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Frequently referred to as 'sexting' or 'amateur pornography', digital sexual images and videos form an increasingly common part of adult sexual relationships. However, the vocabulary available to speak about these practices is limited, with 'sexting' often associated with young people in negative terms. This study is based on 23 interviews with adults in Australia who are 25 years and older. It explores the language adults employ to discuss and comprehend the creation and sharing of sexualised images and videos. Findings show that negative or positive connotations associated with the terms used to discuss sexual images and videos influenced the ways participants drew on, or rejected, terms to align digital practices with their sexual subjectivity. Reticence to engage in active communication about digital sexual practices, and participant's distancing of their own practices from the terms commonly understood to refer to such practices, made it difficult to engage in conversations about consent or desire in the context of digitally mediated sex. Findings provide insight into the ways that -digital sexual subjectivities are discursively framed and extend these implications for sexual health promotion with respect to how to frame messages of digital sexual safety in a sex-positive and open way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La Trobe University is committed to improving the first year experience, and to developing its online teaching portfolio in response to increasing student demand. This article will acknowledge that these two objectives will remain contradictory if online learning systems are used predominantly as repositories of information with little thought given to their specific pedagogic possibilities. The article will then present a case study of an "Signature Subject" that was developed to actively promote learner-material, learner-learner and learner-lecturer engagement in an entirely online environment, through use of synchronous and asynchronous sessions. Background to subject development will be provided, followed by discussion of challenges faced, responses to challenges and outcomes in terms of student response. The article will conclude by arguing that, as universities increase their use of online learning due to the changing university environment, this does not have to lead to reduced student engagement or poorer first year experiences. (Contains 1 figure.)

Young adults, aged 18-30 years, are disproportionally mentioned in sexually transmissible infection surveillance data both in Australia and internationally. This contributes to categorising young adults as an 'at risk' group in health policy. How young adults are framed in policy, and what informs this, have direct implications for policy priorities and responses, including the development of health promotion programmes. In this paper, we provide a case study of Australia's "National Strategies for Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmissible Infections" from 2005 to 2017. We identify how 'young adults' as a population are masked by, and subsumed within, the broader category of 'young people' within these strategies. As a result, young adults become framed by default as a 'risk category' that requires education to correct its deficits, regardless of personal experience. For health promotion to advocate, mediate and enable better sexual health outcomes, a policy environment is needed that reflects the changing social and cultural contexts and sexual independence that young adults experience. Sexual health policies should reflect the complexity and opportunities of young adulthood if we are to offer an enabling policy environment for innovative and nuanced health promotion strategies, including adult appropriate health education.

Background: LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or intersex) communities are increasingly recognized as a vulnerable and high-risk population in oncology. LGBTQI cancer carers, including carers who are LGBTQI and other carers of LGBTQI people, experience many of the same stressors as LGBTQI patients but their support needs are often overlooked in the cancer literature. Method: This mixed-methods study examined distress and quality of life in LGBTQI cancer carers. Online surveys were completed by 129 carers and 31 carers took part in a one-to-one semi-structured interview. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) tested for differences in psychosocial outcomes and carer experiences by gender, sexuality, age, carer relationship and carer/patient LGBTQI status. Reflexive thematic analysis of interviews and open-ended survey responses facilitated in-depth examination of subjective experiences. Results: 42.6% of participants reported high or very high distress. Distress was significantly positively correlated with discrimination in cancer care, health impact, financial impact and lack of family support; it was negatively correlated with comfort in LGBTQI sexuality and gender identity, social support and quality of life. Four themes were identified in thematic analysis of qualitative data: (1) Identity on the sidelines: LGBTQI sexuality and gender pushed aside during cancer caregiving; (2) Fear of being shut-out: rejection and exclusion of LGBTQI cancer carers; (3) Lack of support for LGBTQI caregivers; and (4) Closer and stronger relationships due to a culture of mutual caregiving. Conclusions: LGBTQI cancer carers must contend with typical caregiving demands whilst also managing additional minority stressors, including discrimination, rejection from family, isolation from LGBTQI communities, and invisibility in healthcare and support services. Despite this, LGBTQI carers showed resilience in building their own mutually supportive networks to rally around the person with cancer, which were reported to ameliorate psychosocial vulnerabilities. Service providers need to recognize the needs of LGBTQI cancer carers through inclusive and reflective practices. This will facilitate trust and patient and carer sexuality and gender identity disclosure, with positive consequences for wellbeing and satisfaction with cancer care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a qualitative study on masculinity, embodiment and sexuality, we interviewed men who were recreational gym-goers about their bodywork practices in Melbourne, Australia. We also asked whether the men had used performance and image-enhancing drugs (PIEDs) as an adjunct to their bodywork practices. While none had used PIEDs, all were considering, or had considered, using them. We found that participants held varying opinions on PIED use and those who used them. The literature on PIEDs noted men's concerns with body appearance and health and focused largely on individual problematic use, but non-users were not mentioned. A second issue in the literature focused on social influences on PIED use, but again with no mention of non-users. Discussion on risk reduction as a public health response did not mention non-users either. This paper, therefore, reports on non-users' thoughts on, regular exposure to, and considerations of PIEDs and other men who use them. We propose that PIEDs might more usefully be understood as an everyday, if contradictory, consideration within most men's bodywork and health practices. We argue that PIEDs constitute a discursive practice exposing a potentiality that engages non-users also and this requires new health promotion approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]