The new world of work and employment: fitness workers and what they want from the employment relationship

This paper reports on an empirically based study of the Queensland (Australia) health and fitness industry over 15 years (1993 -2008). This study traces the development of the new occupation of fitness instructor in a service industry which has evolved si nce the 1980s and is embedded in values of consumption and individualism. It is the new world of work. The data from the 1993 study was historically significant, capturing the conditions o f employment in an unregulated setting prior to the introduction of the first industrial a ward in that industry in 1994. Fitness workers bargained directly with employers over all a spects of the employment relationship without the constraints of industrial regulation or the presence of trade unions. The substantive outcomes of the employment relationship were a direct reflection of m anagerial prerogative and worker orientation and preference, and did not reflect the rewards and outcomes traditionally found in Australian workplaces. While the focus of the 1993 research was on exploring the employment relationship in a deregulated environment, an unusual phenomenon was identified: fitness workers happily trading-off what would be considere d standard working conditions for the opportunity to work (‘take the stage’). Since then, several streams of literature have evolved providing a new context for understanding this phenomenon in the fitness industry, including: the sociology of the body (Shilling 1993; Turner 1996); emotional (Hochschild 1984) and aesthetic labour (Warhurst et al 2000); the so cial relations of production and space (Lefebvre 1991; Moss 1995); body history (Helps 2007); the sociology of consumption (Saunders 1988; Baudrillard 1998; Ritzer 2004); and work identity (Du Gay 1996; Strangleman 2004). The 2008 survey instrument replicated the 1993 study but was additionally informed b y the new literature. Surveys were sent to 310 commercial fitness centres and 4,800 fitness workers across Queensland. Worker orientation appears unchanged, and industry working conditions still seem atypical despite regulation si nce 1994. We argue that for many fitness workers the goal is to gain access to the fitness centre economy. For this they are willing to trade-off standard conditions of employment, and exchange traditional employm ent rewards for m ore intrinsic psycho-social rewards gained the through e xp o sure of their physical capital (Bourdieu 1984) o r bo dily prowess to the adoration o f their gazing clients. Building on the tradition of emotional labour and aesthetic labour, this study introduces the concept of ocularcentric labour: a state in which labour’s quest for the psychosocial rewards gained from their own body image shapes the employment relationship. With ocularcentric labour the p sycho-social rewards have greater value for the worker than ‘hard’, core conditions of employment, and are a significant factor in bargaining and outcomes, often substituting fo r direct earnings. The wo rkforce profile (young, female, casual) and their expectations (psycho-social rewards of ado ration and celebrity) challenge traditional trade unions in terms of what they can deliver, given the fitness workers’ willingness to trade-off minimum conditions, hard-won by unions.

Source location of acoustic emission waves for structural health monitoring of bridges

The process of structural health monitoring (SHM) involves monitoring a structure over a period of time using appropriate sensors, extracting damage sensitive features from the measurements made by the sensors and analysing these features to determine the current state of the structure. Various techniques are available for structural health monitoring of structures and acoustic emission (AE) is one technique that is finding an increasing use. Acoustic emission waves are the stress waves generated by the mechanical deformation of materials. AE waves produced inside a structure can be recorded by means of sensors attached on the surface. Analysis of these recorded signals can locate and assess the extent of damage. This paper describes preliminary studies on the application of AE technique for health monitoring of bridge structures. Crack initiation or structural damage will result in wave propagation in solid and this can take place in various forms. Propagation of these waves is likely to be affected by the dimensions, surface properties and shape of the specimen. This, in turn, will affect source localization. Various laboratory test results will be presented on source localization, using pencil lead break tests. The results from the tests can be expected to aid in enhancement of knowledge of acoustic emission process and development of effective bridge structure diagnostics system.

Incorporating an economic model in the health impact assessment approach

The current policy decision making in Australia regarding non-health public investments (for example, transport/housing/social welfare programmes) does not quantify health benefits and costs systematically. To address this knowledge gap, this study proposes an economic model for quantifying health impacts of public policies in terms of dollar value. The intention is to enable policy-makers in conducting economic evaluation of health effects of non-health policies and in implementing policies those reduce health inequalities as well as enhance positive health gains of the target population. Health Impact Assessment (HIA) provides an appropriate framework for this study since HIA assesses the beneficial and adverse effects of a programme/policy on public health and on health inequalities through the distribution of those effects. However, HIA usually tries to influence the decision making process using its scientific findings, mostly epidemiological and toxicological evidence. In reality, this evidence can not establish causal links between policy and health impacts since it can not explain how an individual or a community reacts to changing circumstances. The proposed economic model addresses this health-policy linkage using a consumer choice approach that can explain changes in group and individual behaviour in a given economic set up. The economic model suggested in this paper links epidemiological findings with economic analysis to estimate the health costs and benefits of public investment policies. That is, estimating dollar impacts when health status of the exposed population group changes by public programmes – for example, transport initiatives to reduce congestion by building new roads/ highways/ tunnels etc. or by imposing congestion taxes. For policy evaluation purposes, the model is incorporated in the HIA framework by establishing association among identified factors, which drive changes in the behaviour of target population group and in turn, in the health outcomes. The economic variables identified to estimate the health inequality and health costs are levels of income, unemployment, education, age groups, disadvantaged population groups, mortality/morbidity etc. However, though the model validation using case studies and/or available database from Australian non-health policy (say, transport) arena is in the future tasks agenda, it is beyond the scope of this current paper.

My place through my eyes : a social constructionist approach to researching the relationships between socioeconomic living contexts and physical activity

There is a growing evidence-base in the epidemiological literature that demonstrates significant associations between people’s living circumstances – including their place of residence – and their health-related practices and outcomes (Leslie, 2005; Karpati, Bassett, & McCord, 2006; Monden, Van Lenthe, & Mackenbach, 2006; Parkes & Kearns, 2006; Cummins, Curtis, Diez-Roux, & Macintyre, 2007; Turrell, Kavanagh, Draper, & Subramanian, 2007). However, these findings raise questions about the ways in which living places, such as households and neighbourhoods, figure in the pathways connecting people and health (Frolich, Potvin, Chabot, & Corin, 2002; Giles-Corti, 2006; Brown et al, 2006; Diez Roux, 2007). This thesis addressed these questions via a mixed methods investigation of the patterns and processes connecting people, place, and their propensity to be physically active. Specifically, the research in this thesis examines a group of lower-socioeconomic residents who had recently relocated from poorer suburbs to a new urban village with a range of health-related resources. Importantly, the study contrasts their historical relationship with physical activity with their reactions to, and everyday practices in, a new urban setting designed to encourage pedestrian mobility and autonomy. The study applies a phenomenological approach to understanding living contexts based on Berger and Luckman’s (1966) conceptual framework in The Social Construction of Reality. This framework enables a questioning of the concept of context itself, and a treatment of it beyond environmental factors to the processes via which experiences and interactions are made meaningful. This approach makes reference to people’s histories, habituations, and dispositions in an exploration between social contexts and human behaviour. This framework for thinking about context is used to generate an empirical focus on the ways in which this residential group interacts with various living contexts over time to create a particular construction of physical activity in their lives. A methodological approach suited to this thinking was found in Charmaz’s (1996; 2001; 2006) adoption of a social constructionist approach to grounded theory. This approach enabled a focus on people’s own constructions and versions of their experiences through a rigorous inductive method, which provided a systematic strategy for identifying patterns in the data. The findings of the study point to factors such as ‘childhood abuse and neglect’, ‘early homelessness’, ‘fear and mistrust’, ‘staying indoors and keeping to yourself’, ‘conflict and violence’, and ‘feeling fat and ugly’ as contributors to an ongoing core category of ‘identity management’, which mediates the relationship between participants’ living contexts and their physical activity levels. It identifies barriers at the individual, neighbourhood, and broader ecological levels that prevent this residential group from being more physically active, and which contribute to the ways in which they think about, or conceptualise, this health-related behaviour in relationship to their identity and sense of place – both geographic and societal. The challenges of living well and staying active in poorer neighbourhoods and in places where poverty is concentrated were highlighted in detail by participants. Participants’ reactions to the new urban neighbourhood, and the depth of their engagement with the resources present, are revealed in the context of their previous life-experiences with both living places and physical activity. Moreover, an understanding of context as participants’ psychological constructions of various social and living situations based on prior experience, attitudes, and beliefs was formulated with implications for how the relationship between socioeconomic contextual effects on health are studied in the future. More detailed findings are presented in three published papers with implications for health promotion, urban design, and health inequalities research. This thesis makes a substantive, conceptual, and methodological contribution to future research efforts interested in how physical activity is conceptualised and constructed within lower socioeconomic living contexts, and why this is. The data that was collected and analysed for this PhD generates knowledge about the psychosocial processes and mechanisms behind the patterns observed in epidemiological research regarding socioeconomic health inequalities. Further, it highlights the ways in which lower socioeconomic living contexts tend to shape dispositions, attitudes, and lifestyles, ultimately resulting in worse health and life chances for those who occupy them.

From surfboard wax to salient health inequity : School programs to develop globally aware and active citizens

During the past century, significant improvements in the prevention, detection and treatment of infectious disease have positively impacted upon quality and quantity of life for many people worldwide. Despite this progress, there are large numbers of people currently living in developing regions of the world where infectious disease continues unabated. SurfAid International is a humanitarian organisation that has brought significant health improvements to the people living on the Mentawai and Nias islands of Indonesia. The SurfAid International Schools Program aims to develop global citizenship and social responsibility by providing a bridge between school settings and the critical work of SurfAid International. This paper provides a rationale for the development of contextualised school based programs and identifies potential impact upon the thoughts and actions of young people in schools.

Growing demand for emergency health services in Queensland, Australia

Introduction: The demand for emergency health services (EHS), both in the prehospital (ambulance) and hospital (emergency departments) settings, is growing rapidly in Australia. Broader health system changes have reduced available health infrastructure, particularly hospital beds, resulting in reduced access to and congestion of the EHS as demonstrated by longer waiting times and ambulance “ramping”. Ambulance ramping occurring when patients have a prolonged wait on the emergency vehicle due to the unavailability of hospital beds. This presentation will outline the trends in EHS demand in Queensland compared with the rest of Australia and factors that appear to be contributing to the growth in demand. Methods: Secondary analysis was conducted using data from publicly available sources. Data from the Queensland Ambulance Service and Queensland Health Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) also were analyzed. Results: The demand for ambulance services and emergency departments has been increasing at 8% and 4% per year over the last decade, respectively; while accessible hospital beds have reduced by almost 10% contributing to the emergency department congestion and possibly contributing to the prehospital demand. While the increase in the proportion of the elderly population seems to explain a great deal of the demand for EHS, other factors also influence this growth including patient characteristics, institutional and societal factors, economic, EHS arrangements, and clinical factors. Conclusions: Overcrowding of facilities that provide EHS are causing considerable community concern. This overcrowding is caused by the growing demand and reduced access. The causes of this growing demand are complex, and require further detailed analysis in order to quantify and qualify these causes in order to provide a resilient foundation of evidence for future policy direction.

Environmental and public health issues in Mount Isa : 2007 community survey

This report presents the results of a random telephone survey of 500 adult residents of Mount Isa, conducted in early November 2007. The study was funded by Xstrata Mount Isa Mines. The primary aim of the survey was to collect data about community perceptions and experiences of air quality in Mount Isa and to compare these results with those of a similar survey conducted in 2000 (MacLennan, Lloyd & Hensley, 2000). Both surveys also included questions relating to other aspects of the Mount Isa environment (e.g. water quality, heat, amount of greenery) as well as questions aimed at ascertaining respondents’ general attitudes towards environmental protection.

Health outcomes of adults 3 months after injury

Background: Injury is a leading cause of preventable mortality and morbidity in Australia and the world. Despite this there is little research examining the health related quality of life of adults following general trauma. Methods: A prospective cohort design was used to study adults who presented to hospital following injury. Data regarding injury and demographic details was collected through the routine operation of the Queensland Trauma Registry (QTR). In addition, the short form 36 (SF-36) was mailed to patients approximately 3 months following injury. Results: Participants included 339 injured patients who were hospitalised for ≥24 h in March-June 2003. A secondary group of 145 patients completed the SF-36, but did not have QTR data collected due to hospitalisation being <24 h. Both groups of participants reported significantly lower scores on all subscales of the SF-36 when compared to Australian norms. Conclusions: Health related quality of life of injured survivors is markedly reduced 3 months after injury. Ongoing treatment and support is necessary to improve these health outcomes.

Prognosis of bearing failure based on health state estimation

This paper proposes a new prognosis model based on the technique for health state estimation of machines for accurate assessment of the remnant life. For the evaluation of health stages of machines, the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier was employed to obtain the probability of each health state. Two case studies involving bearing failures were used to validate the proposed model. Simulated bearing failure data and experimental data from an accelerated bearing test rig were used to train and test the model. The result obtained is very encouraging and shows that the proposed prognostic model produces promising results and has the potential to be used as an estimation tool for machine remnant life prediction.

Determining heavy vehicle suspension health from vibratory wheel loads

A low-cost test bed was made from a modified heavy vehicle (HV) brake tester. By rotating a test HV’s wheel on an eccentric roller, a known vibration was imparted to the wheel under test. A control case for dampers in good condition was compared with two test cases of ineffective shock absorbers. Measurement of the forces at the bearings of the roller provided an indication of the HV wheel-forces. Where the level of serviceability of the shock absorbers varied, differences in wheel load provided a quality indicator corresponding to a change of damper characteristic. Conclusions regarding the levels of damper maintenance beyond which HV suspensions cause road damage and dynamic wheel forces at the threshold of tyre wear at which HV shock absorbers are normally replaced are presented.

Privacy and security in open and trusted health information systems

The Open and Trusted Health Information Systems (OTHIS) Research Group has formed in response to the health sector’s privacy and security requirements for contemporary Health Information Systems (HIS). Due to recent research developments in trusted computing concepts, it is now both timely and desirable to move electronic HIS towards privacy-aware and security-aware applications. We introduce the OTHIS architecture in this paper. This scheme proposes a feasible and sustainable solution to meeting real-world application security demands using commercial off-the-shelf systems and commodity hardware and software products.

Open and trusted information systems/health informatics access control (OTHIS/HIAC)

Information and Communications Technologies globally are moving towards Service Oriented Architectures and Web Services. The healthcare environment is rapidly moving to the use of Service Oriented Architecture/Web Services systems interconnected via this global open Internet. Such moves present major challenges where these structures are not based on highly trusted operating systems. This paper argues the need of a radical re-think of access control in the contemporary healthcare environment in light of modern information system structures, legislative and regulatory requirements, and security operation demands in Health Information Systems. This paper proposes the Open and Trusted Health Information Systems (OTHIS), a viable solution including override capability to the provision of appropriate levels of secure access control for the protection of sensitive health data.

Getting creative in health care

Health care accounts for a substantial and growing share of national expenditures, and Australia’s health-care system faces some unprecedented pressures. This paper examines the contribution of creative expertise and services to Australian health care. They are found to be making a range of contributions to the development and delivery of health-care goods and services, the initial training and ongoing professionalism of doctors and nurses, and the effective functioning of health-care buildings. Creative activities within health-care services are also undertaken by medical professionals and patients. Key functions that creative activities address are innovation and service delivery in information management and analysis, and making complex information comprehensible or more useful, assisting communication and reducing psycho-social and distance-mediated barriers, and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of services.

Australian Association for Exercise and Sport Science position stand : optimising cancer outcomes through exercise

Cancer represents a major public health concern in Australia. Causes of cancer are multifactorial with lack of physical activity being considered one of the known risk factors, particularly for breast and colorectal cancers. Participating in exercise has also been associated with benefits during and following treatment for cancer, including improvements in psychosocial and physical outcomes, as well as better compliance with treatment regimens, reduced impact of disease symptoms and treatment-related side effects, and survival benefits for particular cancers. The general exercise prescription for people undertaking or having completed cancer treatment is of low to moderate intensity, regular frequency (3-5 times/week) for at least 20 minutes per session, involving aerobic, resistance or mixed exercise types. Future work needs to push the boundaries of this exercise prescription, so that we can better understand what constitutes optimal, desirable and necessary frequency, duration, intensity and type, and how specific characteristics of the individual (e.g., age, cancer type, treatment, presence of specific symptoms) influence this prescription. What follows is a summary of the cancer and exercise literature, in particular the purpose of exercise following diagnosis of cancer, the potential benefits derived by cancer patients and survivors from participating in exercise programs, and exercise prescription guidelines and contraindications or considerations for exercise prescription with this special population. This report represents the position stand of the Australian Association of Exercise and Sport Science on exercise and cancer recovery and has the purpose of guiding Accredited Exercise Physiologists in their work with cancer patients.