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To investigate determinants of willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, core affect regarding using telerehabilitation, and digital competencies in rehabilitation professionals in Austria and Germany before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional paper-based and online survey was conducted before and during COVID-19, respectively, with three cohorts of rehabilitation professionals. Outcomes were the willingness to adopt telerehabilitation evaluated using the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology; willingness of technology use using the short scale for assessing the willingness of technology use; digital competencies and core affect using the Digital Competence Framework and semantic differential, respectively. Multivariate ordinal regression analysis was performed to determine predictors. Included were 603 rehabilitation professionals. Analysis revealed differences between Austria and Germany and before and during the pandemic for most outcomes. German residency, the pandemic, and a higher educational level were most important predictors of higher willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, digital competencies, and positive core affect. The pandemic increased most aspects of willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, digital competencies, and positive core affect. Results confirm that rehabilitation professionals with higher degrees are more prone to adopt innovations in healthcare.Registration: German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00021464) The willingness to adopt telerehabilitation is associated with external factors increasing the need for alternative rehabilitation delivery, such as COVID-19, and with financial facilitators, such as reimbursement. As the willingness to adopt telerehabilitation is higher among speech and language therapists and dietitians, efforts are necessary to enhance its use in physiotherapists and occupational therapists. As a higher willingness to adopt telerehabilitation was observed in younger rehabilitation professionals and those with higher education, increasing the importance of telerehabilitation in education curricula and further knowledge transfer into practice for those already working in the field seems necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambulance staff wellbeing programs aim to support the bio-psycho-social and sometimes spiritual needs of paramedics. While evidence demonstrates strong connections between spirituality and/or religion to wellbeing outcomes, little is known about spiritual care in ambulance services or its impact. The aim of this study was to investigate paramedics' perspectives on the role and value of Australian ambulance chaplains. A cross-sectional online study of registered paramedics in Australia was conducted between November and December 2022. Analysis of the 150 responses identified that paramedics viewed the chaplain's role as one built on professional caring relationships that provided proactive and reactive care in paramedic workplaces. Chaplains were perceived to promote wellbeing by incorporating emotional, psychological, social and spiritual care, and assisting paramedics to access additional support. Perceived religiousness of chaplains and organisational factors were barriers to paramedics accessing chaplains, while pre-existing relationships and shared experiences positively influenced paramedics decision to seek chaplain support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Physiotherapists often prescribe self-management strategies for their patients. However, the effectiveness of these strategies in improving patient outcome is related to the rate of patient adherence. The aims of this study were to explore physiotherapists' views on the importance and perceived rates of patient adherence to physiotherapist prescribed self-management strategies; the perceived importance of methods physiotherapists can employ to aid patient adherence and the barriers to employing these methods. Method: A cross-sectional web-based survey was emailed to 808 physiotherapist members of the Australian Physiotherapy Association. To maximize response rates, two reminder emails were utilized. Results: In total, 352 physiotherapists completed the survey (response rate 44%). A majority of physiotherapists (89%) believed that patient self-management strategies were important in improving patient outcomes; however, the mean perceived rate of patient adherence across all strategies was only 67%. Physiotherapists reported that there were a number of important methods that can be employed to aid patient adherence such as providing patient education and allowing time for patient practice; with minimal perceived barriers to employing these methods. Conclusions: Results indicate that physiotherapists perceive that patient outcomes can be positively impacted by patient adherence to a range of self-management strategies. Physiotherapists should be encouraged to implement into their routine clinical practice evidence-based methods to aid patient adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To report nurses' attitudes towards older people in the emergency department (ED). Background: A nurse's attitude towards an older person can have an effect on nurses' work practices and interactions and can result in adverse outcomes for the older person. Design: A national cross-sectional survey using a previously validated instrument Older Person in Acute Care Survey (OPACS) was conducted to measure emergency nurses' attitudes towards older people in their care. Methods: Members of the College of Emergency Nursing Australasia (CENA) were invited to participate in the study. There were 371 (39%) completed surveys returned. Results: The OPACS survey identified that ED nurses have positive attitudes towards older people in the ED. Conclusion: The implications for practice are clinically significant because positive attitudes can result in prevention of discrimination and marginalisation of the older person in the ED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outward appearance is one of the means by which age is determined, and fear of looking old may stem from fears about social identity and death. This study explored how social identity theory and terror management theory may help to explain the dread of looking old. University students from the United States, England, and Australia (N = 1,042) completed a questionnaire regarding their attitudes about aging and older adults. Results indicated that sex, age, beliefs about personal aging, and death anxiety explained 30.4% of the variance for participants’ dread of looking old. Theoretical hypotheses were supported by our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective Excessive stress and poor coping skills can put university students at risk for mental health problems. The University Stress Scale ( USS) provides a measure of both the categories of stress experienced by university students as well as the overall intensity of the stress experienced. Methods This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the USS and its clinical utility. Participants were a convenience cross-sectional sample of 2,596 Australian university students. Results Exploratory factor analysis provided support for a six-factor model comprising the categories of academic, relationships, equity, parenting, practical, and health. This structure was confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis. The measure had good discriminant and convergent validity and good internal consistency. A cut-off of 13 on the USS indicates students most likely to be experiencing depression and anxiety symptoms as a result of excessive stress. This study used a broad sample of Australian students; however, further replication is needed to confirm the utility of the measure for students in other countries. Conclusions The total stress score and the categorical breakdown of stressors makes the USS a useful, brief screening measure for clinicians working with university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives:To investigate associations between dementia-attitudes and help-seeking intentions. Method:An online survey of 611 Australian adults (45–60 years) assessed dementia-related attitudes and help-seeking intentions in response to two scenarios of an experience of early dementia: for themselves (Scenario 1); and for a significant other (proxy help-seeking) (Scenario 2). Logistic regression models examined the relationship between four dementia-related attitudes (labelled Personal Avoidance, Fear of Labelling, Fear of Discrimination and Person Centredness) and help-seeking intentions. Results:Most participants indicated they would seek help from a general practitioner (GP) for themselves (82.2%) or for a proxy (78.7%) in response to the scenarios. Whilst only 7.2% indicated they would seek help from no-one, 21.3% would delay seeking help. In response to Scenario 1, Personal Avoidance and Fear of Labelling were associated with intentions to delay help-seeking. Fear of both Labelling and Discrimination were associated with intentions to seek help from no-one. In response to Scenario 2, Personal Avoidance was associated with intentions to delay proxy help-seeking and a reduced likelihood of seeking help by phone or and with Fear of Discrimination, via a GP. Fear of Labelling was also associated with an intention to delay proxy help-seeking. Conclusion:Efforts to improve help-seeking for dementia should address attitudes relating to stigma including negative labelling and a desire for the avoidance of people with dementia. Fears relating to discrimination indicate a need to build public confidence regarding the capacity of the health and workforce sectors to support people with dementia ethically and appropriately. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Warr, Cook, and Wall's Job Satisfaction Scale ( JSS) is a widely used measure of job satisfaction in industrial/organisational ( I/O) psychology research and practice. However, the factor structure has not been adequately explored, with two-factor and three-factor solutions previously proposed. This study tested the factor structure of the JSS using robust analysis methods on data gathered from a convenience sample of 381 (females = 264, males = 116) Australian employees. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a hierarchical three-factor model of job satisfaction in terms of model adequacy coefficients; however, the three factors were highly correlated, thereby rendering a multifactorial approach to the JSS untenable. The results support the continued use of an overall score of job satisfaction when using this measure in I/O psychology research and practice. Further testing of the structure is recommended within a range of employment sectors, as the assumed multifactorial structure of the JSS common in the literature was not supported by the current study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]