Socioeconomic status and its effect on pregnancy and childbirth : paramedic considerations in the prehospital setting

This poster aims to identify the role that socioeconomic status plays in determining poor health outcomes in pregnancy and childbirth. It brings to light the limitations and complications that a person in a lower socioeconomic society may face, and the effect that this possibly has on the health of the mother and child. A review of the peer reviewed literature was undertaken which identified three key areas relating to pregnancy in lower socioeconomic areas. These were social and emotional matters, lifestyle factors and financial issues. Particular focus has been put on understanding these issues from a paramedic perspective and how this can assist in both the treatment and education of patients in the pre-hospital environment. While there has been sufficient research into the three individual areas highlighted in the literature which affect pregnant patients living in lower socioeconomic communities, this poster has drawn these topics together to create an overview of a subject which is complex and multifaceted.

‘Ngulluck Katitj Wah Koorl Koorliny/ Us mob going along learning to research together’ : drawing on action research to develop a literature review on Indigenous gendered health and wellbeing

This paper describes the collaborative work practices of the Health and Wellbeing Node within the National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN). The authors reflect on the processes they used to research and develop a literature review. As a newly established research team, the Health and Wellbeing Node members developed a collaborative approach that was informed by Action Research practices and underpinned by Indigenous ways of working. The authors identify strong links between Action Research and Indigenous processes. They suggest that, through ongoing cycles of research and review, the NIRAKN Health and Wellbeing Node developed a culturally safe, respectful and trulycollaborative way of working together and forming the identity of their work group. In this paper, they describe their developing work processes and explain the way that pictorial conceptual models contributed to their emerging ideas.

Models of survivorship care provision in adult patients with haematological cancer : an integrative literature review

Purpose: Increasing numbers of haematology cancer survivors warrants identification of the most effective model of survivorship care to survivors from a diverse range of haematological cancers with aggressive treatment regimens. This review aimed to identify models of survivorship care to support the needs of haematology cancer survivors. Methods: An integrative literature review method utilised a search of electronic databases (CINAHL, Medline, PsycInfo, PubMed, EMBASE, PsycArticles, Cochrane Library) for eligible articles (up to July 2014). Articles were included if they proposed or reported the use of a model of care for haematology cancer survivors. Results: Fourteen articles were included in this review. Eight articles proposed and described models of care and six reported the use of a range of survivorship models of care in haematology cancer survivors. No randomised controlled trials or literature reviews were found to have been undertaken specifically with this cohort of cancer survivors. There was variation in the models described and who provided the survivorship care. Conclusion: Due to the lack of studies evaluating the effectiveness of models of care, it is difficult to determine the best model of care for haematology cancer survivors. Many different models of care are being put into practice before robust research is conducted. Therefore well-designed high quality pragmatic randomised controlled trials are required to inform clinical practice.

Child and youth sport in rurally remote regions of Australia: the views of a north Queensland community

This study addresses the under-researched area of community sport in rurally isolated contexts. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews with teachers, children, parents, and local community members from a small township in an isolated North Queensland region. The data indicate that community sport for young people is circumstantially difficult in some regional centres, but is none-the-less viewed differently by different sectors of the community. There is much value ascribed to sport as part of the social and cultural capital of the area however, it appears that community opinion is divided on the quality of sport experiences available with the young people of the community being particularly critical of the facilities, equipment, and the level of service from sports organisations in larger towns and cities.

Parentification: Counselling talk on a helpline for children and young people

This chapter investigates counselling interactions where young clients talk about their experiences of taking on family responsibilities normatively associated with parental roles. In research counselling literature, practices where relationships in families operate so that there is a reversal of roles, with children managing the households and caring for parents and siblings, is described as parentification. Parentification is used in the counselling literature as a clinician/researcher term, which we ‘respecify’ (Garfinkel, 1991) the tem by beginning with an investigation of young clients’ own accounts of being an adult or parent and how counsellors orient to these accounts. As well as providing understandings of how young people propose accounts of their experiences of adult-child role reversal, the chapter contributes to understanding how children and young people use the resources of counselling helplines, and how counselors can communicate effectively with children and young people.

Using conversation analysis for understanding children’s talk about traumatic events

This chapter provides a theoretical overview of literature that uses conversation analysis (CA) to explore children’s interactions related to trauma and associated mental health matters. The relatively new approach of using CA to understand trauma reveals the importance of talk in the process of recovery, and also how the participants co-construct talk about traumatic experiences. The chapter will explore literature using a CA approach to investigate children’s trauma talk with professionals as well as literature specifically discussing children’s talk about their traumatic experiences with people who are not qualified therapists or psychiatrists. We conclude by calling for more research using a CA approach for investigating children’s traumatic experiences due to the insight it provides into each child’s personal sense making of traumatic events with a range of people.

Name-calling by a child diagnosed with asperger’s syndrome

Rendle-Short, Wilkinson, and Danby show how social interaction is directly relevant to maintaining friendships, mental health and well-being, and supportive peer relations. Using conversation analysis, the chapter focuses on conversational participants’ pursuit of affiliation and intimacy from a language as action perspective. It focuses on the use of derogatory naming practices by a 10-year-old girl diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. The analysis shows how derogatory address terms, part of a wider pattern of behaviour evident in this child’s interaction, result in behaviour that might be thought of as impolite or lacking in restraint. It also illustrates how a single case study can draw attention to the context-specific nature of interaction when working with children with Asperger’s Syndrome. The chapter contributes to our understanding of the difficulty in pinpointing, with precision and with clear evidence, what counts as a ‘social interaction difficulty’ due to the context specific nature of interaction.

Associations between early shared music activities in the home and later child outcomes : findings from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children

The benefits of early shared book reading between parents and children have long been established,yet the same cannot be said for early shared music activities in the home. This study investigated the parent–child home music activities in a sample of 3031 Australian children participating in Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) study. Frequency of shared home music activities was reported by parents when children were 2–3 years and a range of social, emotional,and cognitive outcomes were measured by parent and teacher report and direct testing two years later when children were 4–5 years old. A series of regression analyses (controlling for a set of important socio-demographic variables) found frequency of shared home music activities to have a small significant partial association with measures of children’s vocabulary, numeracy, attentional and emotional regulation, and prosocial skills. We then included both book reading and shared home music activities in the same models and found that frequency of shared home music activities maintained small partial associations with measures of prosocial skills, attentional regulation, and numeracy. Our findings suggest there may be a role for parent-child home music activities in supporting children’s development.

Sensorineural hearing loss after treatment for head and neck cancer : a review of the literature

Background Definitive cisplatin-based is increasingly delivered as the treatment of choice for patients with head and neck cancer. Sensorineural hearing loss is a significant long term side effect of cisplatin-based chemoradiation and is associated with potential major quality of life issues for patients. Purpose The purpose of this manuscript was to review the mechanism behind sensorineural hearing loss in patients treated with cisplatin-based chemoradiation, including incidence, the contributions of radiotherapy and cisplatin to sensorineural hearing loss and the impact of the toxicity on patient quality of life. Methods Database searches were conducted through PubMed (National Centre for Biotechnology Information) and OvidSP Medline via the Queensland University of Technology Library website. General article searches were conducted through the online search engine Google Scholar. Articles were excluded if the full-text was unavailable, they were not in English or if they were published prior to 1990. Keywords included hearing loss, ototoxicity, cancer, quality of life, cisplatin and radiotherapy. Results/Discussion The total number of journal articles accessed was 290. Due to exclusion criteria, 129 articles were deemed appropriated for review. Findings indicated that sensorineural hearing loss is a significant, long term complication for patients treated with cisplatin-based chemoradiation. Current literature recognises the ototoxic effects of cisplatin and cranial irradiation as separate entities, however the impact of combined modality therapy on sensorineural hearing loss is seldom reported. Multiple risk factors for hearing loss are described, however there are contradictory opinions on incidence and severity and the exact radiation dose threshold responsible for inducing hearing loss in patients receiving combined modality therapy. Sensorineural hearing loss creates a subset of complexities for patients with head and neck cancer and that these patients face significant quality of life impairment. Conclusion The literature review identified that sensorineural hearing loss is a major quality of life issue for patients treated with cisplatin-based chemoradiation for head and neck cancer. Further investigation evaluating the contribution of cisplatin-based chemoradiation to sensorineural hearing loss and the subsequent effect on patient quality of life is warranted.

Risk factors for delayed healing in venous leg ulcers : a review of the literature

Background Chronic leg ulcers, remaining unhealed after 4–6 weeks, affect 1-3% of the population, with treatment costly and health service resource intensive. Venous disease contributes to approximately 70% of all chronic leg ulcers and these ulcers are often associated with pain, reduced mobility and a decreased quality of life. Despite evidence-based care, 30% of these ulcers are unlikely to heal within a 24-week period and therefore the recognition and identification of risk factors for delayed healing of venous leg ulcers would be beneficial. Aim To review the available evidence on risk factors for delayed healing of venous leg ulcers. Methods: A review of the literature in regard to risk factors for delayed healing in venous leg ulcers was conducted from January 2000 to December 2013. Evidence was sourced through searches of relevant databases and websites for resources addressing risk factors for delayed healing in venous leg ulcers specifically. Results Twenty-seven studies, of mostly low-level evidence (Level III and IV), identified risk factors associated with delayed healing. Risk factors that were consistently identified included: larger ulcer area, longer ulcer duration, a previous history of ulceration, venous abnormalities and lack of high compression. Additional potential predictors with inconsistent or varying evidence to support their influence on delayed healing of venous leg ulcers included decreased mobility and/or ankle range of movement, poor nutrition and increased age. Discussion Findings from this review indicate that a number of physiological risk factors are asso- ciated with delayed healing in venous leg ulcers and that social and/or psychological risk factors should also be considered and examined further. Conclusion The findings from this review can assist health professionals to identify prognostic indicators or risk factors significantly associated with delayed healing in venous leg ulcers. This will facilitate realistic outcome planning and inform implementation of appropriate early strategies to promote healing.

Understanding carers' intention for their child to walk to school : further application of the theory of reasoned action

One quarter of Australian children are overweight or obese (ABS, 2010), putting them at increased risk of physical and psychological health problems (Reilly et al., 2003). Overweight and obesity in childhood tends to persist into adulthood and is associated with premature death and morbidity (Reilly & Kelly, 2011). Increases in Australian children’s weight have coincided with declines in active transportation, such as walking, to school (Salmon et al., 2005). Investigating the factors which influence walking to school is therefore important, particularly since walking to school is a low cost and effective means of reducing excess weight (Rosenberg et al., 2006) that can be easily integrated into daily routine (Brophy et al., 2011). While research in this area has expanded (e.g., Brophy et al., 2011; Giles-Corti et al., 2010), it is largely atheoretical (exceptions Napier et al., 2011). This is an important gap from a social marketing perspective given the use of theory lies at the foundation of the framework (NSMC, 2006) and a continued lack of theory use is observed (Luca & Suggs, 2013). The aim of this paper is to empirically examine a widely adopted theory, the deconstructed Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) (Fishbein & Azjen, 1975), to understand the relative importance of attitude and subjective norms in determining intentions to increase walk to school behaviour.

Equal shared parental responsibility and shared care post-return to Australia under the Hague Child Abduction Convention

This article explores the outcomes experienced by abducting primary carer mothers and their children post-return to Australia under the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.1 The circumstances faced by families that experience international parental child abduction are examined by considering how part VII of the Australian Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) is applied to resolve parenting disputes post-return. At present, the statutory criteria found in part VII encourage an equal shared parental responsibility and shared care parenting approach.2 This emphasis aligns children’s best interests with collaborative parenting3 and their parents living within close geographical proximity of each other to facilitate the practicalities of the approach.4 Arguably, these statutory criteria guide the exercise of judicial discretion to determine a child’s best interests towards a parenting arrangement that is incompatible with the lifestyle and functional characteristics of these families.

Re-examining habitual residence as the sole connecting factor in Hague Convention child abduction cases

This article critiques the usefulness of habitual residence as the sole connecting factor in Hague Convention child abduction cases. This is achieved by examining the quality of this jurisdiction in light of changes in the gender dynamics underpinning international parental child abduction and the transnational family phenomenon. Arguably, the child’s habitual residence as a home environment of the nature anticipated by the Convention’s drafters is an increasingly outdated construct. This is due to an increase in both the number of abducting primary-carer mothers, and their families’ growing mobility. Judicial determinations of habitual residence made during Conven- tion return proceedings are entrenched in the state-centric paradigm. This paradigm is becoming increasingly incompatible with the lives of families which experience international parental child abduction.

A study of outcomes post-return to Australia under the Hague Child Abduction Convention for abducting primary-carer mothers and their children

This article reports the findings of an empirical study of outcomes experienced by abducting primary-carer mothers and their children post-return to Australia under the Hague Child Abduction Convention. The study specifically focused on legal and factual outcomes post-return to Australia as the child's habitual residence. The study contributes an original critique of the Convention's operation by examining the collective operation of Convention return proceedings and Pt VII proceedings under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) post-return. Convention return proceedings, and the resolution of the substantive parenting dispute post-return to Australia, are not distinct stages operating in isolation. Viewing them as such is a purely theoretical exercise divorced from the reality of the lives of transnational families. Arguably, a better measure of the Convention's success is the outcomes it produces as part of the entire system designed to address the contemporary problem of international parental child abduction. When a child is returned to Australia this system includes the operation of Australian family law.