access to programs that seem to be taken-for-granted for children and families in urban and regional locations. The potential for the program to enhance social interactions and educational outcomes was highlighted, even when educators noted a range of challenges in the implementation of the program. Sense of place and the positioning of educators and families are explored in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this paper is to report on registered nurses' adherence to current Australian health behaviour recommendations. Barriers and facilitators to healthy lifestyles, and their attitudes towards being role models and promoting healthy lifestyles to their patients. Background: It is widely accepted that a healthy diet, limiting alcohol consumption, abstinence from smoking and regular physical exercise are important components of healthy lifestyles and play a significant role in preventing chronic diseases. Nurses are well situated to contribute to providing health and patient education regarding modifiable health risk factors, however their own adherence to health behaviours may impact this. Study design and methods: The research is a mixed methods study of 123 registered nurses from both public and private organisations in regional Queensland. Data for this paper were generated from an online survey which is the first of two phases in the broader study. Results: Four health risk factors were examined; diet, smoking, physical exercise and alcohol consumption. BMI was also calculated and considered as a fifth risk factor. Of this sample, 13% of participants met the guidelines for fruit and vegetable intake, 5.2% smoked, and only 24.2% exercised enough to be classed sufficiently active for their health. Of the 93.62% of participants whom consumed alcohol, 69.3% consumed more than two standard drinks/day. The most common barriers to adhering to healthy lifestyles were shift work, long working hours and family commitments. Conclusion: Many nurses are not adhering to healthy lifestyle recommendations. It is recommended that the health and wellbeing of our health professionals, especially nurses be considered. Providing support and resources to enable them to care for themselves, may in turn allow them to better care for patients. Implications for research, policy, and practice: Research is needed into strategies to enable registered nurses' better work/life balance. To make a real difference to health outcomes, nurses own health and health education needs to be made a priority that is supported and implemented at multiple points: by policymakers, within nursing practice, nursing curriculum, and in healthcare institutions. Nurses need to be supported to provide health education to their patients with better resources, education, and time allocation. Future research should include studies conducted in different regions or ideally a large nationally representative sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family‐focussed practice is an important component of mental health care. In Australia, service users' views about their experience of service are collected using instruments such as the Your Experience of Service (YES) survey. This study examined 10,579 Queensland (Australia) service users' experiences of mental health services during 2019–2021, with a particular focus on their perspectives of how family and carers are involved in their care. The study examined if family‐focussed practice is welcomed by service users and if it is important in terms of predicting recovery‐related outcomes (e.g., hopefulness, managing day‐to‐day life, well‐being, and experience of care) and which demographics (e.g., age, gender, and Indigenous status) and service characteristics (e.g., time in service, duration, year of service, and setting type) are associated with these outcomes and with family member involvement. A substantial majority of service users reported a positive experience of care (very good or excellent), feeling they had opportunities for family involvement and that their opinions about family involvement were respected (usually or always). Chi‐square tests and nonlinear regression models showed that family involvement predicts care outcomes. Specifically, where individuals felt that their perspectives were recognised, their outcomes were consistently rated as more positive. The results also revealed that setting, age group, time in service, and admission status were significantly correlated with all user experience outcome variables and family‐oriented variables. Future research has the potential to further strengthen this understanding of service users' preferred opportunities and opinions about family involvement and how to improve family engagement and better meet the needs of service users and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses an aspect of bereavement which has received scant attention: the various meanings of the dead body for the bereaved person and the practical implications of these for social workers in the field of grief and loss. The discussion is embedded within a consideration of the role of social work in the field. The practice context is discussed and the literature of attachment in bereavement and conceptualisations of the dead body briefly reviewed. The core of the paper derives from a series of interviews with relatives of people whose bodies underwent autopsy-based coronial investigations involving the retention of whole organs in Queensland, Australia. A number of emergent themes are identified regarding the resonance of identity and the ways it is contained, asserted and incorporated into the life and grief of the bereaved. Conflicts and concurrences between the perspectives of interviewees and dominant medico-legal perspectives are also considered. The paper concludes by discussing the role of social work in bringing the perspectives of the bereaved person to the fore. It suggests the profession, by virtue of its familiarity with the Ambiguous and Contradictory, is well placed to develop practical understandings of death and bereavement and to enhance the various governmental systems in which they are enacted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 2003 qualitative research investigated the role of Rural Family Support Worker (RFSW) within Central Queensland. Catalyst for the study was the perception that Departmental funding criteria were not keeping abreast of community needs and expectations. The findings from this project offer an ideal opportunity to review the funder/purchaser/provider model in practice in Australia. Key issues arising are: the appropriateness of this model for service delivery in rural communities and its effectiveness in meeting the expectations of all the stake holders connected to the Rural Family Support (RFS) system. This paper examines views espoused in the literature arid perspectives put forward by a range of Human Service Sector Professionals, Departmental staff, clients of the RFSWs and the RFSWs themselves. It identifies areas where a more proactive and collaborative approach between contractual partners will ensure the RFS program can better meet the needs of rural families in times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been limited sustained analysis of the lived reality of citizenship amongst Indigenous Australians exempted from protectionist legislation last century. Through examining the diaries of Daisy Smith, this paper explores how her household, exempted from such legislation in Queensland, experienced citizenship during the 1940s and early 1950s. The diaries show that Daisy Smith and her family exercised civil, political and social rights of citizenship, enjoyed meaningful lives and had a sense of belonging to the Australian nation. However, they also show that Daisy Smith constantly worked hard to uphold the conditions of exemption and protect her family's exempted Aboriginal status. These conditions required the Smith family to deny and relinquish all connection with their Indigenous heritage and embrace the dominant Anglo-Celtic culture or risk losing exemption. In this way, their inclusion in the Australian nation and enjoyment of citizenship rights were conditional upon them being manifestly normative Anglo-Celtic citizens. Their experience of citizenship was by its nature restrictive and coercive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Dichichthys was resurrected for five species previously allocated to the genus Parmaturus in the family Pentanchidae. Supraorbital crests on the chondrocranium distinguish Dichichthys from Parmaturus and other members of the family Pentanchidae. A new family, Dichichthyidae, has been proposed to contain Dichichthys. The sequence of the NADH2 mitochondrial gene confirms the placement of Dichichthys outside of the Pentanchidae family, as well as separate from the Atelomycteridae and Scyliorhinidae families. Dichichthys albimarginatus was described using a holotype collected off the coast of New Caledonia. A second juvenile specimen collected off the coast of Papua New Guinea was tentatively assigned as D. cf. albimarginatus. Dichichthys bigus is known from the holotype collected in the Coral Sea off the coast of Queensland, Australia. A new, parasite-afflicted underwater observation was reported further north of Queensland. The type species Dichichthys melanobranchus, previously only known from juvenile specimens, was redescribed based on adult specimens. Dichichthys nigripalatum is known from the holotype collected off Sumbawa, Indonesia, and a tentatively identified photo record from West Java. Dichichthys satoi n. sp. is described from the West Norfolk Ridge and off the North Island of New Zealand. Members of the genus Dichichthys have unique curved egg cases which have pliable ridges made up of numerous fibres and long coiled tendrils on the posterior end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. There is limited evidence about how legal frameworks that underpin end-of-life decisions are applied in practice. This study aimed to identify how end-of-life decisions are made and documented in emergency departments and intensive care units. The secondary aim was to explore the extent to which the legal processes featured in these decisions. Methods. A retrospective chart audit of 85 adult patients who died in the emergency departments and intensive care units of a Queensland health service was undertaken. Quantitative data were analysed and reported using descriptive statistics. Qualitative textual data were analysed using inductive content analysis. Results. Nearly all admissions were unplanned (97.6%), and most patients (74.1%) were admitted from home. Only one patient had an advance health directive, although all had an eligible substitute decision-maker. The qualitative analysis revealed two main concepts -- 'healthcare professionals choreograph the end of life' and 'patients and families are carried on an unplanned journey'. Conclusions. There was limited documentation related to the application of the legal framework in these decisions. Healthcare professionals relied on their clinical judgment about what was in the best interest of the patient. It was common for there to be a substantial effort to achieve consensus in decision-making which coincidentally complied with the law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dementia is one of the major causes of disability and dependence amongst older people and previous research has highlighted how the well-being of people with dementia is inherently connected to the quality of their relationships with their informal carers. In turn, these carers can experience significant levels of emotional stress and physical burden from the demands of caring for a family member with dementia, yet their uptake of formal services tends to be lower than in other conditions related to ageing. This paper is based on a qualitative study undertaken in the Australian state of Queensland and explores issues of access to and use of formal services in dementia care from the perspective of the informal family carers. It identifies three critical points at which changes in policy and practice in the formal care system could improve the capability of informal carers to continue to care for their family member with dementia: when symptoms first become apparent and a diagnosis is sought; when the condition of the person with dementia changes resulting in a change to their support needs; and when the burden of informal care being experienced by the carer is so great that some form of transition appears to be immanent in the care arrangement [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Over the past two decades, child protection authorities internationally have begun to implement models of family participation in child protection decision-making. Debate exists about the extent to which these models promote family involvement in decision-making. While a significant body of research on family and professional experience and perceptions of models of family participation in decision-making has emerged, there has been little observational research of these approaches. In this paper, we report on observational data from 11 family group meetings (FGMs) in a child protection context in Queensland, Australia. Under Queensland child protection law, these meetings are referred to as an inclusive process for child protection decision-making and planning. We draw on observational data to analyse how family inclusion in child protection decision-making is facilitated, or limited, by the FGM process. We consider tensions in the realization of a participatory ethos in child protection services systems and discuss what practitioners can practically do to enhance family participation in child protection decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a narrative portrait of one family enrolled in a school of distance education in Queensland, Australia. Most of the families own or manage sheep and/or beef grazing properties, and their children receive their education by correspondence papers and daily UHF radio lessons. The students complete their school work at home with a home tutor, who is most often the mother, with support and assistance provided by the school of distance education’s teaching and support staff. As part of a larger inquiry focused on what home schooling is like as a component of living and working on sheep or cattle properties, and as but one part of the families’ everyday lives, the portrait includes biographical information about Louise Michaelson as home tutor, narrative sketches of her children Thomas and Timothy, and descriptive discussions of daily routines both within and outside of the schoolrooms used for the distance education programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on child data generated in a pilot project of the ACCESS Study of Child and Family Services , an investigation of the degree to which child and family services meet user needs within local communities. Based on theoretical perspectives drawn from social capital theories, the pilot study was undertaken by a partnership of local early childhood services within the precinct of Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane (Australia) and included two childcare centres, two kindergartens/ preschools, one playgroup and one primary school. Seventy-six children aged 3–8 years were asked, in informal conversations with their caregivers, to comment on their experiences in the service and to consider possible advice they might give to children coming into the service. Theoretical perspectives from the sociology of childhood are used to examine children's accounts of their lived experience in early childhood services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To explore healthcare professionals' perceptions of the feasibility and acceptability of family engagement in early mobilisation for adult critically ill patients. Background: Early mobilisation is beneficial to minimise intensive care unit acquired‐weakness in critically ill patients and family engagement can help with meeting early mobilisation goals, but it is not widely practiced. Understanding healthcare professionals' perceptions of feasibility and acceptability of family engagement in early mobilisation of adult critically ill patients is required to inform future implementation strategies to promote early mobilisation. Design: A descriptive qualitative study. Methods: Face‐to‐face, individual, semi‐structured interviews were conducted between August 2021 and March 2022 with healthcare professionals working in two intensive care units in Australia. The interviews were analysed using the inductive content analysis, and descriptive statistics were used to summarise participant characteristics. The COREQ checklist was followed when reporting this study. Results: Eleven ICU nurses, five physiotherapists and four physicians participated in the interviews. Three main categories were identified: (i) healthcare professionals' readiness, (ii) mediators of engagement and (iii) foundations for successful implementation. Most participants demonstrated a positive attitude towards an implementation of family engagement in early mobilisation for adult critically ill patients; however, capability and capacity of healthcare professionals, family members' willingness, availability and readiness and the care context were considered factors that could influence the successful implementation. Conclusion: From the perspectives of healthcare professionals, family engagement in early mobilisation is feasible and acceptable to enact but implementation is influenced by contextual factors including, healthcare professionals' capability and capacity and family members' willingness, availability and readiness. Collaborative teamwork and preparing family members and healthcare professionals are needed to support this practice. Relevance to Clinical Practice: The findings provide important information to further identify potential strategies of family engagement in early mobilisation and to help and mitigate factors that impede implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family carers of people with mental illness provide an immense contribution to society in caring for mental health consumers. However, carers can experience substantial burdens and poor health outcomes themselves. Recognition of their needs for education and support has led to the development of a range of family education programmes. Throughout Australia, the Mental Illness Fellowship Australia offers the Well Ways programme, a group-based, family-to-family, education programme that provides information and aims to increase carers' capacity to care effectively for themselves, their families, and the mental health consumers. This paper describes a qualitative evaluation of an emotional support service piloted in a Well Ways programme in rural Queensland, Australia. The pilot service comprised individual emotional support offered to family carers attending the weekly Well Ways group education programme. Six of eight family carers who received the emotional support engaged in semistructured interviews exploring their experience of receiving the support. Three themes emerged from their experience: dealing with difficult times, connecting through shared experience, and exploring different options. Family carers found the emotional support beneficial, and reported that it enhanced their capacity to manage their own well-being, as well as their caregiving roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family and friends made descriptions of the behavior of individuals at the time of their committal to institutions for the insane in Australasian colonies, including Gladesville Hospital for the Insane, Sydney, New South Wales; Goodna Hospital for the Insane, near Brisbane in Queensland; and the Auckland Mental Hospital in New Zealand's North Island, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These lay descriptions of insanity, gleaned from those close to patients by doctors during initial interviews at the stage of asylum committal, eventually became marginal notes in clinical patient cases. This article seeks to understand this interplay between lay descriptions by family and friends and the asylum's use of these descriptions in its profiling and diagnosis of patients. It argues that patient case notes should be reexamined as rich sources of information about families, households, and, most importantly, the language used by ordinary people to describe mental states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Poor diet is the leading preventable risk factor contributing to the burden of disease globally and in Australia, and is inequitably distributed. As the price of healthy foods is a perceived barrier to improved diets, evidence on the cost and affordability of current (unhealthy) and recommended (healthy, more equitable and sustainable) diets is required to support policy action. Methods: This study applied the Healthy Diets ASAP (Australian Standardised Affordability and Pricing) methods protocol to measure the cost, cost differential and affordability of current and recommended diets for a reference household in Queensland, Australia. Food prices were collected in 18 randomly selected locations stratified by area of socioeconomic disadvantage and remoteness. Diet affordability was calculated for three income categories. Results: Surprisingly, recommended diets would cost 20% less than the current diet in Queensland as a whole. Households spent around 60% of their food budget on discretionary choices (that is, those not required for health that are high in saturated fat, added sugar, salt and/or alcohol). Queensland families would need to spend around 23% of their income on recommended diets. However, recommended diets would not be affordable in low socioeconomic or very remote areas, costing 30 and 35% of median household income respectively. The government supplements due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic would improve affordability of recommended diets by 29%. Conclusions: Study findings highlight that while price is one factor affecting consumer food choice, other drivers such as taste, convenience, advertising and availability are important. Nevertheless, the study found that recommended diets would be unaffordable in very remote areas, and that low-income families are likely experiencing food stress, irrespective of where they live in Queensland. Policy actions, such as increasing to 20% the current 10% tax differential between basic healthy, and unhealthy foods in Australia, and supplementing incomes of vulnerable households, especially in remote areas, are recommended to help improve diet equity and sustainability, and health and wellbeing for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: A deficits approach to understanding psychological adjustment in family caregivers of individuals with a neurological disability is extensive, but further research in the field of positive psychology (spirituality, resilience, hope) may provide a potential avenue for broadening knowledge of the family caregiver experience after traumatic brain injury (TBI) or spinal cord injury (SCI). OBJECTIVE: To test a proposed model of spirituality among family caregivers of individuals with TBI or SCI, using structural equation modelling (SEM). METHODS: A cross-sectional design was employed to survey ninety-nine family participants (TBI = 76, SCI = 23) from six rehabilitation units from NSW and Queensland. Assessments comprised Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-being Scale-Expanded, Connor –Davidson Resilience Scale, Herth Hope Index, and three measures of psychological adjustment including Caregiver Burden Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Scale, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. RESULTS: SEM showed the proposed model was a good fit. The main findings indicated spirituality had a direct negative link with burden. Spirituality had a direct positive association with hope which, in succession, had a positive link with resilience. Spirituality influenced positive affect indirectly, being mediated by resilience. Positive affect, in turn, had a negative association with depression in caregivers. CONCLUSIONS: This study contributes to better targeting strength-based family interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The present study aimed to explore the nature of parental involvement in the intervention of children with hearing loss, as experienced by parents. Design: A qualitative descriptive methodology was adopted to conduct semi-structured in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of parents who have a child with hearing loss. Study sample: Seventeen parents of 11 children aged 6-9 years participated in this study. Results: The overarching theme of parents taking the central role was identified using thematic analysis. This overarching theme connected five themes which described the nature of parental involvement: (1) parents work behind the scenes; (2) parents act as ‘case managers’; (3) parents always have their child’s language development in mind; (4) parents’ role extends to advocacy for all children with hearing loss; and (5) parents serve a number of roles, but at the end of the day, they are parents. Conclusions: The results indicate that parental involvement in the intervention of children with hearing loss is multifaceted in nature and incorporates a broad range of behaviours and practices. These findings have important implications for the provision of family-centred practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: The validity of instruments is crucial in ensuring that data collected are sound and that these data represent what the instrument claims to measure. When an instrument is revised or used in a different population, it is useful to re‐examine its construct validity. Aim: To test the psychometrics properties of an instrument—the revised Families’ Importance In Nursing Care—Nurses’ Attitudes, designed to measure nurse’ attitudes towards involving family in nursing care in an adult acute care setting. Design and methodology: A cross‐sectional survey design was used in April–May 2016 with a sample of Enrolled and Registered Nurses (N = 212) to test the factor structure of the revised Families’ Importance In Nursing‐Nurses’ Attitudes instrument. The instrument had 26 items with a five‐point Likert response scale. Principle components analysis and exploratory factor analysis were performed with oblique rotations to assess the internal structure of the instrument. Setting: A regional referral hospital in Queensland, Australia. Results: Using Principal Components Analysis and Principal Axis Factoring, we obtained the same factor structure to that originally identified for the instrument. Our results suggested the removal of six items to refine the instrument and achieve simple structure. Conclusion: The removal of several items, relabeling of factors and residual cross‐loading issues suggest that further revisions to the instrument are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Family members may play an important role in the health and well-being of older adults. However, little is known about the factors that influence the likelihood of family members supporting older relatives to seek help from mental health professionals for mental health concerns. Mental health literacy is associated with people’s help-seeking intentions regarding their own mental health concerns, and some studies have suggested it may play a role in help-seeking on behalf of others. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether mental health literacy is associated with adults’ likelihood of supporting an older relative to seek professional help for mental health concerns. Method: Two hundred and sixty-three participants completed a measure of mental health literacy and responded to a hypothetical scenario by indicating their likelihood of supporting an older relative experiencing mental health problems to seek help from various sources. Results: Mental health literacy was positively associated with intentions to support older relative’s help-seeking. Conclusions: Interventions to increase the mental health literacy of the relatives of older adults may lead to additional support for older adults’ help-seeking for mental health concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working parents experience considerable stress as they strive to cope with competing demands from work and family. However, workforce participation has shown to safeguard their personal wellbeing. It is therefore important that parents are adequately supported though appropriate and acceptable interventions in order to help them achieve quality of life, without needing to sacrifice one life domain for the other. This study adopted a consumer-focused perspective to program design to identify the relative fit between parental needs an existing workplace intervention. Focus groups were conducted with fifteen working mothers aged 30-44 years ( M = 38.67). A thematic analysis revealed eight themes: (a) the impact of guilt, (b) crossover effects of work on family, (c) the availability of support, (d) being a quality parent, (e) getting the balance right, (f) impact on couple relationship, (g) having a career counts and (h) the need for low intensity programs. The extracted themes provided a good fit with existing workplace interventions that address stress and parenting. However, the results also indicated that working mothers need further assistance with strategies to manage guilt and the need to build on career strengths. Working parents also indicated a desire for briefer interventions. The implications for program design, including possible modifications, to current workplace interventions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The survival and life expectancy rates of people with traumatic and degenerative neurological conditions are increasing, sometimes up to several decades. Yet compared to the general population, people with a disability continue to experience poorer health and are at greater risk of developing secondary health problems and facing barriers to services they require. These trends have significant implications for provision of health and rehabilitation services. In this study, the adequacy of health and rehabilitation services provided to people with long-term neurological conditions and their unmet needs were explored from the perspectives of individual users, their nominated family members and key service providers. A qualitative research design with maximum variation sampling was used. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 65 participants comprising 25 long-term care service users, nominated family members or friends ( n = 22) and care service providers ( n = 18) in Queensland, Australia. All service users needed assistance with usual daily activities, and 22 were wheelchair dependent. The hours of funded personal care ranged from 2 to 201 hours per week. Data were analysed using framework analysis. Participants generally perceived that specialist medical and hospital services were adequate and satisfactory. They valued supportive health and rehabilitation professionals and receiving client-centred physical rehabilitation. However, the majority of participants ( n = 17) had perceived unmet needs for physical rehabilitation ( n = 14), other health or rehabilitation services ( n = 10) or counselling ( n = 6). Community-based physical maintenance rehabilitation was often perceived as inadequate, costly or inconveniently located. Participants highlighted the importance of personal and family counselling and information provision at time points such as diagnosis. The findings contribute to the limited international evidence on the gaps in health and rehabilitation services for people with neurological conditions receiving lifetime care services in the community. A continuum of integrated rehabilitation services to minimise avoidable impairments, optimise independence and functioning, and sustain quality of life is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of gender, age, Psychological resilience and family interaction factors upon generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) was investigated in 75 non-autism spectrum disorder (NASD) siblings who had a brother or sister with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). GAD and MDD were much more prevalent than in comparable age group samples, and adolescent females had the highest MDD rates. Several Psychological resilience skills were significantly associated with lower GAD and MDD, particularly being able to recognise mistakes in their thinking (for children) and being able to remain in control of their anger (for adolescents). Suggestions are made for ways of encouraging NASD siblings to develop skills that may assist them in avoiding these disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

moyle w., murfield j.e., griffiths s.g. & venturato l. (2012) Assessing quality of life of older people with dementia: a comparison of quantitative self-report and proxy accounts. Journal of Advanced Nursing 68(10), 2237-2246. Abstract Aims. This article reports on a study of quality of life of older people with dementia, as assessed by the person with dementia, family carer and care staff. Background. People with dementia can give meaningful assessments of their quality of life, but these often differ from proxy ratings. In understanding this discrepancy, the influence of age, extent of cognitive impairment and activity limitation has been investigated. A lack of conclusive associations between quality of life ratings and these variables indicates a need for further research. Methods. Fifty-eight triads comprising the person with dementia, family carer and member of care staff from four long-term care facilities were surveyed on the Quality of Life-Alzheimer's Disease questionnaire between August and December 2007. Results. There was an important difference in the Quality of Life-Alzheimer's Disease questionnaire total mean scores between groups, with the person with dementia providing the highest ratings. Level of impairment in Activities of Daily Living had an important effect on quality of life ratings, with proxies, particularly care staff, providing lower ratings when there was greater activity limitation. This was not replicated for assessments made by the person with dementia. Age or level of cognitive impairment did not influence any ratings. Conclusion. People with dementia can give assessments of their quality of life. However, discrepancy in ratings, with greater activity limitation affecting proxy ratings but not those made by the person with dementia, indicates the importance of including both self-report and proxy measures in research and care planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

hemsley b., balandin s. & worrall l. (2012) Nursing the patient with complex communication needs: time as a barrier and a facilitator to successful communication in hospital. Journal of Advanced Nursing 68(1), 116-126. Abstract Background. Effective nurse-patient communication is an essential aspect of health care. Time to communicate, however, is limited and subject to workload demands. Little is known about how nurses manage this 'lack of time' when caring for patients with developmental disability and complex communication needs, who typically communicate at a slow rate. Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate nurses' expressed concepts of 'time' in stories about communicating with patients with developmental disability and complex communication needs in hospital. Method. In 2009, 15 hospital nurses from a range of wards in two metropolitan hospitals participated in interviews about barriers to and strategies for successful communication with patients with developmental disability and complex communication needs in hospital. The data were analysed using narrative inquiry methodology and the stories verified with the participants. Results. Nurses identified 'time' as a barrier and a facilitator to successful communication. Time as a barrier was related thematically to avoiding direct communication and preferring that family or paid carers communicated on behalf of the patient. Time as a facilitator was related to valuing communication, investing extra time, and to applying a range of adaptive communication strategies to establish successful communication. Conclusions. Time is perceived by nurses as both an enemy and friend for improving communication. Nurses who perceive that communication takes too long may avoid communication and miss opportunities to improve communication through increased familiarity with the person's communication methods. Those who take time to communicate narrate applying a range of strategies to achieve success in basic needs communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Australian study explored management for older people with dementia in an acute hospital setting. As the population ages, increasing numbers of older people with dementia are placed into an acute care hospital to manage a condition other than dementia. These people require special care that takes into account the unique needs of confused older people. Current nursing and medical literature provides some direction in relation to best practice management; however, few studies have examined this management from the perspective of hospital staff. A descriptive qualitative approach was used. Data were collected using semi-structured audio-taped interviews with a cross section of thirteen staff that worked in acute medical or surgical wards in a large South East Queensland, Australia Hospital. Analysis of data revealed five subthemes with the overarching theme being paradoxical care, in that an inconsistent approach to care emphasised safety at the expense of well-being and dignity. A risk management approach was used rather than one that incorporated injury prevention as one facet of an overall strategy. Using untrained staff to sit and observe people with dementia as a risk management strategy does not encourage an evidence-based approach. Staff education and environmental resources may improve the current situation so that people with dementia receive care that takes into account their individual needs and human dignity. Nurses can assist older people with dementia by encouraging evidence-based care practices to become the part of hospital policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the impact of a community-based self-management support (CB-SMS) programme for people with acquired brain injury delivered across multiple communities in Queensland, Australia. Design: A longitudinal study. Participants: A prospective cohort of 52 individuals with brain injury aged between 21-75 years of age ( M = 47.29 years, SD = 15.40) participated in the study. The impact of the programme was measured on three separate occasions using the same questionnaire (at programme commencement-Time 1; 3 months post-programme completion-Time 2; and 6 months post-programme completion-Time 3). Measures: The questionnaire measured demographic details, general health, emotional health, goal commitment, ability to manage illness, information use and perceived social support. Results: Significant effects were found in the ability to manage one's long-term condition, goal commitment and emotional health, however these findings were sensitive to gender differences over time. Conclusions: Results from this study partially support the role of the programme in promoting the development of personal resources following brain injury. However, the findings remind one that without monitoring and maintenance over time, any gains made are unlikely to be sustained. Further, the need for programmes to respond to gender differences is highlighted by this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a large body of literature has addressed many of the issues relating to flexible working from both a supply and demand perspective, less attention has focused on situations where these two positions conflict. This research explores a secondary, qualitative data set consisting of over 200 cases of alleged family responsibilities discrimination reported to a community advocacy organization in Brisbane, Australia. Findings indicate that discord in the work environment occurs in relation to (r) requests for part-time work; (z) altered duties during or after maternity leave; (3) requests for changes to rostered work hours; (4) having to take leave to care for sick children; and (5) opportunities for recruitment or promotion. Direct family responsibilities discrimination was evident in only six cases, while the remainder were indirect. A small number of cases were formally lodged for redress although financial compensation was limited. Economic factors such as a shrinking labour force highlight the importance of finding solutions to situations where business imperatives and the well-being of families collide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian passenger lists for British emigrants to Queensland in the i9th century have provided a data source of nominal information for emigrants which is not available in British emigration records. The information from these lists (for the years 1885-88) has been incorporated into a specially designed database of Scottish emigrants to Queensland. Nominal linkage with the Census Enumerator Books of 1881 added considerable personal information for more than half the cohort of Scots identified on the lists, and provided a view of the distribution of emigrants prior to leaving Scotland, hitherto unobtainable. When the addresses of emigrants were linked to dates of emigration and mapped, the impact of place of residence on the decision to emigrate to Queensland was demonstrated. Hence it has been possible to analyse the influences of local circumstance, family, friends and neighbourhood in the reconstruction of this emigrant group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which was conducted to determine whether the transfer of pregnant women from Cape York communities to Cairns in Queensland for late pregnancy and intrapartum care is medically appropriate. Data collected include retrospective audit of travel details and demographic and obstetric outcome on all women under study. Although the medical transfer has been proven to be appropriate, it is found out that separation of women from their family and friends has dire social, cultural and financial impact.