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Issue Addressed: The university campus environment is unique and complex, with students and staff members experiencing increasing levels of stress and anxiety over time. One intervention being used internationally to alleviate stress and anxiety is an Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI). This research aimed to explore Australian university students' and staff members' perspectives on an AAI prior to implementation. Methods: This study used an explanatory mixed methods approach. Student participants were recruited through posts on a university's subject sites and via social media. University staff member participants were recruited through emails from managers or department newsletters. Data were collected through an online anonymous survey and subsequent semi‐structured interviews. Quantitative data were analysed with SPSS and qualitative data were analysed via thematic analysis. Results: Data included 344 survey responses and 45 semi‐structured interviews. Survey responses indicated a large majority of participants believe an AAI could promote health on campus. This was due to the range of benefits participants felt an AAI could have on campus (such as reducing stress and anxiety, providing opportunities for a break from work or study, social benefits, and enhancing the university environment). In interviews, participants suggested an AAI could contribute towards a positive university environment and help promote other services on campus; provided it considers those not interested in participating. So What?: If implemented sustainably, an AAI has potential to contribute towards a positive university environment for both staff and students, by potentially reducing the high rates of stress and anxiety the university community are currently experiencing. An AAI could also help to raise awareness of other health services on campus, further contributing towards promoting positive mental health and wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we aimed to inform implementation of an animal-assisted intervention (AAI) in an Australian university setting by exploring previously implemented university AAIs. Universities internationally have attempted to address growing concerns around student and staff stress and anxiety by adopting AAIs. However, despite stress and anxiety being common among Australian students and staff, studies are yet to investigate the implementation of an AAI as a strategy to promote health and well-being in this context. Twelve academics who had previously implemented AAIs were recruited via purposeful intensity sampling, with data collected via semistructured interviews. Our findings highlight several facilitators to successful implementation of an AAI, along with strategies used to overcome barriers. Understanding how to amplify strengths and minimize challenges will support Australian universities to implement successful AAIs on campus and, in turn, assist in promoting improved student and staff well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the sustainability of the food culture at Deakin University and to determine what the barriers to increasing the sustainability of food on the Burwood campus may be. Design/methodology/approach: An online survey of staff and students from the Faculty of Health at the Burwood campus of Deakin University (n = 697) was undertaken. The survey included questions relating to eating habits on campus, views on the current food culture, food security, food disposal, visions for the future and demographic information. In addition, a short paper-based survey was developed for the ten food outlets on campus. Findings: The results show that although sustainability considerations are important to staff and students, cost is the main issue and is a significant barrier to the development of a more sustainable food culture. It is also a significant barrier to staff and students making healthy choices when it comes to the purchase of food on campus. However, sustainable food initiatives such as community gardens could help alleviate this barrier and also contribute to improving student engagement. Research limitations/implications: The online survey was limited to the Faculty of Health, and, therefore, a potential bias exists towards individuals who may have an interest in health. This should be considered when interpreting the results. Originality/value: This research demonstrates that although cost may be a barrier to universities improving the sustainability of their food culture, there are other ways in which universities can create an environment that embraces sustainable food production to benefit both the environment and the university community.

Young adults in modern society are pursuing a range of pathways into independence, pathways that often include returning home. Research around returning home often relies on survey data that was collected in the 1980s and 1990s. This data has contributed to the often negative perception of "returning" that has dominated our understanding. This article instead draws on recent qualitative interviews with 22- to 30-year-olds in Melbourne to explore their diverse experiences of returning to the parental home. Positioning these experiences within the wider context of literature on patterns of returning home reveals that our negative perceptions of this process may need to be reconsidered.

With levels of stress and anxiety rising among the university community, universities worldwide are implementing animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) on campus. However, to date, little is known about how to implement these initiatives. Questions also remain as to the impact of evaluated AAIs on health and wellbeing. Therefore, this study sought to review the implementation and effectiveness of previous AAIs in university settings. Electronic databases ProQuest Central, Gale and 16 databases within EBSCOHost were searched with key words, such as AAI, and university or college students for relevant articles. Inclusion criteria included primary research studies that measured a health, wellbeing or behavioural outcome. A total of 47 articles met inclusion criteria, including 24 RCTs. There was limited reporting on the implementation of AAIs in the higher education setting. A total of 11 different mental health and behavioural outcomes have been summarized, with stress, anxiety and mood providing favourable results. An AAI on campus may provide a form of stress and anxiety relief for the university community. Other mental health and behavioural outcomes require further research to determine their effectiveness. These findings highlight that an AAI on campus could potentially provide a form of stress and anxiety relief, and could be a strategy for addressing rising levels of psychological stress and mental health issues among university students and staff in Australia and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, New Urban Agenda and Paris Agreement on Climate Change are blueprints for health promotion action that mandate human health is linked inextricably to the health of the environment. In the Anthropocene, new indicators are required to promote community engagement with, and measurement of, healthy and sustainable wellbeing for people and planet. This study explored the need for a metric such as the Happy Planet Index that explicitly links human health to health of the environment for a local level scale in Australia. The project arose from an international coalition of health promoters advocating for 'planetary health' approaches. Qualitative description methods guided the study design involving key informant interviews (n = 17) and four focus groups (n = 27 participants) with health and/or sustainability academics, practitioners and policy-makers. Document analysis of health and environment indices and policy mandates augmented the analysis. Qualitative content analysis techniques were used to analyse the findings. There was strong interest for a local level composite indicator, such as a rescaled Happy Planet Index (life expectancy × life satisfaction × equity adjustment/ecological footprint) for use at a local level. The value of a composite index was: its ability to promote community engagement with planetary health thinking; an advocacy tool for joint health and sustainability policy; to justify programs on health and environmental co-benefits; and to provide a mechanism for correlative comparisons between local governments and national comparisons. However, disciplinary silos currently limit partnerships for health promotion and planetary health and a local composite index could help bridge these divides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, many built environments fail to meet the accessibility needs of people with disability. This is despite people with disability agitating for built environment accessibility improvement for many decades. This paper applies a grounded thematic analysis to review global literature to determine what constitutes an accessible and inclusive city and to discover global benchmarks of accessible and inclusive cities for people with disability. We identified five (composite) domains that an accessible and inclusive city would include: 1. Connectivity (spatial & digital); 2. Economic participation, employment and education; 3. Housing; 4. Community and social infrastructure; and 5. Processes of engagement and inclusion. We also identified a number of global accessible and inclusive city exemplars, including Breda, the Netherlands and Gdynia, Poland. From the global review of exemplars and definitions, domains and indicators, areas of practical action were identified that require multi-entity, multisector collaborations with influential partners addressing all prioritised domains. These actions included: the need to include those with lived experience of disability in the planning and design of environments and services; the need to work across the linked domains of the built form, services, attitudes, and economic participation; and the need to revise construction, design, planning and architectural education to foreground the needs and requirements of those with disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]