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A strong First Nations health workforce is necessary to meet community needs, health rights, and health equity. This paper reports the findings from a national survey of Australia's First Nations people employed in health services to identify enablers and barriers to career development, including variations by geographic location and organisation type. A cross-sectional online survey was undertaken across professions, roles, and jurisdictions. The survey was developed collaboratively by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal academics and Aboriginal leaders. To recruit participants, the survey was promoted by key professional organisations, First Nations peak bodies and affiliates, and national forums. In addition to descriptive statistics, logistic regression was used to identify predictors of satisfaction with career development and whether this varied by geographic location or organisation type. Of the 332 participants currently employed in health services, 50% worked in regional and remote areas and 15% in Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) with the remainder in government and private health services. All enablers identified were associated with satisfaction with career development and did not vary by location or organisation type. "Racism from colleagues" and "lack of cultural awareness," "not feeling supported by their manager," "not having role models or mentors," and "inflexible human resource policies" predicted lower satisfaction with career development only for those employed in government/other services. First Nations people leading career development were strongly supported. The implications for all workplaces are that offering even a few career development opportunities, together with supporting leadership by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, can make a major difference to satisfaction and retention. Concurrently, attention should be given to building managerial cultural capabilities and skills in supporting First Nations' staff career development, building cultural safety, providing formal mentors and addressing discriminatory and inflexible human resources policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to suggest how well-being messages are recontextualized into school-based contexts from an analysis of national policy and state curricular approaches to health education as reported in the findings of two selected case studies as well as community concerns about young people's well-being. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional review of Australian federal and state-level student well-being policy documents was undertaken. Using two case examples of school-based in-curricular well-being programs, the paper explores how discourses from these well-being policy documents are recontextualized through progressive fields of translation and pedagogic decision making into local forms of curriculum. Findings: Pedagogic messages about well-being in Australia are often extra-curricular, in that they are rarely integrated into one or across existing subject areas. Such messages are increasingly focused on mental health, around phenomena such as bullying. Both case examples clearly demonstrate how understandings of well-being respond to various power relations and pressures emanating from stakeholders within and across official pedagogic fields and other contexts such as local communities. Originality/value: The paper focusses on presenting an adaptation of Bernstein's (1990) model of social reproduction of pedagogic discourse. The adapted model demonstrates how "top-down" knowledge production from the international disciplines shaping curriculum development and pedagogic approaches can be replaced by community context-driven political pressure and perceived community crises. It offers contemporary insight into youth-at-risk discourses, well-being approaches and student mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many GPs undertake postpartum care for women and their infants. GP follow-up enables early identification and management of problems, education and support for parenting, and reconnection with general practice following the birth. However, there is little information about GPs' understanding of their role in postpartum care and how it is undertaken. This cross-sectional survey of GPs in Southern Queensland, conducted between February and July 2013, describes the involvement of GPs in postpartum care. GPs were posted a 52-item questionnaire adapted from a previous Victorian GP study and were telephoned 2 weeks later. GPs completed the survey on paper or online. The response rate was 17.4% (163 GPs). Approximately 39% were uncertain whether women were happy with the GP-provided postpartum care. GPs' recommendations for the timing of postpartum reviews were inconsistent within and across birthing sectors and consultations took longer than anticipated. Developing guidelines around the timing and appropriate length of postpartum consultations could assist GPs in providing appropriate care for mothers and infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was identified in Australia. During the pandemic, as essential workers, hospital-based social workers have been on the frontline. This cross-sectional study examines the resilience of social workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, how the pandemic impacted on social work and lessons learnt. Hospital social workers working in three states, namely Victoria, Queensland, and New South Wales were invited to participate in an online web-based survey, providing non-identifiable demographic details and information a) relating to their proximity to COVID-19, b) their degree of resilience (CD-RISC-2), c) professional quality of life, d) perceived social support, e) physical health, f) professional and personal growth during the pandemic, and g) impacts of COVID-19 on their practice. Basic descriptive statistics were computed for variables of interest. Within group, comparisons were made using paired t-tests or one-way ANOVAs for continuous variables as appropriate to investigate possible interstate differences. Regression analyses were conducted to determine which factors contribute to resilience. Social workers, during the pandemic, whether working under the constraints of lockdown or not, demonstrated high levels of resilience. These levels were similar across the three states, unaffected by the degree of infection in the community, indicating that as a group, social workers have high innate levels of resilience. This study provides an in-depth understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on hospital social workers, the long-term impact of the pandemic on social work practice, and potentially useful lessons learnt for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A significant barrier to the access of safe abortion is the lack of trained abortion providers. Recent studies show that with appropriate education, nurses and midwives can provide abortions as safely as medical practitioners. Aims: To examine the attitudes and practices of registered midwives (RMs) and sexual health nurses (SHNs) in Queensland toward abortion. Materials and Methods: A cross‐sectional mixed‐methods questionnaire was distributed to RMs and SHNs from the Queensland Nursing and Midwifery Union. Data were described and analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Results: There was a 20% response rate (n = 624) to the survey from the overall study population. There were 53.5% who reported they would support the provision of abortion in any situation at all; 7.4% held views based on religion or conscience that would make them completely opposed to abortion. There were 92.9% who felt that education surrounding abortion should be part of the core curriculum for midwifery and/or nursing students in Australia. The qualitative responses demonstrated a variety of views and suggestions regarding the practice of abortion. Conclusions: There was a wide variation in views toward induced abortion from RMs and SHNs in Queensland. While a proportion of respondents opposed abortion in most circumstances, a significant group was in support of abortion in any situation and felt involvement in initiating and/or performing abortion would be within the scope of RMs and SHNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: Health consciousness highlights the readiness of individuals to undertake health actions and take responsibility for their health and the health of others. AIM: To examine the health consciousness of Australians and its association with health status, health-care utilisation and sociodemographic factors. METHODS: This quantitative cross-sectional study was a part of a larger project aiming to engage the general public in health-care decision-making. Adults from Queensland and South Australia (n = 1529) were recruited to participate by a panel company. The questionnaire included the Health Consciousness Scale (HCS), health status, health-care utilisation, sociodemographic and socioeconomic variables. RESULTS: The health consciousness of Australians was relatively low (mean score = 21), compared to other international administrations of the HCS, and further investigations revealed that more health-conscious people tended to live in South Australia, be female and single, experience poorer physical and mental health and were more frequent users of health-care services. DISCUSSION: The general approach to health in this sample of the Australian public may reflect 'here and now' concerns. It appears that an attitude of 'she'll be right, mate' prevails until a change in an individual's health status or their exposure to the health system demands otherwise. These findings need to be investigated further to see if they are confirmed by others and to clarify the implications for primary health programmes in Australia in redressing the public's apparent apathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refugee women-at-risk represent a distinct and vulnerable refugee population. We investigated the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Loss Scale (MLS) with 104 women-at-risk, recently-arrived in Australia. Cross-sectional survey included: the MLS (indexing loss events and loss distress); Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (Indexing Trauma Events and Trauma Symptoms), and; Hopkins Symptom Checklist-37 (indexing anxiety, depression, and somatization symptoms). Exploratory factor analyses of MLS loss distress revealed a six-factor model (loss of symbolic self; loss of home; loss of interdependence; loss of past aspirations; interpersonal loss, and; loss of intrapersonal integrity). Cronbach alphas indicated satisfactory internal consistency for loss events (0.83) and distress (0.88). Correlations supported convergent validity of loss distress with trauma symptoms (r = 0.41) and divergent validity with anxiety (r = 0.09), Depression (r = 0.29), and somatic (r = 0.24) symptoms. Findings support MLS use in assessment of loss and associated distress with refugee women-at-risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored current physiotherapy practice trends for management of children who are overweight or obese. The professional needs of physiotherapists working with this population were also assessed, including the perceived need for physiotherapy clinical guidelines for prevention and management of children with obesity. Across-sectional survey design was used, with questionnaires purposefully distributed through 13 key physiotherapy services throughout Australia. Snowball sampling resulted in completed questionnaires from 64 physiotherapists who provided services to children. Half (n = 33,52%)of respondents provided services specifically to overweight or obese children. Of those providing services, one-quarter had prior training specific to working with this population. Most used multi-disciplinary models (n = 16, 76%) and provided under 5 h of obesity-related services each week (n = 29, 88%). Half (n = 16, 49%) used body mass index as an outcome measure but more (n = 25, 76%) used bodyweight. Only 14 (42%) assessed motor skills. The majority of respondents (n = 57, 89%) indicated a need for physiotherapy guidelines to best manage overweight and obese children. Professional development priorities included: 'Educating children and families', 'Assessment methods' and 'Exercise prescription' for overweight and obese children. This data provides workforce intelligence to guide future professional training and inform development of clinical guidelines for physiotherapists in prevention and management of children with obesity and related chronic disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim This study examined the importance and performance of middle managers' skills to provide a starting point for a sector-wide leadership and management framework. Background There is an increasing consensus that the quality of management, leadership and performance of any organisation is directly linked to the capabilities of its middle managers and the preparation and on-going training they receive. Method A total of 199 middle managers from three aged care organisations in Australia participated in a questionnaire conducted during 2010-2011. Result This study found that middle managers perceived the need to develop their communication skills, self-awareness, change management, conflict resolution and leadership skills. Conclusion Middle managers perceive a discrepancy between performance and importance of various managerial skills. This study demonstrated that provision of training needs to go beyond clinical skills development and further investigation into managers' needs is necessary, particularly considering the diversity of this critical group in organisations. Implications for nursing management Future training opportunities provided to middle managers need to address the 'softer' skills (e.g. communication) rather than 'technical' skills (e.g. clinical skills). The provision of training in these skills may improve their performance, which may also lead to increased job satisfaction, continuity in leadership and management and ultimately improvements in the quality of care provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]