Developing a best practice pathway to support improvements in Indigenous Australians' mental health and well-being: A qualitative study

Objective: There is a need to adapt pathways to care to promote access to mental health services for Indigenous people in Australia. This study explored Indigenous community and service provider perspectives of well-being and ways to promote access to care for Indigenous people at risk of depressive illness. Design: A participatory action research framework was used to inform the development of an agreed early intervention pathway; thematic analysis Setting: 2 remote communities in the Northern Territory. Participants: Using snowball and purposive sampling, 27 service providers and community members with knowledge of the local context and the diverse needs of those at risk of depression were interviewed. 30% of participants were Indigenous. The proposed pathway to care was adapted in response to participant feedback. Results: The study found that Indigenous mental health and well-being is perceived as multifaceted and strongly linked to cultural identity. It also confirms that there is broad support for promotion of a clear pathway to early intervention. Key identified components of this pathway were the health centre, visiting and community-based services, and local community resources including elders, cultural activities and families. Enablers to early intervention were reported. Significant barriers to the detection and treatment of those at risk of depression were identified, including insufficient resources, negative attitudes and stigma, and limited awareness of support options. Conclusions: Successful early intervention for wellbeing concerns requires improved understanding of Indigenous well-being perspectives and a systematic change in service delivery that promotes integration, flexibility and collaboration between services and the community, and recognises the importance of social determinants in health promotion and the healing process. Such changes require policy support, targeted training and education, and ongoing promotion.

Forces shaping the future of work in a changing regional economy

This paper presents research which examined perceptions on the future of work in Queensland. It highlights the major drivers of change including: changing technology, demographics, increasing globalisation and economic shifts. Focus groups were conducted and findings show that Queensland businesses are acutely aware of the coming changes, but are less certain about how to respond. Current good practices plus recommendations for the future - particularly the lead role government and industry bodies need to play - are discussed. These recommendations will support Queensland businesses to thrive and adapt to the forces shaping work in this changing regional economy.

Rockhampton's Resilient Future Design Charrette

The QUT Centre for Subtropical Design conducted a design-led interdisciplinary collaborative workshop (charrette) to develop some initial ideas for how innovation in research and practice can be applied to the complex problem of resilient future-focussed urban renewal in Rockhampton’s flood-prone suburbs and core grid. Three creative teams explored a range of scenarios for Rockhampton’s resilience in built form over the longer term. A large number of sketches, drawings and text were produced over two days. This report identifies themes, principles and strategies which emerged from the charrette. Each group proposed multiple guiding principles that fell into three strategic approaches: defend (through construction of a levee); adapt (by designing with flood in mind); retreat (a long term view to relocate populations in flood-prone areas). All three groups identified the importance of design that accommodates art, heritage, recreation, sustainability and tourism, and proposed these as principles to guide future strategies that mediate between Rockhampton’s broader ecological landscape and urban living to accommodate more affordable housing options, demonstrate sustainability and be climate responsive to predicted increased extreme weather events including flooding. The charrette outcomes pave the way to investigate wider issues and solutions to Rockhampton’s resilient future, beyond a levee as an isolated structure.

Taking an evaluative stance to decision-making about professional development options in early childhood education and care

This article builds on our ongoing work in conceptualising an ‘evaluative stance’ framework to assist in understanding how leaders in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC) make decisions about the selection of professional development options for themselves and their staff. It introduces the notion that evaluative mindsets can be considered in terms of attitudes towards decision-making that are based on personal epistemologies. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews, it explores the mindsets of six experienced leaders in two long-established ECEC organisations in Australia with respect to their decision-making about professional development. The article concludes with a consideration of the potential utility of the framework and the coding template used in this exploratory study.

Regenerative sustainability for the built environment – from vision to reality: An introductory chapter

Regenerative sustainability is emerging as an alternative discourse around the transition from a ‘mechanistic’ to an ‘ecological’ or living systems worldview. This view helps us to re-conceptualize relationships among humans’ technological, ecological, economic, social and political systems. Through exploration of ‘net positive’ or ‘regenerative’ development lenses and the traditional sustainability literature, the conceptualization and approaches to achieve sustainable development and ecological modernization are expanded to articulate and to explore the evolving sustainability discourse, ‘regenerative sustainability’. This Special Volume of Journal of Cleaner Production (SV) is focused upon various dimensions of regenerative sustainability (e.g. regenerative design, regenerative development, and positive development) applied to the urban built environment at scales, which range from individual buildings, neighborhoods, and urban developments to integrated regional sustainable development. The main focus is on how these approaches and developments are evolving, how they can help us to prevent or adapt to climate change and how these approaches are likely to evolve in the next two to three decades. These approaches are addressed in four themes: (1) reviewing the theoretical development of the discourse of regenerative sustainability, its emerging principles and practices, (2) explaining how it can be measured and monitored, (3) providing encouraging practical pathways and examples of its implementation in multiple cultural and climatic contexts, and (4) mapping obstacles and enablers that must be addressed to help to ensure that more rapid progress is made in implementing the transitions towards an urban built environment that supports genuinely sustainable societies.

The disruptive technologies that will shape business in the years ahead

Regardless of your industry, the marketplace is continually evolving. The reason, increasingly, is the evolution of disruptive technology. Disruptive technologies are enhanced or new technological innovations that essentially displace conventional and established technology, rendering it obsolete. They can create opportunities for new products, new markets, and new ways of conducting business. In 2016, business models will again change as businesses adapt. The enhancement of current technology and the development of new technological innovations will undeniably transform how new businesses are established, and how existing businesses compete. For small and medium-sized firms, technology will also enable significant leaps forward in terms of innovation, efficiency and competitiveness. Adapting quickly will be essential, so here’s the top six we think you should be prepared for.

A bottom-up integration of vision and actions to create cognitive humanoids

In recent years more and more complex humanoid robots have been developed. On the other hand programming these systems has become more difficult. There is a clear need for such robots to be able to adapt and perform certain tasks autonomously, or even learn by themselves how to act. An important issue to tackle is the closing of the sensorimotor loop. Especially when talking about humanoids the tight integration of perception with actions will allow for improved behaviours, embedding adaptation on the lower-level of the system.

The cost-effectiveness of the MobileMums intervention to increase physical activity among mothers with young children: A Markov model informed by a randomised controlled trial

Objectives: To determine the cost-effectiveness of the MobileMums intervention. MobileMums is a 12-week programme which assists mothers with young children to be more physically active, primarily through the use of personalised SMS text-messages. Design: A cost-effectiveness analysis using a Markov model to estimate and compare the costs and consequences of MobileMums and usual care. Setting: This study considers the cost-effectiveness of MobileMums in Queensland, Australia. Participants: A hypothetical cohort of over 36 000 women with a child under 1 year old is considered. These women are expected to be eligible and willing to participate in the intervention in Queensland, Australia. Data sources: The model was informed by the effectiveness results from a 9-month two-arm community-based randomised controlled trial undertaken in 2011 and registered retrospectively with the Australian Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12611000481976). Baseline characteristics for the model cohort, treatment effects and resource utilisation were all informed by this trial. Main outcome measures: The incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) of MobileMums compared with usual care. Results: The intervention is estimated to lead to an increase of 131 QALYs for an additional cost to the health system of 1.1 million Australian dollars (AUD). The expected incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for MobileMums is 8608 AUD per QALY gained. MobileMums has a 98% probability of being cost-effective at a cost-effectiveness threshold of 64 000 AUD. Varying modelling assumptions has little effect on this result. Conclusions: At a cost-effectiveness threshold of 64 000 AUD, MobileMums would likely be a cost-effective use of healthcare resources in Queensland, Australia. Trial registration number: Australian Clinical Trials Registry; ACTRN12611000481976.

The impact of a streamlined funding application process on application time: Two cross-sectional surveys of Australian researchers

Objective: To examine if streamlining a medical research funding application process saved time for applicants. Design: Cross-sectional surveys before and after the streamlining. Setting: The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia. Participants: Researchers who submitted one or more NHMRC Project Grant applications in 2012 or 2014. Main outcome measures: Average researcher time spent preparing an application and the total time for all applications in working days. Results: The average time per application increased from 34 working days before streamlining (95% CI 33 to 35) to 38 working days after streamlining (95% CI 37 to 39; mean difference 4 days, bootstrap p value <0.001). The estimated total time spent by all researchers on applications after streamlining was 614 working years, a 67-year increase from before streamlining. Conclusions: Streamlined applications were shorter but took longer to prepare on average. Researchers may be allocating a fixed amount of time to preparing funding applications based on their expected return, or may be increasing their time in response to increased competition. Many potentially productive years of researcher time are still being lost to preparing failed applications.

Individual difference predictors of change in career adaptability over time

Career adaptability is a psychosocial construct that reflects individuals' resources for managing career tasks and challenges. This study investigated the effects of demographic characteristics and three sets of individual difference variables (Big Five personality traits, core self-evaluations, and temporal focus) on changes over time in career adaptability and its dimensions (concern, control, curiosity, and confidence). Data came from 659 full-time employees in Australia who participated in two measurement waves six months apart. Results showed that age and future temporal focus predicted change in overall career adaptability. In addition, age, education, extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, core self-evaluations, and future temporal focus differentially predicted change over time in one or more of the four career adaptability dimensions. While the lagged effects found in this study were generally small, the findings suggest that certain individual difference characteristics predispose employees to experience change in career adaptability over time.

Career adaptability predicts subjective career success above and beyond personality traits and core self-evaluations

The Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) measures career adaptability as a higher-order construct that integrates four psychosocial resources of employees for managing their career development: concern, control, curiosity, and confidence. The goal of the present study was to investigate the validity of the CAAS with regard to its effects on two indicators of subjective career success (career satisfaction and self-rated career performance) above and beyond the effects of employees' Big Five personality traits and core self-evaluations. Data came from a large and heterogeneous sample of employees in Australia (N=1723). Results showed that overall career adaptability positively predicted career satisfaction and self-rated career performance above and beyond the Big Five personality traits and core self-evaluations. In addition, concern and confidence positively predicted the two indicators of subjective career success. The findings provide further support for the incremental validity of the CAAS.

Career adaptability and career entrenchment

Career adaptability constitutes a resource that can help employees to effectively manage career changes and challenges. The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between the two higher-order constructs of career adaptability and career entrenchment (i.e., the perceived inability and/or unwillingness to pursue new career opportunities), as well as relationships among the dimensions of career adaptability and career entrenchment. We hypothesized a negative relationship between overall career adaptability and career entrenchment, and more differentiated associations among their dimensions. Data for this study came from 404 employees in Brazil. Results of structural equation modeling showed that overall career adaptability weakly negatively predicted overall career entrenchment (standardized effect = − .13), after controlling for age, gender, education, and job tenure. More differentiated findings emerged at the dimension level. Future research should examine the mechanisms and boundary conditions of the relationship between career adaptability and career entrenchment.

Theoretical results of QoS-guaranteed resource scaling for cloud-based MapReduce

Quality of Service (QoS) is a new issue in cloud-based MapReduce, which is a popular computation model for parallel and distributed processing of big data. QoS guarantee is challenging in a dynamical computation environment due to the fact that a fixed resource allocation may become under-provisioning, which leads to QoS violation, or over-provisioning, which increases unnecessary resource cost. This requires runtime resource scaling to adapt environmental changes for QoS guarantee. Aiming to guarantee the QoS, which is referred as to hard deadline in this work, this paper develops a theory to determine how and when resource is scaled up/down for cloud-based MapReduce. The theory employs a nonlinear transformation to define the problem in a reverse resource space, simplifying the theoretical analysis significantly. Then, theoretical results are presented in three theorems on sufficient conditions for guaranteeing the QoS of cloud-based MapReduce. The superiority and applications of the theory are demonstrated through case studies.

School policies on bullying and cyberbullying: Perspectives across three Australian states

Background Despite decades of research, bullying in all its forms is still a significant problem within schools in Australia, as it is internationally. Anti-bullying policies and guidelines are thought to be one strategy as part of a whole school approach to reduce bullying. However, although Australian schools are required to have these policies, their effectiveness is not clear. As policies and guidelines about bullying and cyberbullying are developed within education departments, this paper explores the perspectives of those who are involved in their construction. Purpose This study examined the perspectives of professionals involved in policy construction, across three different Australian states. The aim was to determine how their relative jurisdictions define bullying and cyberbullying, the processes for developing policy, the bullying prevention and intervention recommendations given to schools and the content considered essential in current policies. Sample Eleven key stakeholders from three Australian states with similar education systems were invited to participate. The sample selection criteria included professionals with experience and training in education, cyber-safety and the responsibility to contribute to or make decisions which inform policy in this area for schools in their state. Design and methods Participants were interviewed about the definitions of bullying they used in their state policy frameworks; the extent to which cyberbullying was included; and the content they considered essential for schools to include in anti-bullying policies. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically. Findings Seven themes were identified in the data: - (1) Definition of bullying and cyberbullying; - (2) Existence of a policy template; - (3) Policy location; - (4) Adding cyberbullying; - (5) Distinguishing between bullying and cyberbullying; - (6) Effective policy, and; - (7) Policy as a prevention or intervention tool. The results were similar both across state boundaries and also across different disciplines. Conclusion Analysis of the data suggested that, across the themes, there was some lack of information about bullying and cyberbullying. This limitation could affect the subsequent development, dissemination and sustainability of school anti-bullying policies, which have implications for the translation of research to inform better student outcomes.

Contemplating Knudsen's Baseline: Where small is not so beautiful

Does the Internet's World Wide Web (the web) represent an opportunity or threat to the small firms of the world? In line with recent calls for entrepreneurship research to adopt a more evolutionary approach, this article considers the context, process, and possible outcomes of small place-based firms operating in a web-impacted environment. Despite initial optimism that the web would provide a level-playing field for firms of all sizes, little evidence exist to support such a notion. When the learning abilities deemed necessary to exploit the web are considered, it would seem that only the most entrepreneurial of small firms would likely adapt to web-impacted environments. It is concluded that the present rate of web-based change represents a unique and valuable research opportunity for entrepreneurship researchers.