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This paper presents findings from research exploring young people's perspectives on the strengths, challenges and needs of their local community in a disadvantaged area of Sydney, Australia. These findings contribute to the growing body of literature that seeks to better understand the life experiences and support needs of vulnerable children and families. Young people's perspectives were gathered using a Photovoice methodology. Participants photographed aspects of their community that they considered to be a strength or challenge, and these photographs served as conversation prompts in subsequent individual interviews. Five key themes were identified from qualitative analysis of the data: (1) Local People and Places; (2) Financial Struggles and Opportunities; (3) Personal Resilience and Skills; (4) Health and Wellbeing and (5) The Impact of Stereotyping Media Constructions. Young people also made recommendations about what they perceived to be the most important forms of service and government investment in their community. This research gives emphasis to the importance of including the perspectives of young people in research and in providing an opportunity for them to identify the issues of most importance. It also discusses the community impact associated with the relentlessly deficit driven approach employed by researchers and the media when examining disadvantaged communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social workers face unique challenges in working with families, young people and children in rural and remote communities. Simultaneously, workers juggle dual relationships, personal boundaries and high visibility. Social work practise in rural Australia also faces high staff turnover, burnout and difficulties with recruitment, retention and available professional supervision. A lack of professional supervision has been identified as directly contributing to decreased worker retention in rural and remote areas. This paper reports on emerging themes from a qualitative research study on peer supervision in virtual teams in rural and remote Australia. Data collection consisted of pre- and post-trial individual interviews, monthly group supervision sessions, online evaluations and focus groups. A key conclusion from the study is that peer group supervision worked in supporting rural and remote workers to perform their everyday professional roles. The ease and access afforded by the use of simple technology was noteworthy. Whilst the research was conducted with social workers in rural and remote areas, the use of peer group supervision could be applicable for other professionals who work with families and communities in rural and remote Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Kelvin Grove, Australia, Australia and New Zealand, Food, Science Keywords: Kelvin Grove; Australia; Australia and New Zealand; Food; Science EN Kelvin Grove Australia Australia and New Zealand Food Science 146 146 1 10/09/23 20231012 NES 231012 2023 OCT 12 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Food Weekly News -- New research on Science is the subject of a report. [Extracted from the article]

Bereavement and grief are natural processes and the majority of people find their way through their loss. However, a small minority may benefit from professional assistance and a service that meets their needs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of an Australian Hospital Bereavement Service on the next of kin of deceased patients. The service provides three consecutive tiers of support to palliative care patients and families including information and compassion, non-specialised bereavement support and specialist intervention referral to external agencies on an individual and selective basis. The research used a qualitative approach with semi-structured focus groups and thematic analysis. Major themes identified were personal experience of grief; revisiting the hospital; and bereavement care experiences. We conclude assumptions should not be made about bereavement needs or grieving reactions of individuals. However, a suite of appropriate bereavement services, support groups and feedback opportunities are perceived as helpful by grieving adults. The research also highlighted how difficult it is for some family members to return to the hospital following the death of their loved one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is a popular belief that the digital generation is immersed in and adept at using digital media, recent studies point to a large variation among young people in their appropriation of digital technologies. This study examined the patterns of, and reasons for, infrequent use of digital technology among the younger generation, by conducting semi-structured interviews with 19 school-aged Australian youth. Infrequent users focused narrowly on a small number of applications and did not explore the wide range of available activities. This was mainly due to their lack of confidence and the perceived irrelevance of digital technologies to their lives. Most participants in this study had chosen a vocational path where computers and the internet were not integral to their everyday learning experience. This deterred them from improving their digital media literacy. Based on observations, I argue that it is not sufficient merely to provide access to digital media; rather, users need motivation, skills and perceived benefits in order to utilise this technology fully. In the case of school-aged youth, schoolwork as well as their peer group culture influences how they situate themselves in the digital environment that surrounds them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reports on the development of the controlled rapid approach to curriculum change (CRACC) model to manage curriculum change in Australian schools in 2008-2009. It outlines how the model was developed, taking into consideration the qualitative research done in three schools that undertook curriculum change processes with the external change agent (ECA). It offers recommendations for how schools might adapt the findings to assist their own internally led process.