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Student and teacher wellbeing are now a prominent concern within education systems internationally. Meditation and mindfulness programs form part of the response to addressing this. Research and practice to date has focused on the benefits of such interventions for students "or" teachers, despite considerable evidence of connections between student "and" teacher wellbeing. This paper draws on data from a recent study of a meditation program in Australian primary school classrooms. The findings suggest that the practice supported the emotional and social wellbeing of both students "and" their teachers, and that these benefits presented in multiple, accumulative and often reciprocal ways.

Context: Spiritual care refers to practices and rituals addressing spiritual/religious concerns. It supports coping with loss and finding hope, meaning, and peace. Although integral to palliative care, its implementation is challenging.Objective: To understand an Australian cohort of patients' and caregivers' perspectives about experiencing and optimizing spiritual care in the context of advanced illness.Methods: Patients and caregivers of patients with ≤12 month prognosis were recruited from a broader spiritual study via criterion sampling and agreed to opt-in interviews. Participants from an Australian, metropolitan health service received a spiritual care definition and were interviewed. Transcripts were analyzed using qualitative description.Results: 30 patients (17 male; mean age 70 years) and 10 caregivers (six male; mean age 58.9 years) participated. 27 identified as Christian, and 10 had no religion. Participants described multifaceted and contested beliefs about spirituality. Many queried the tangibility of spirituality, but all valued respectful staff who affirmed personhood, that is, each individual's worth, especially when care exceeded expectations. They also resonated with positive organizational and environmental tones that improved holistic well-being. Participants stressed the importance of the hospital's welcoming context and skilled care, which comforted and reassured.Conclusion: Although many patients and caregivers did not resonate with the term "spiritual care," all described how the hospital's hospitality could affirm their values and strengthen coping. The phrase "spiritual care and hospitality" may optimally articulate and guide care in similar, pluralist inpatient palliative care contexts, recognizing that such care encompasses an interplay of generalist and specialist pastoral care staff and organizational and environmental qualities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the period between 1790 and 1914 the governments of the Australian colonies asked their populations to suspend work and amusements and join in collective acts of prayer. Australia’s special days of prayer have much historical significance and deserve more scholarly attention. They had an enduring popularity, and they were rare moments when a multi-faith and multi-ethnic community joined together to worship for a common cause. This article builds on recent work on state prayers in Britain by considering what the colonial tradition of special worship can tell us about community attachments in nineteenth-century Australia. ‘Fast days’ and ‘days of thanksgiving’ had both an imperial and a regional character. A small number of the Australian days were for imperial events (notably wars and royal occasions) that were observed on an empire-wide scale. The great majority, such as the numerous days of fasting and humiliation that were called during periods of drought, were for regional happenings and were appointed by colonial authorities. The article argues that the different types of prayer day map on to the various ways that contemporaries envisaged ‘Greater Britain’ and the ‘British world’. Prayer days for royal events helped the empire’s inhabitants to regard themselves as imperial Britons. Meanwhile, days appointed locally by colonial governments point to the strength of regional attachments. Colonists developed a sense that providence treated them differently from British communities elsewhere, and this sense of ‘national providence’ could underpin a sense of colonial difference—even a colonial nationalism. Days of prayer suggested that Greater Britain was a composite of separate communities and nationalities, but the regional feelings they encouraged could still sit comfortably with attachments to an imperial community defined by commonalities of race, religion and interest. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objectives: The aim of this research was to investigate awareness, perceived reliability and consideration of use of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) among Australians of reproductive age.Methods: A sample of 18- to 50-year-old women and men (N = 2235) was randomly recruited from the Australian electoral roll in 2013. Respondents completed a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire. Data were weighted to reduce non-response bias. Factors associated with perceived reliability and consideration of use of LARC were identified in multivariable analyses.Results: Most respondents had heard of implants (76.5%) and intrauterine contraception (63.7%). However, most did not think implants (56.3%) or IUDs (63.9%) were reliable and would not consider using implants (71.6%) or IUDs (77.5%). Those significantly more likely to perceive LARC as reliable were younger, did not regard religion as important in fertility choices, had private health insurance, had been pregnant and had had an abortion; and women who had a partner. Those more likely to consider using LARC were younger and did not regard religion as important in fertility choices; women who had private health insurance, lived in an area of socioeconomic advantage and had had an abortion; and men without a partner, born in Australia and comfortable talking to a health care provider about contraceptive matters.Conclusions: Despite high awareness of LARC among Australian adults, its perceived reliability and willingness to use it remain low in certain groups. Targeted interventions that aim to increase knowledge of the benefits and reliability of LARC and allow informed use are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, research in the USA has shown that women, and young people in particular, have become increasingly supportive of gay men. The current study used a cross-sectional, correlational design to investigate these same issues in Australia. The sample included 575 heterosexual participants, 184 men and 390 women. Because a literature search failed to identify an Australian measure of support for gay men, a Support for Gay Men Scale was developed by the researchers. Multiple regression analyses were used to investigate whether scores on the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality and the respondents’ sex predicted scores on the Support for Gay Men subscales, and the strength of these relationships. Findings reveal that this relatively young university undergraduate Australian sample indicated they strongly supported gay men. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Earlier studies, mostly overseas, have explored the reasoning and thought processes underlying women's desires to conceive. A retrospective qualitative study was conducted to explore the motivations and anxieties of an Australian sample of women proceeding to a pregnancy and to explore their decision-making process. Twenty women over 18 years old who had one or more successful pregnancies and were recruited from a tertiary centre and private clinics, completed a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. Thematic analysis was applied to the data. Multiple factors motivated women to proceed to a pregnancy and including influences arising from society or existing personal relationships, goals and desired experiences for parenthood and innate drives and reproductive related issues. The motivations of an urban Australian sample to proceed to a pregnancy differed little from studies elsewhere. This knowledge may assist in dealing with the concerns that underlie any pregnancy allowing for better obstetric management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article is a section of the book, The Tradition of the Gospel Christians: A Study of Their Identity and Theology during the Russian, Soviet, and Post-Soviet Periods by Andrey P. Puzynin (Eugene OR: Wipf and Stock Pickwick Publications, 2011), pages 18-39, and is used by permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers, http://www.wipfandstock.com, and in association with the author. This book was reviewed in our issue of October 2012 (36.4, 3723) by Dr Raymond J. Laird of Brisbane, Australia, who has kindly made the selection and provided this introduction which helps to set this excerpt in its context and highlights its significance for our readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the Eucharistic theology of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer within the wider philosophical and theological assumptions of multiformity in the Anglican Communion. The assumption of multiformity generally, and multiformity specifically in relation to aspects of the Eucharist in the 1662 BCP, is examined. The article concludes with some general reflections on the sometimes expressed normative nature of the 1662 BCP and its Eucharistic liturgy in the wider Anglican Communion and with specific comments on the constitutional situation of the Anglican Church of Australia as these relate to the 1662 BCP. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Context · Cochrane reviews have analyzed multiple studies; on intercessory prayer that treatment teams had added to health interventions; however, the reviewers could draw no conclusions about the efficacy of prayer because the studies showed either positive or no effects and used different endpoints and methodologies. Objective · The study intended to determine whether researchers could measure the impact of intercessory prayer on spiritual well-being. Design · The research team conducted a randomized blinded trial of intercessory prayer added to normal cancer treatment with participants agreeing to complete quality of life (QOL) and spiritual well-being scales at baseline and 6 months later. The research team had shown previously that spiritual well-being is an important, unique domain in the assessment of QOL. Participants remained blinded to the randomization. Based on a previous study, the research team determined that the study required a sample of 1000 participants to detect small differences (P = .05, 2-tailed, 80% power). Setting · The research team performed this research at the Royal Adelaide Hospital Cancer Centre, South Australia, Australia. Participants:'"· Participants were patients at the cancer center between June 2003 and May 2008. Of 999 participants with mixed diagnoses who completed the baseline questionnaires, 66.6% provided follow-up. The average age was 61 years, and most participants were married/de facto (living with partners), were Australians or New Zealanders living in Australia, and were Christian. Intervention · The research team asked an external group offering Christian intercessory prayer to add the study's participants to their usual prayer lists. They received! details about the participants, but this information was not sufficient to identify them. Outcome Measures · The research team used the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-being questionnaire to assess spiritual well-being and QOL. Results · The intervention group showed significantly greater improvements over time for the primary endpoint of spiritual well-being as compared to the control group (P = .03, partial &eegr;2 = .01). The study found a similar result for emotional well-being (P=.04, partial rf = .01) and functional well-being (P=.06, partial &eegr;2 = .01). Conclusions · Participants with cancer whom the research team randomly allocated to the experimental group to receive remote intercessory prayer showed small but : significant improvements in spiritual well-being! [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's insights regarding the implications of the canonization of Mary MacKillop on Catholicism in Australia. He emphasizes that the declaration of MacKillop to be saint implies that Catholics are publicly declaring their peculiar beliefs in holiness, life after death, miracles and power of prayer. He notes that the canonization of MacKillop is a provocation, a celebration of beliefs that do not suit in contemporary Australia which annoy many people particularly the anti-Catholicism.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Compulsory helmets for cyclists," by S. Gandevia in the 2004 issue.

Relates experiences on air travel in Australia. Reaction of passengers on the appearance of a thick grey smoke; Power of prayer; Books on prayers.