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The article presents the reflections on coordinating a multi-country paper which emphasizes a means to an end. It offers information about a research to inform policy making in multi-country comparative health systems. The research involves the International Medical Workforce Collaborative (IMWC) member countries including Australia, U.S., and Great Britain.

Purpose: This paper aims to conduct the first cross-sectional survey on depression, Resilience, well-being, depression symptoms and concussion levels in equestrian athletes and to assess whether past concussion rates were associated with depression, resilience and well-being. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 511 participants from Canada, Republic of Ireland, UK, Australia and USA took part in an international cross-sectional, online survey evaluating concussion history, depression symptoms, resilience and well-being. Findings: In total, 27.1% of athletes met clinically relevant symptoms of major depressive disorder. Significant differences were shown in the well-being and resilience scores between countries. Significant relationships were observed between reported history of concussion and both high depression scores and low well-being scores. Practical implications: Findings highlight the need for mental health promotion and support in equestrian sport. Social implications: Results support previous research suggesting a need for enhanced mental health support for equestrians. There is reason to believe that mental illness could still be present in riders with normal levels of resilience and well-being. Originality/value: This study examined an understudied athlete group: equestrian athletes and presents important findings with implications for the physical and mental health of this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Different health state utility (HSU) instruments produce different utilities for the same individuals, thereby compromising the intended comparability of economic evaluations of health care interventions. When developing crosswalks, previous studies have indicated nonlinear relationships. This paper inquires into the degree of nonlinearity across the four most widely used HSU-instruments and proposes exchange rates that differ depending on the severity levels of the health state utility scale.Methods: Overall, 7933 respondents from six countries, 1760 in a non-diagnosed healthy group and 6173 in seven disease groups, reported their health states using four different instruments: EQ-5D-5L, SF-6D, HUI-3 and 15D. Quantile regressions investigate the degree of nonlinear relationships between these instruments. To compare the instruments across different disease severities, we split the health state utility scale into utility intervals with 0.2 successive decrements in utility starting from perfect health at 1.00. Exchange rates (ERs) are calculated as the mean utility difference between two utility intervals on one HSU-instrument divided by the difference in mean utility on another HSU-instrument.Results: Quantile regressions reveal significant nonlinear relationships across all four HSU-instruments. The degrees of nonlinearities differ, with a maximum degree of difference in the coefficients along the health state utility scale of 3.34 when SF-6D is regressed on EQ-5D. At the lower end of the health state utility scale, the exchange rate from SF-6D to EQ-5D is 2.11, whilst at the upper end it is 0.38.Conclusion: Comparisons at different utility levels illustrate the fallacy of using linear functions as crosswalks between HSU-instruments. The existence of nonlinear relationships between different HSU-instruments suggests that level-specific exchange rates should be used when converting a change in utility on the instrument used, onto a corresponding utility change had another instrument been used. Accounting for nonlinearities will increase the validity of the comparison for decision makers when faced with a choice between interventions whose calculations of QALY gains have been based on different HSU-instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lone parents and their children experience higher than average levels of adverse health and social outcomes, much of which are explained by high rates of poverty. Many high income countries have attempted to address high poverty rates by introducing employment requirements for lone parents in receipt of welfare benefits. However, there is evidence that employment may not reduce poverty or improve the health of lone parents and their children.Methods: We conducted a systematic review of qualitative studies reporting lone parents' accounts of participation in welfare to work (WtW), to identify explanations and possible mechanisms for the impacts of WtW on health and wellbeing. Twenty one bibliographic databases were searched. Two reviewers independently screened references and assessed study quality. Studies from any high income country that met the criteria of focussing on lone parents, mandatory WtW interventions, and health or wellbeing were included. Thematic synthesis was used to investigate analytic themes between studies.Results: Screening of the 4703 identified papers and quality assessment resulted in the inclusion of 16 qualitative studies of WtW in five high income countries, USA, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand, covering a variety of welfare regimes. Our synthesis found that WtW requirements often conflicted with child care responsibilities. Available employment was often poorly paid and precarious. Adverse health impacts, such as increased stress, fatigue, and depression were commonly reported, though employment and appropriate training was linked to increased self-worth for some. WtW appeared to influence health through the pathways of conflict and control, analytical themes which emerged during synthesis. WtW reduced control over the nature of employment and care of children. Access to social support allowed some lone parents to manage the conflict associated with employment, and to increase control over their circumstances, with potentially beneficial health impacts.Conclusion: WtW can result in increased conflict and reduced control, which may lead to negative impacts on mental health. Availability of social support may mediate the negative health impacts of WtW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to a continuing population growth, technological advancement, and increased public expectations of higher quality service outcomes, the demand for quality of healthcare provision in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is on the rise. Several frameworks have been recommended in the literature for its health systems reforms that are primarily built upon three key elements: equity, cost efficiency, and quality. The objective of this paper is to overview the evolution of health systems of the KSA, Australia, and the USA and compares determinants of their health and healthcare services. The normative position taken in this paper is to provide the basis for critically examining their performance, and to determine how experiences of the USA and Australia could define the scope for improvements in the KSA. This paper is written as a critical review based on secondary data sources and is divided into three sections. The first outlines the historical context of healthcare systems development in the KSA, Australia and the USA. The second compares a set of their key health Indicators and discusses the results where the results explained that the total causes of death in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is less three times than what is found in Australia and the United States of America. The third discusses potential contributions to KSA health policy reforms with an emphasis on viability of the privatization policies, the public health and preventive care interventions, and improvement of access to healthcare services vis-à-vis the country's broader demographic profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent changes to clinical psychology training and supervision in Australia have been driven by a deliberate endeavour by regulatory authorities and professional bodies to align education and training with competency-based models of training, a development that is apparent internationally across health disciplines. A critical question is: how do reforms in Clinical Psychology training standards match international benchmarks for competency-based pedagogies? Objective: To outline key principles of competency-based pedagogies and to critically examine whether Australia's new standards and guidelines for accreditation of coursework, practicum requirements, and supervision are consistent with competency principles, and match similar guidelines proposed in the U.K. and the U.S.A. Method: Following a critical analysis of the extant literature, the authors highlight progress achieved, discuss major gaps and challenges, and examine the extent to which current accreditation changes constitute a reliable blueprint for the development of a competent psychology workforce for the country. Results and Conclusions: The current review indicates that in an overall sense, practitioner training in Australia is tracking well in comparison to international developments. Specifically, the decreased emphasis on the regulation of inputs (e.g., nature and type of coursework and practicum) is pedagogically sound and has the potential to promote training innovation and efficiencies. However, a revision of the current competency framework is required to underpin future progress. Also, the lack of reliable and valid competence instruments in combination with less than rigorous adherence to systematic, timely, and ecologically valid assessments constitute a major challenge and a serious threat to ensuring safe and competent psychology practice. What is already known about this topic: (1) Competency-based education and clinical training play important coordinated roles in ensuring the competence of clinical psychologists, consistent with the accreditation standards and registration requirements of the Psychology Board of Australia. (2) The Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC, 2019) have recently published new accreditation standards for psychology programs that are based on competency principles. (3) The shift to the new paradigm is both exciting and challenging. It is exciting because it provides opportunities for innovation; it is challenging because it demands systemic change. What this topic adds: (1) The current paper compares and contrasts current standards and guidelines for accreditation in Australia with their counterparts in the U.K. and the U.S.A. (2) Although significant progress has been made in Australia, additional implementation efforts should be taken to establish a comprehensive and authoritative competency framework, incorporating empirically-supported means of assessment. Such a framework should be fit-for-purpose providing a grid that maps shared and unique aspects of competencies across registration levels and specialised endorsements. (3) The progressive relaxing of input criteria has the potential to seriously compromise the commitment to safe and competent psychological practice if training institutions do not adopt a re-designed system of ecologically valid assessments both during training and at the point of entry to the profession. (4) The need to ensure competence is maintained throughout a psychologist's career will remain a major challenge, given the ongoing and rapid advance of science. A commitment to the competency-based approach provides the necessary scaffolding for ongoing professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health care organizations need to be responsive to the needs of increasingly diverse patient populations. We compared the contents of six publicly available approaches to organizational responsiveness to diversity. The central questions addressed in this paper are: what are the most consistently recommended issues for health care organizations to address in order to be responsive to the needs of diverse groups that differ from the majority population? How much consensus is there between various approaches?Methods: We purposively sampled six approaches from the US, Australia and Europe and used qualitative textual analysis to categorize the content of each approach into domains (conceptually distinct topic areas) and, within each domain, into dimensions (operationalizations). The resulting classification framework was used for comparative analysis of the content of the six approaches.Results: We identified seven domains that were represented in most or all approaches: organizational commitment, empirical evidence on inequalities and needs, a competent and diverse workforce, ensuring access for all users, ensuring responsiveness in care provision, fostering patient and community participation, and actively promoting responsiveness. Variations in the operationalization of these domains related to different scopes, contexts and types of diversity. For example, approaches that focus on ethnic diversity mostly provide recommendations to handle cultural and language differences; approaches that take an intersectional approach and broaden their target population to vulnerable groups in a more general sense also pay attention to factors such as socio-economic status and gender.Conclusions: Despite differences in labeling, there is a broad consensus about what health care organizations need to do in order to be responsive to patient diversity. This opens the way to full scale implementation of organizational responsiveness in healthcare and structured evaluation of its effectiveness in improving patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims This study aimed to compare the findings of the quality of nursing doctoral education survey across seven countries and discuss the strategic directions for improving quality. Background No comparative evaluation of global quality of nursing doctoral education has been reported to date despite the rapid increase in the number of nursing doctoral programmes. Design A descriptive, cross-country, comparative design was employed. Methods Data were collected from 2007-2010 from nursing schools in seven countries: Australia, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Thailand, UK and USA. An online questionnaire was used to evaluate quality of nursing doctoral education except for Japan, where a paper version was used. Korea and South Africa used e-mails quality of nursing doctoral education was evaluated using four domains: Programme, Faculty (referring to academic staff), Resource and Evaluation. Descriptive statistics, correlational and ordinal logistic regression were employed. Results A total of 105 deans/schools, 414 faculty and 1149 students/graduates participated. The perceptions of faculty and students/graduates about the quality of nursing doctoral education across the seven countries were mostly favourable on all four domains. The faculty domain score had the largest estimated coefficient for relative importance. As the overall quality level of doctoral education rose from fair to good, the resource domain showed an increased effect. Conclusions Both faculty and students/graduates groups rated the overall quality of nursing doctoral education favourably. The faculty domain had the greatest importance for quality, followed by the programme domain. However, the importance of the resource domain gained significance as the overall quality of nursing doctoral education increased, indicating the needs for more attention to resources if the quality of nursing doctoral education is to improve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The global nursing workforce is predominantly female, with a large proportion working in the 45–55 age group. Menopause is a transition for all women, and; therefore needs recognition as it can impact work performance and consequently staff turnover. Background: Women will go through the menopause, but not all women are affected. The menopause transition presents a range of signs and symptoms both physical and psychological which can impact the quality of life and individuals' work/life balance. The nursing workforce is predominantly women that will work through the menopause transition. Objectives: The study explored perspectives on digital health interventions as strategies to support menopausal women and to understand the requirements for designing health interventions for support in the workplace. Design: A qualitative explorative design. Settings: Nurses working in a range of clinical settings in England, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia and USA. Methods: Nurses (n = 48) participated in focus groups from six different countries from February 2020–June 2022 during the pandemic from a range of acute, primary care and education settings. Nurses were invited to participate to share their experiences. Thematic analysis was used. Results: All participants were able to describe the physical symptoms of menopause, with some cultural and possible hemisphere differences; more noticeable was the psychological burden of menopause and fatigue that is not always recognized. Four themes were identified: Managing symptoms in the workplace; Recognition in the workplace; Menopause interventions; and Expectation versus the invisible reality. These themes revealed information that can be translated for implementation into digital health interventions. Conclusions: Managers of nursing female staff in the menopausal age range need greater awareness, and menopause education should involve everyone. Finally, our results demonstrate design attributes suitable for inclusion in digital health strategies that are aligned with likely alleviation of some of the discomforts of menopause. Patient or public contribution: No patient or public contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: We estimated the short-term impact of fragility fractures on community-dwelling women in five countries. Women with fragility fractures reported significantly more difficulties performing activities of daily living and significantly higher levels of lost productivity and caregiver support than those without fractures; results highlight the multi-country indirect burden of fragility fractures. Introduction: To estimate the impact of fragility fractures on activities of daily living (ADL), productivity loss and caregiver support in women with a recent fragility fracture. Methods: This multi-centre cross-sectional study enrolled community-dwelling women aged ≥ 50 years in South Korea, Spain, Germany, Australia and the United States. The fragility fracture cohort consisted of women with an index fragility fracture in the past 12 months; the fracture free cohort consisted of women with no fracture in the 18 months prior to study enrolment. Study participants completed three validated questionnaires: Lawton Instrumental ADL (IADL), Physical Self-Maintenance Scale (PSMS) and iMTA Productivity Cost Questionnaire (iPCQ). Results: In total, 1,253 participants from 41 sites across the five countries were included. Compared with the fracture free cohorts, fragility fracture cohorts had significantly lower function and were more dependent on support (p < 0.05 in all countries for Lawton IADL, and in South Korea, Spain, Australia and the United States for PSMS), significantly higher hours of paid absenteeism (p < 0.05, Spain, Germany, Australia), significantly higher unpaid lost productivity (p < 0.05, South Korea, Spain, Germany), significantly more days of paid help received in the home (p < 0.05 South Korea, Spain and the United States), and significantly more days of unpaid help from family members or friends (p < 0.05, all countries). Conclusion: In this multi-national study, fragility fractures in community-dwelling ≥ 50 years women were associated with several outcomes indicating higher indirect burden and lower quality of life, including more difficulties performing ADL and higher levels of lost productivity and caregiver support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines a proposed model for assessing Sub Minimum Wage (SMW) for persons with disabilities in Israel, with reference to the committee of experts of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. The article uses a “quasi benchmarking approach”, comparing SMW the year mentioned in the abstract is not a note or reference, it is the year that the committee described in the article, was held. It can be however, removed from the abstract as long as it is mentioned in the text assessment practices in Israel, the United States and Australia. The paper discusses the merit of using such an approach and whether the proposed model, which has been accepted by the government, reflects a significant change in SMW assessment practices in Israel, and concludes that the model introduces an incremental rather than a meaningful change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the results of the world's largest ever survey of international relations (IR) scholars with an eye to establishing the particularities of the discipline in Australia and New Zealand. The survey covered the areas of teaching, research, the structure of the profession and scholars' views on foreign policy. From these results, this paper compares IR in New Zealand and Australia, and discusses the extent to which the discipline in these two countries is distinctive from its overseas counterparts, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom. The particular areas of focus include the degree to which the field in Australasia conforms to or differs from US or Commonwealth identities; epistemological and gender divides; the distinctive foci of what IR scholars in both countries teach and research; which publications are favoured and disfavoured; and the contrasting linkages between academia and the world of government and policy. We conclude with some suggestions about how the field in both countries might be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a summary of the main international and national regulations for geologic storage of carbon dioxide. The international group includes the EU Directives, London Convention, and OSPAR. For the national regulations, three countries were covered in this study: United States, Canada, and Australia. In addition to these regulations, a group of guidelines and best practice manuals were also included in this study. As discussion, although this paper recognizes that current legislations have contributed for the regulation of this technology, it is still necessary the development of new rules in other regions. Industry will not invest in large CCS plants without such regulations because of high CCS costs and large financial risks related to CCS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper critically examines the law of forum non conveniens, in particular the use of the ‘clearly inappropriate forum’ test in Australia, compared with the ‘more appropriate forum’ test applied in jurisdictions such as the UK and the US. It traces the development of the law in the UK in relation to forum non conveniens, including the English acceptance of the doctrine, and how it has been applied in various cases. Some criticism of the ‘more appropriate forum’ test is noted, and it is not recommended that the courts adopt the ‘laundry list’ approach evident in some US decisions, where up to 25 different factors are considered in assessing a forum non conveniens application. It considers the Australian ‘clearly inappropriate forum’ test, and concludes that the ‘clearly inappropriate forum’ test should no longer be followed in that it is unnecessarily parochial and is not consistent with other goals of the rules of private international law including comity. Links between Australia and the subject matter may well be tenuous. Confusion attends the application of the test in Australia at present, the court has rejected the English approach but claims to apply some of the factors mentioned in the English approach in the Australian test, and there is an undesirable schism between statutory rules applicable in domestic cases and the approach when the common law doctrine of forum non conveniens is used. The law regarding forum non conveniens should be harmonious with choice of law rules, and interest analysis can assist in formulating the desired approach to forum non conveniens applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The protective effects of allopurinol on physical function in older adults are not well understood, despite its potential to improve functional gains and reduce sarcopenia. This study aims to determine the association between allopurinol, persistent physical disability, and frailty in older gout patients. Methods: This analysis used data from a randomized trial in an older cohort, ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE). ASPREE recruited 19,114 participants aged ≥65 years without prior cardiovascular events, dementia, or independence‐limiting physical disability at trial enrolment. This analysis examined the association of baseline and time‐varying allopurinol use with persistent physical disability and new‐onset frailty in participants with gout at baseline (self‐report or use of any anti‐gout medications). Frailty was measured using the Fried frailty phenotype (score ≥3/5) and a deficit accumulation frailty index (FI) (score >0.21/1.0). Multivariable Cox proportional‐hazards models were used for main analyses. Results: This analysis included 1155 gout participants, with 630 taking allopurinol at baseline and 525 not. During a median follow‐up of 5.7 years, 113 new allopurinol users were identified. Compared with nonusers, baseline allopurinol use was associated with a significant risk reduction of persistent physical disability (Adjusted HR 0.46, 95% CI 0.23–0.92, p = 0.03). The strength of the association was modestly attenuated in the time‐varying analysis (Adjusted HR 0.56, 0.29–1.08, p = 0.08). No significant associations with frailty measures were observed for either baseline allopurinol use (Fried frailty: Adjusted HR 0.83, 0.62–1.12; FI: Adjusted HR 0.96, 0.74–1.24) or time‐varying allopurinol use (Fried frailty: Adjusted HR 0.92, 0.69–1.24; FI: Adjusted HR 1.02, 0.78–1.33). Conclusions: Allopurinol use in older adults with gout is associated with a reduced risk of persistent physical disability but not associated with risk of frailty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the parent‐proxy version of the pediatric Charcot Marie Tooth specific quality of life (pCMT‐QOL) outcome instrument for children aged 7 or younger with CMT. We have previously developed and validated the direct‐report pCMT‐QOL for children aged 8–18 years and a parent proxy version of the instrument for children 8–18 years old. There is currently no CMT‐QOL outcome measure for children aged 0–7 years old. Methods: Testing was conducted in parents or caregivers of children aged 0–7 years old with CMT evaluated at participating INC sites from the USA, United Kingdom, and Australia. The development of the instrument was iterative, involving identification of relevant domains, item pool generation, prospective pilot testing and clinical assessments, structured focus group interviews, and psychometric testing. The parent‐proxy instrument was validated rigorously by examining previously identified domains and undergoing psychometric tests for children aged 0–7. Results: The parent‐proxy pCMT‐QOL working versions were administered to 128 parents/caregivers of children aged 0–7 years old between 2010 and 2016. The resulting data underwent rigorous psychometric analysis, including factor analysis, internal consistency, and convergent validity, and longitudinal analysis to develop the final parent‐proxy version of the pCMT‐QOL outcome measure for children aged 0–7 years old. Conclusions: The parent‐proxy version of the pCMT‐QOL outcome measure, known as the pCMT‐QOL (0–7 years parent‐proxy) is a valid and sensitive proxy measure of health‐related QOL for children aged 0–7 years with CMT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether the substantial benefits reported for attending Catholic schools in the United States also exist for students of Catholic schools in Australia. The authors find that despite its relatively low cost, attendance at Australian Catholic schools increases the probability of completing high school by 17 percentage points. The evidence also suggests that attendance at Australian Catholic schools increases the probability of obtaining higher education and is associated with a superior performance in the labor market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is significant interest in comparing countries on many different indicators of social problems and policies. Cross-national comparisons of drug prevalence and policies are often hampered by differences in the approach used to reach respondents and the methods used to obtain information in national surveys. The paper explores how much these differences could affect cross-country comparisons.Methods: This study reports prevalence of drug use according to the most recent national household survey and then adjusts estimates as if all national surveys used the same methodology. The analysis focuses on European countries for which the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction reports data, the United States, Canada, and Australia. Adjustment factors are based on US data.Findings: Adjusting for modality differences appears likely to modestly affect the rankings of countries by prevalence, but to an extent that could be important for comparisons. For example, general population surveys suggest that the US had some of the highest cannabis and cocaine prevalence rates circa 2012, but this is partially driven by the use of a modality known to produce higher prevalence estimates. This analysis shows that country rankings are partly an artifact of the mode of interview used in national general population surveys.Conclusions: Our preliminary efforts suggest that cross-national prevalence comparisons, policy analyses and, other projects such as estimating the global burden of disease could be improved by adjusting estimates from drug use surveys for differences in modality. Research is needed to create more authoritative adjustment factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing use of sophisticated measurement techniques in status attainment research, more attention has been given to the effects of operational definitions on substantive interpretation. This paper reports the results of recoding and recalibrating 1965 Australian mobility data. It is shown that coding unreliability has negligible impact on estimated correlations between father's, first, and current jobs, but that different coding rules and different metrics may affect substantive results. A revised comparison of the process of status attainment in Australia and the United States confirms the artifactual nature of some differences found in an earlier comparison and shows that a new Australian status scale gives equivalent results to Duncan's SEI. The farm sector aside, the process of status attainment in Australia and the United States is basically the same, and the effective equivalence of ANU II and Duncan's SEI scale means that future comparisons of status attainment (at least in the nonfarm sector) can be made without recourse to extensive data recalibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports findings from a large mixed-method study exploring the migration to the United Kingdom (UK) of social workers trained in Australia, Canada, India, Romania, South Africa, the US, and Zimbabwe, and the migration of British trained social workers to Australia. The project aimed at exploring the motivations for migration, the experiences of integration, and the impact of culture on these. This article focuses on the quantitative findings and will use some of the qualitative data to further explain and interrogate the differences between these groups based on their country of origin. The findings show the greater challenges migrants from developing countries have experienced, including lack of recognition of their qualifications and experience, and discrimination. The findings also show that contrary to common assumptions, the migration experiences of social workers coming from Australia, Canada and the US are not as easy as expected. American social workers who migrated to the UK turned out to be the group least professionally satisfied. The British in Australia on the other hand, were the most satisfied. Implications for practice and future research are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns have been raised about an 'infodemic', with information and misinformation being spread across multiple channels and mediums. Information consumption has also been associated with increased anxiety throughout the pandemic. Thus, the present study investigates the mediating role of state anxiety on the relationship between information consumption (defined as mean frequency of information consumption multiplied by number of information sources) and COVID-19 protective behaviours. We compare results across Australian and United States samples and account for personal risk perception and belief in misinformation about COVID-19. Cross-sectional data collected between 28 and 30 April 2020 were analysed using Bayesian structural equation modelling among participants from Australia (N = 201), and the United States (N = 306). State anxiety scores were above the conventional clinical cut-off. Information consumption was positively associated with state anxiety, personal risk perception, and COVID-19 protective behaviours in the Australian and the United States samples. Additionally, the relationship between information consumption and COVID-19 protective behaviours was positively mediated by state anxiety in both nations, suggesting some functional benefits of anxiety. Differences in risk perception and belief in misinformation existed between the Australian and United States sample. Findings provide support for current guidance from organisations such as the WHO, APA, and APS on limiting information consumption to reduce anxiety. To effectively communicate critical public health messaging while minimising potential burdens on mental health, there is a need to develop and test interventions that assist people in calibrating the extent and nature of their information consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: Social engagement is an important active aging strategy to promote older adults' mental health. The purposes of this study were to compare social engagement in older populations around the world and explore associations with mental health outcomes. Materials and methods: An international cross‐sectional survey was conducted from 2017 to 2019. Data were retrieved from The International Social Survey Programme for a secondary data analysis across 30 countries. This study applied the Taxonomy of Social Activities and its six levels as operational definitions for a consistent concept of social engagement for international comparisons. Results: In total, 9403 older adults with a mean age of 72.85 ± 6.40 years responded. The highest levels of older adults' social engagement were found in Switzerland, Thailand, and New Zealand. Older adults of a higher age, with a lower educational level, who were permanently sick or disabled, who had no partner, who were widowed or whose civil partner had died, who lived alone, and who had lower self‐placement in society had significantly lower social engagement than did their counterparts. In the regression model, older adults' social engagement positively predicted general health, self‐accomplishment, and life satisfaction, but negatively predicted loneliness and depression. Conclusions: In aging societies worldwide, encouraging older adults' social engagement would be beneficial to promote mental health. Implications for nursing practice and health policies: Community professional nurses can develop strategies of social engagement based on the needs and sociodemographic factors of older adults to improve their mental health. Developing efficient strategies and local policies by learning from successful experiences in other countries is important to promote social engagement in aging societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background. Previous research focused on the clinical evidence supporting new cancer drugs' initial US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. However, targeted drugs are increasingly approved for supplementary indications of unknown evidence and benefit. Objectives. To examine the clinical trial evidence supporting new targeted cancer drugs' initial and supplementary indication approval in the US, EU, Canada, and Australia. Data and Methods. 25 cancer drugs across 100 indications were identified with FDA approval between 2009–2019. Data on regulatory approval and clinical trials were extracted from the FDA, European Medicines Agency (EMA), Health Canada (HC), Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), and clinicaltrials.gov. Regional variations were compared with χ2-tests. Multivariate logistic regressions compared characteristics of initial and supplementary indication approvals, reporting adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results. Out of 100 considered cancer indications, the FDA approved 96, the EMA 92, HC 86, and the TGA 83 (83%, p < 0.05). The FDA more frequently granted priority review, conditional approval, and orphan designations than other agencies. Initial approvals were more likely to receive conditional / accelerated approval (AOR: 2.69, 95%CI [1.07–6.77], p < 0.05), an orphan designation (AOR: 3.32, 95%CI [1.38–8.00], p < 0.01), be under priority review (AOR: 2.60, 95%CI [1.17–5.78], p < 0.05), and be monotherapies (AOR: 5.91, 95%CI [1.14–30.65], p < 0.05) than supplementary indications. Initial indications' pivotal trials tended to be shorter (AOR per month: 0.96, 95%CI [0.93–0.99], p < 0.05), of lower phase design (AOR per clinical phase: 0.28, 95%CI [0.09–0.85], p < 0.05), and enroll more patients (AOR per 100 patients: 1.19, 95%CI [1.01–1.39], p < 0.05). Conclusions. Targeted cancer drugs are increasingly approved for multiple indications of varying clinical benefit. Drugs are first approved as monotherapies in rare diseases with a high unmet need. Whilst expedited regulatory review incentivizes this prioritization, indication-specific safety, efficacy, and pricing policies are necessary to reflect each indication's differential clinical and economic value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe and North America, a few developed countries have gradually implemented an "open disclosure" mechanism characterized by openness, analysis, and learning in dealing with adverse medical events, so that the cost of medical litigation and the reoccurrence rate of adverse medical events can be decreased. The United States was the earliest country to implement an open disclosure mechanism, while Australia has developed the most comprehensive policy. This paper reviewed the histories and current status of the open disclosure mechanism in the United States and Australia to derive implications for constructing a disclosure mechanism for adverse medical events in Taiwan. Two suggestions were made after a review of the two countries' experiences. First, the dominant Department of Health should plan and conduct large-scale epidemiologic research on adverse medical events to force the medical system to face the issue of medical injury seriously. Second, social action supporters in various areas should be mobilized to propose comprehensive social legislation, promote education, and advocate for Taiwan to move toward the goal of dealing with adverse medical events with open disclosure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on non-clinical interventions that help increase the success rate of vaginal birth after caesarean section. Vaginal birth after caesarean section in a subsequent pregnancy reportedly poses the risk of uterine rupture. Non-clinical interventions may reportedly have a significant impact on the success of vaginal birth after caesarean section. These interventions include national and local guidelines, individualized information, and feedback on mode of birth rates.

Objectives: To review governmental guidelines on amalgam use worldwide and to assess trends in the usage of amalgam and composite materials in restoration of posterior teeth. Methods: A letter was sent to 24 government health agencies or representative organisations requesting details of regulations pertaining to amalgam use. A literature search was carried out in order to identify papers in which the incidence of amalgam and composite restorations was stated. Results: Ten replies were received, indicating few restrictions on the use of amalgam. Results obtained from published work appear to indicate that amalgam use is declining, but at rates which are unclear in many countries because of the paucity of published data. Amalgam use has been found to be decreasing in the USA, Australia and Scandinavia, with lesser decreases being apparent in the UK. Conclusions: There are few restrictions to the use of amalgam worldwide. In countries where data are available, such as USA, Australia and Scandinavia, amalgam use has been found to be decreasing, with smaller decreases being apparent in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cerebrovascular events, dementia, and cancer can contribute to physical disability with activities of daily living (ADL). It is unclear whether low-dose aspirin reduces this burden in aging populations. In a secondary analysis, we now examine aspirin's effects on incident and persistent ADL disability within a primary prevention aspirin trial in community-dwelling older adults.Methods: The ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) trial of daily 100 mg aspirin versus placebo recruited 19 114 healthy adults aged 70+ years (65+ years if U.S. minority) in Australia and the United States. Six basic ADLs were assessed every 6 months. Incident ADL disability was defined as inability or severe difficulty with ≥1 ADL; persistence was confirmed if the same ADL disability remained after 6 months. Proportional hazards modeling compared time to incident or persistent ADL disability for aspirin versus placebo; death without prior disability was a competing risk.Results: Over a median of 4.7 years, incident ADL disability was similar in those receiving aspirin (776/9525) and placebo (787/9589) with walking, bathing, dressing, and transferring the most commonly reported. Only 24% of incident ADL disability progressed to persistent. Persistent ADL disability was lower in the aspirin group (4.3 vs 5.3 events/1000 py; hazard ratio [HR] = 0.81, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.66-1.00), with bathing and dressing the most common ADL disabilities in both groups. Following persistent ADL disability, there were more deaths in the aspirin group (24 vs 12).Discussion: Low-dose aspirin in initially healthy older people did not reduce the risk of incident ADL disability, although there was evidence of reduced persistent ADL disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical trials for the treatment of schizophrenia now often include cognitive assessments in addition to clinical ratings of symptoms. Recently, these trials have included cross-national assessments. It is not clear if translated psychological tests produce consistent results across different languages. This paper presents the results of a study of the comparability of the results of cognitive assessments in different English-speaking countries and a number of countries where tests were translated into other languages. Performance on tests of executive functioning, verbal and visuo-spatial learning and memory, language skills, psychomotor speed, and vigilance was compared across the first episode patients with schizophrenia (n=301) assessed in six different languages (English, French, Finnish, German, Hebrew, and Afrikaans), including two different countries where patients were assessed in English and other languages: Canada (French) and South Africa (Afrikaans). The variance in performance across the sites tested in English was as large as the variance between English and non-English speakers when all tests were considered. Performance differences across English and other languages were found only for executive functions, vigilance, and psychomotor speed, with executive functioning differences nonsignificant when education was considered. No differences were found between English and non-English speakers in Canada. These results suggest that the translation of tests of memory and verbal skills can lead to consistent results across translated versions of the tests. Differences between countries were greater than differences between languages, suggesting the need to consider representativeness of patient samples in terms of local educational attainment. In general, these data support the validity of cross-national neuropsychological assessments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background and Aims: Past research has found that young smokers are more likely to make quit attempts; however, there are conflicting findings regarding age and quit success. This study examined the degree to which smoker age is related to making quit attempts and quit success. Design Ten waves of the International Tobacco Control Policy Cohort survey (ITC‐4C) collected between 2002 and 2014, with nine wave‐to‐wave transitions with predictors at the first wave predicting quit attempts and success by the next wave. Setting: Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Participants: Data from 15 874 smokers categorized into four age groups at baseline (18–24, 25–39, 40–54 and 55+ years). Measurements Age, quit attempts and success (defined as ≥ 30 days abstinence confirmed, if possible, on a third wave for recent attempts). Findings Older smokers were more likely to smoke daily (χ2 = 1557.86, r = 0.136, P < 0.001) than younger smokers. Daily smokers were less likely to report quit attempts (38.1 versus 58.2%) and to achieve 30 days of abstinence (22.9 versus 34.3%) than non‐daily smokers. Older daily smokers were less likely to make quit attempts [0.61, confidence interval (CI) = 0.54–0.70, P < 0.001], even after controlling for indicators of nicotine dependence, country, sex, education, income, relationship status and household composition, than younger smokers. Younger smokers (< 25) were more likely to succeed for at least 30 days of abstinence, but only when compared with those aged 40–54 (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.68–0.99). However, when controlling for heaviness of smoking the age effect disappeared. Significant interactions with age were found between age and intention when predicting quit attempts, and age and heaviness of smoking when predicting quit success. Conclusions: An international cohort study indicates that young smokers are more likely to attempt to quit and appear to have similar levels of success in abstaining from smoking compared with older smokers when controlling for dependence. Quit success in all ages is most predicted by lower levels of nicotine dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 outbreak raised questions about how people experience their mental health, quality of life (QoL), wellbeing and loneliness in the context of social distancing, and the use of social media during this time To examine the experience of mental health, QoL, wellbeing and loneliness and use of social media among people living in Norway, USA, UK and Australia. A cross-country comparative survey of people living in Norway, USA, UK and Australia. Relevant statistical analyses were used to examine differences between the countries and to explore associations between demographic, mental health and psychosocial variables and use of social media. There were 3810 respondents from four countries, of which 50 − 74% showed a high level of emotional distress. The Norwegian population reported significantly better mental health, QoL and wellbeing and lower levels of loneliness compared to the other countries. High-frequent use of social media after the COVID-19 outbreak was associated with poorer mental- and psychosocial health. The results suggest that the COVID-19 outbreak took a toll on people's experience of mental health, QoL, wellbeing and experienced loneliness, and high-frequent use of social media was associated with these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference organized by the Royal Society of Medicine Foundation was attended by 37 participants from Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. The discussants reviewed eight precirculated papers and concluded that society's concerns about the provision, availability, and costs of health care warranted re-examination of the assumptions and priorities of medical education. To reorient medical education to the actual and perceived health care needs of the population, specific recommendations were developed in five areas that integrate the patient, physician, and population perspectives on medical education: the medical school's goals and objectives, faculty development, undergraduate and postgraduate education, educational resources, and health intelligence. The participants also devised implementation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the nursing profession recognizes the importance of leadership behaviors, limited evidence exists on essential clinical leadership behaviors that nursing students should exhibit upon graduation. The purpose of this study was to determine if there were common leadership behaviors exhibited by recently graduated baccalaureate clinical staff nurses in the United States and Australia. A quantitative descriptive study with a comparative design was conducted using The Clinical Leadership Survey. Similar clinical leadership behaviors were reported by nurses from the two countries though there was a statistically significant difference in the overall frequency of behaviors between the two groups. Behaviors in the 'challenging the process' domain were less commonly practiced in both countries, identifying a clinical gap and opportunity for student development. This study identifies the central behaviors that should be included in baccalaureate nursing education curriculum in order to prepare students for successful transition into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to combat continuing gender inequalities in academia need to be informed by evidence about where differences occur. Citations are relevant as potential evidence in appointment and promotion decisions, but it is unclear whether there have been historical gender differences in average citation impact that might explain the current shortfall of senior female academics. This study investigates the evolution of gender differences in citation impact 1996–2018 for six million articles from seven large English‐speaking nations: Australia, Canada, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, UK, and the USA. The results show that a small female citation advantage has been the norm over time for all these countries except the USA, where there has been no practical difference. The female citation advantage is largest, and statistically significant in most years, for Australia and the UK. This suggests that any academic bias against citing female‐authored research cannot explain current employment inequalities. Nevertheless, comparisons using recent citation data, or avoiding it altogether, during appointments or promotion may disadvantage females in some countries by underestimating the likely greater impact of their work, especially in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research has suggested the positive impact of physical activity on health and wellbeing in older age, yet few studies have investigated the associations between physical activity and heterogeneous trajectories of healthy ageing. We aimed to identify how physical activity can influence healthy ageing trajectories using a harmonised dataset of eight ageing cohorts across the world. Methods: Based on a harmonised dataset of eight ageing cohorts in Australia, USA, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and Europe, comprising 130,521 older adults (Mage = 62.81, SDage = 10.06) followed-up up to 10 years (Mfollow-up = 5.47, SDfollow-up = 3.22), we employed growth mixture modelling to identify latent classes of people with different trajectories of healthy ageing scores, which incorporated 41 items of health and functioning. Multinomial logistic regression modelling was used to investigate the associations between physical activity and different types of trajectories adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and other lifestyle behaviours. Results: Three latent classes of healthy ageing trajectories were identified: two with stable trajectories with high (71.4%) or low (25.2%) starting points and one with a high starting point but a fast decline over time (3.4%). Engagement in any level of physical activity was associated with decreased odds of being in the low stable (OR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.19) and fast decline trajectories groups (OR: 0.44; 95% CI: 0.39, 0.50) compared to the high stable trajectory group. These results were replicated with alternative physical activity operationalisations, as well as in sensitivity analyses using reduced samples. Conclusions: Our findings suggest a positive impact of physical activity on healthy ageing, attenuating declines in health and functioning. Physical activity promotion should be a key focus of healthy ageing policies to prevent disability and fast deterioration in health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Implementation theories, models and frameworks offer guidance when implementing and sustaining healthcare evidence-based interventions. However, selection can be challenging given the myriad of potential options. We propose to inform a decision support tool to facilitate the appropriate selection of an implementation theory, model or framework in practice. To inform tool development, this study aimed to explore barriers and facilitators to identifying and selecting implementation theories, models and frameworks in research and practice, as well as end-user preferences for features and functions of the proposed tool.Methods: We used an interpretive descriptive approach to conduct semi-structured interviews with implementation researchers and practitioners in Canada, the United States and Australia. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim. Data were inductively coded by a single investigator with a subset of 20% coded independently by a second investigator and analyzed using thematic analysis.Results: Twenty-four individuals participated in the study. Categories of barriers/facilitators, to inform tool development, included characteristics of the individual or team conducting implementation and characteristics of the implementation theory, model or framework. Major barriers to selection included inconsistent terminology, poor fit with the implementation context and limited knowledge about and training in existing theories, models and frameworks. Major facilitators to selection included the importance of clear and concise language and evidence that the theory, model or framework was applied in a relevant health setting or context. Participants were enthusiastic about the development of a decision support tool that is user-friendly, accessible and practical. Preferences for tool features included key questions about the implementation intervention or project (e.g., purpose, stage of implementation, intended target for change) and a comprehensive list of relevant theories, models and frameworks to choose from along with a glossary of terms and the contexts in which they were applied.Conclusions: An easy to use decision support tool that addresses key barriers to selecting an implementation theory, model or framework in practice may be beneficial to individuals who facilitate implementation practice activities. Findings on end-user preferences for tool features and functions will inform tool development and design through a user-centered approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The use of registries to Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) data management plays an important role in the improvement of healthcare processes and reduction of outcomes for patients and healthcare providers. The present study aimed to compare the data management processes of CAD registries in the selected countries. Evidence Acquisition: This review study was conducted comparatively in 2019. After selecting countries based on some criteria, the required data were collected by searching valid databases, more useful search engines, and related websites to CAD registries for the selected countries as well as by sending E-mails containing a data extraction form to the related organizations. Results: Totally, five registries were chosen in the selected countries as follows: CADOSA (Australia), APPROACH (Canada), START (Italy), CLARIFY (Spain), and GWTG-CAD (US). The results showed that 60% of the selected registries made use of the electronic case report form for data gathering. The main data elements included demographic and general information, risk factors, vital sings, medication, laboratory tests results, examination results, ECG results, invasive measures and interventions, patient's status on discharge, results of follow-ups, and post-discharge outcomes. Conclusion: Developing CAD registries based on the data management principles provides the context to conduct cohort studies with very low costs. With regard to the study results, attention should be paid to data management processes, include data gathering, data processing, and information distribution, in development of CAD registries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Capturing the patient experience of living with a rare disease such as X-linked hypophosphataemia (XLH) is critical for a holistic understanding of the burden of a disease. The complexity of the disease coupled with the limited population makes elicitation of the patient burden methodologically challenging. This study used qualitative information direct from patient and caregiver statements to assess the burden of XLH.Methods: A thematic analysis was conducted on statements received during a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) online public open consultation from 15 June to 6 July 2018. Researchers and clinical experts generated themes and codes based on expected aspects of XLH burden. Statements were independently coded by two reviewers, adding additional codes as required, and analysed by frequency and co-reporting across age groups.Results: The majority of responses were submitted from UK-based patients with some from the USA and Australia, and the statements related to children, adolescents and adults. The findings suggest that the greatest burden experienced by children is associated with conventional therapy, co-reported with dosing regimen, adherence, distress and pain. During adolescence, the burden becomes increasingly complex and multi-factorial, with an increasing psychological burden. In adults, conventional therapy co-reported with bone deformity and orthopaedic surgery, as well as pain, mobility, fatigue and dental problems, featured highly.Discussion: Whilst our study was opportunistic in nature, it has highlighted the clear and distinctive evolution of the burden of XLH, transitioning from being therapy-oriented in childhood to multi-factorial in adolescence, and finally to adulthood with its high impact on need for other interventions, function and mobility. This qualitative thematic analysis enhances the understanding of the symptom and treatment burden of XLH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scoping review of published literature and dialogue with international nurse practitioner educators and researchers revealed the education of nurse practitioner students varied within and between countries. This lack of cohesiveness hinders nurse practitioner role development and practice nationally and internationally. A rapid review of grey literature was conducted on nurse practitioner education standards in six countries (Australia, Canada, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, and USA). Data were extracted from graduate level nurse practitioner education programs' websites from each country (n = 24). Extracted data were verified for accuracy and completeness with a nurse practitioner educator from each program. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Variations in nurse practitioner education within and between countries were explored by comparing admission criteria, curricular content, clinical requirements, teaching methods, and assignment and evaluative methods. The findings will help inform education programs and further research about nurse practitioner education internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Family caregivers of people at the end of life can face significant financial burden. While appropriate financial support can reduce the burden for family caregivers, little is known about the range and adequacy of financial support, welfare and benefits for family caregivers across countries with similarly developed health care systems. Aim: The aim is o identify and compare sources of financial support for family caregivers of people approaching the end of life, across six countries with similarly performing health care systems (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States). Design: A survey of financial support, welfare and benefits for end of life family caregivers was completed by 99 palliative care experts from the six countries. Grey literature searches and academic database searches were also conducted. Comparative analyses of all data sources documented financial support within and between each country. Results: Some form of financial support for family caregivers is available in all six countries; however the type, extent and reach of support vary. Financial support is administered by multiple agencies, eligibility criteria for receiving support are numerous and complex, and there is considerable inequity in the provision of support. Conclusion: Numerous barriers exist to the receipt of financial support, welfare and benefits. We identified several areas of concern, including a lack of clarity around eligibility, inconsistent implementation, complexity in process and limited support for working carers. Nonetheless, there is significant potential for policymakers to learn from other countries' experiences, particularly with regard to the scope and operationalisation of financial support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine data from Australia, Canada, and the United States to assess the potential for immigrant screening policies to influence the labor market performance of skilled immigrants. Our estimates point to improvements in employment rates and weekly earnings of male university-educated immigrants in all three countries concomitant with policy reforms. Nonetheless, the gains are modest in comparison to a substantial and persistent performance advantage of US skilled immigrants. Given that there is increasingly little to distinguish the screening policies of these countries, we interpret the US advantage as primarily reflecting the relative positive self-selectivity of US immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Survey data from 10 diverse countries were used to analyse the social location of harms from others' drinking: which segments of the population are more likely to be adversely affected by such harm, and how does this differ between societies? Methods: General‐population surveys in Australia, Chile, India, Laos, New Zealand, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United States and Vietnam, with a primary focus on the social location of the harmed person by gender, age groups, rural/urban residence and drinking status. Harms from known drinkers were analysed separately from harms from strangers. Results: In all sites, risky or moderate drinkers were more likely than abstainers to report harm from the drinking of known drinkers, with risky drinkers the most likely to report harm. This was also generally true for harm from strangers' drinking, although the patterns were more mixed in Vietnam and Thailand. Harm from strangers' drinking was more often reported by males, while gender disparity in harm from known drinkers varied between sites. Younger adults were more likely to experience harm both from known drinkers and from strangers in some, but not all, societies. Only a few sites showed significant urban/rural differences, with disparities varying in direction. In multivariate analyses, most relationships remained, although some were no longer significant. Conclusion: The social location of harms from others' drinking, whether known or a stranger, varies considerably between societies. One near‐commonality among the societies is that those who are themselves risky drinkers are more likely to suffer harm from others' drinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Considerable evidence from twin and adoption studies indicates that genetic and shared environmental factors play a role in the initiation of smoking behavior. Although twin and adoption designs are powerful to detect genetic and environmental influences, they do not provide information on the processes of assortative mating and parent-offspring transmission and their contribution to the variability explained by genetic and/or environmental factors.Methods: We examined the role of genetic and environmental factors in individual differences for smoking initiation (SI) using an extended kinship design. This design allows the simultaneous testing of additive and non-additive genetic, shared and individual-specific environmental factors, as well as sex differences in the expression of genes and environment in the presence of assortative mating and combined genetic and cultural transmission, while also estimating the regression of the prevalence of SI on age. A dichotomous lifetime 'ever' smoking measure was obtained from twins and relatives in the 'Virginia 30,000' sample and the 'Australian 25,000'.Results: Results demonstrate that both genetic and environmental factors play a significant role in the liability to SI. Major influences on individual differences appeared to be additive genetic and unique environmental effects, with smaller contributions from assortative mating, shared sibling environment, twin environment, cultural transmission, and resulting genotype-environment covariance. Age regression of the prevalence of SI was significant. The finding of negative cultural transmission without dominance led us to investigate more closely two possible mechanisms for the lower parent-offspring correlations compared to the sibling and DZ twin correlations in subsets of the data: (1) age × gene interaction, and (2) social homogamy. Neither of the mechanism provided a significantly better explanation of the data.Conclusions: This study showed significant heritability, partly due to assortment, and significant effects of primarily non-parental shared environment on liability to SI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the institutional coevolution of policy sectors - in other words, the mutual influence and adaptation of the institutional connection between related policy areas. The article proposes a two-dimensional analytical space ranging from separation to unity on one axis and from superiority/subaltern to equality on the other. The article argues that the overall governance framework behind the coevolving sectors affects the institutional relationship between the sectors. In its empirical part, the article focuses on the healthcare and public health sectors. Based on a comparative historical examination of three countries with different healthcare systems - Australia, Germany, and the United States - the article shows that healthcare and public health coevolve differently depending on the type of national healthcare system. Further research can transfer the concepts introduced in this article to the analysis of other policy challenges, such as immigration or environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is extensive health and public health literature on the 'evidence-policy gap', exploring the frustrating experiences of scientists trying to secure a response to the problems and solutions they raise and identifying the need for better evidence to reduce policymaker uncertainty. We offer a new perspective by using policy theory to propose research with greater impact, identifying the need to use persuasion to reduce ambiguity, and to adapt to multi-level policymaking systems.We identify insights from secondary data, namely systematic reviews, critical analysis and policy theories relevant to evidence-based policymaking. The studies are drawn primarily from countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. We combine empirical and normative elements to identify the ways in which scientists can, do and could influence policy.We identify two important dilemmas, for scientists and researchers, that arise from our initial advice. First, effective actors combine evidence with manipulative emotional appeals to influence the policy agenda - should scientists do the same, or would the reputational costs outweigh the policy benefits? Second, when adapting to multi-level policymaking, should scientists prioritise 'evidence-based' policymaking above other factors? The latter includes governance principles such the 'co-production' of policy between local public bodies, interest groups and service users. This process may be based primarily on values and involve actors with no commitment to a hierarchy of evidence.We conclude that successful engagement in 'evidence-based policymaking' requires pragmatism, combining scientific evidence with governance principles, and persuasion to translate complex evidence into simple stories. To maximise the use of scientific evidence in health and public health policy, researchers should recognise the tendency of policymakers to base judgements on their beliefs, and shortcuts based on their emotions and familiarity with information; learn 'where the action is', and be prepared to engage in long-term strategies to be able to influence policy; and, in both cases, decide how far you are willing to go to persuade policymakers to act and secure a hierarchy of evidence underpinning policy. These are value-driven and political, not just 'evidence-based', choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Many children are requiring tube weaning intervention as a result of increased survival rates of high risk infants and the temporary use of feeding tubes. This study aimed to describe service delivery models and treatment approaches in a variety of paediatric feeding/tube weaning programs. Method: A questionnaire on tube weaning was formulated based on a literature review. Purposive maximum variation sampling was used to include feeding/ weaning programs operating in a variety of settings and countries. Eight feeding teams in Australia, Europe and the USA agreed to participate and completed the questionnaire. Result: All teams employed sensori-motor interventions, with the majority also offering psychological interventions. Six of eight teams utilised hunger induction during the initiation of tube weaning, and in many cases this preceded eating skill development or controlled sensory modulation. Conclusion: A multi-model tube weaning approach is commonly adopted by many centres worldwide. In many cases, psychological theory and theoretical orientation is fundamental to tube weaning practice. Further investigation regarding the efficacy and effectiveness of weaning interventions is recommended to ensure clinical practice is based on sound evidence. This may present as a challenge given many interventions occur concomitantly and the psychotherapeutic experience is difficult to evaluate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]