Aboriginal dietary intake and a successful nutrition intervention project in a Northern Territory community

This paper summarises the development and testing of the 'store-turnover' method, a non-invasive dietary survey methodology for quantitative measurement of food and nutrient intake in remote, centralised Aboriginal communities. It then describes the use of the method in planning, implementation and evaluation of a community-based nutrition intervention project in a small Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory. During this project marked improvements in both the dietary intake of the community and biological indicators of nutritional health (including vitamin status and the degree and prevalence of several risk factors for non-communicable disease) were measured in the community over a 12-month period following the development of intervention strategies with the community. Although these specific strategies are presented, emphasis is directed towards the process involved, particularly the evaluation procedures used to monitor all stages of the project with the community.

Diabetes, hyperinsulinemia, and hyperlipidemia in small aboriginal community in northern Australia

A small rural Aboriginal community in northern Australia was surveyed for diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), hyperinsulinemia, and lipid levels. Of the 122 adults >17 yr of age who participated (95% response rate), 11.5% had diabetes, 7.4% had IGT, and the remaining 81.1% had normal glucose tolerance. Both diabetes and IGT were strongly age related. This high frequency of diabetes occurred, despite the population being relatively lean. Although the body mass index (BMI) increased with age in both men and women, only 25% of the population overall had BMI >25 kg/m2. There were wide ranges of insulin responses to glucose, with the upper fertile of 2-h insulin levels being more than seven times higher than the lower fertile (144 ± 13 vs. 19 ± 1 mLI/L). Hyperinsulinemia was associated with IGT, elevated triglycerides, and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Lipid abnormalities were much more frequent among men than women. Cholesterol levels were an average of 0.55 mM higher and triglycerides an average of 1.05 mM higher in men than in women, and both increased with age. In conclusion, this small isolated Aboriginal population from northern Australia had an unexpectedly high frequency of diabetes (in view of their relative leanness) in association with a high frequency of metabolic abnormalities indicative of insulin resistance (hyperinsulinemia, IGT, hypertriglyceridemia).

Urban acupuncture: Hybrid social and technological practices for hyperlocal placemaking

This paper considers an emerging planning practice that uses networked connections to interact with urban places and re-create enlivened cities. The paper presents “urban acupuncture” as a new planning approach that broadens communication and strategically targets interventions across the city. Defined as an approach, which, through the use of digital social networks and interactions, involves citizens and planners in place activations in order to stimulate and reinvigorate place, thus creating meaningful relationships between citizens and their urban settings. This paper uses the UR[BNE] Brisbane Festival 2012 as a qualitative case study of urban acupuncture, best defined as a hyper-localized healing treatment through place activation to enliven and recreate cities. It examines the challenges faced and opportunities embraced by a network of urban professionals. Their aim was to activate the underused urban spaces of central Brisbane through the festival's activities and events. The findings identify the key elements required to design public spaces using socially and technologically networked interactions.

Risks for HIV infection among male street laborers in urban Vietnam

Risks for HIV infection remain unknown in male street laborers. This research investigates patterns of self-reported risk behaviors among these men in urban Vietnam. In a cross-sectional survey using a social mapping technique, 450 men, mostly low-skilled and unregistered migrant laborers across 13 districts in Hanoi were approached for interviews. The study revealed that male street laborers were at high risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV. One in every 12 men reported homosexual or bisexual behavior. These men on average had three sexual partners within the preceding year, and condom use was inconsistent. Close to 95 % of the men had reported sexual encounters with regular partners. One-third with commercial sex workers (CSW) and 24.2 % with casual partners, but just under one-third had ever used condoms with regular partners and CSWs and very few (17.6 %) with casual partners at their last sexual encounter. 17.11 % used illicit drugs sometimes, with 66.7 % of them frequently sharing injecting equipment with peers. These men had limited HIV knowledge; 51.4 % incorrectly believed that, once you trust your partner, you no longer need to use condoms and 42.4 % believed that you can tell by looking at someone if they have HIV. Access to HIV prevention was also limited; only 19.8 % of men had been tested for HIV during the previous 12 months, almost 10 % of whom neither returned for the result nor knew their HIV status. The study provides interesting directions for future research and suggests ways to effectively design prevention strategies for these men.

Festival of Dangerous Ideas: ‘Are some Aboriginals more Aboriginal than others?’

"White Australia has always had a view on what makes a 'real' Aboriginal person. Andrew Bolt is the merely the latest in a long line of commentators who have put forward their views about 'black' and 'white' Aboriginals. Spread across a continent after 200 years of colonisation, Aboriginal people are diverse in a way that is at odds with media stereotypes of 'traditional' Aboriginal people living in troubled remote communities. At a crucial time for recognition and reconciliation, does 'white' or 'black' matter? Who speaks for Aboriginal people and defines who they are?"--Festivals, Talks & Ideas website

Modeling predictors of risky drug use behavior among male street laborers in urban Vietnam

Background The application of theoretical frameworks for modeling predictors of drug risk among male street laborers remains limited. The objective of this study was to test a modified version of the IMB (Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model), which includes psychosocial stress, and compare this modified version with the original IMB model in terms of goodness-of-fit to predict risky drug use behavior among this population. Methods In a cross-sectional study, social mapping technique was conducted to recruit 450 male street laborers from 135 street venues across 13 districts of Hanoi city, Vietnam, for face-to-face interviews. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze data from interviews. Results Overall measures of fit via SEM indicated that the original IMB model provided a better fit to the data than the modified version. Although the former model was able to predict a lesser variance than the latter (55% vs. 62%), it was of better fit. The findings suggest that men who are better informed and motivated for HIV prevention are more likely to report higher behavioral skills, which, in turn, are less likely to be engaged in risky drug use behavior. Conclusions This was the first application of the modified IMB model for drug use in men who were unskilled, unregistered laborers in urban settings. An AIDS prevention program for these men should not only distribute information and enhance motivations for HIV prevention, but consider interventions that could improve self-efficacy for preventing HIV infection. Future public health research and action may also consider broader factors such as structural social capital and social policy to alter the conditions that drive risky drug use among these men.

English in the urban environment : resources for 21st century readers

Where teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) once observed a paucity of authentic language input, public displays of written English are now proliferating. Ideas for capitalising on this abundance can be drawn from two strands of pedagogic thought: a psycholinguistic approach to conventional literacy long established in foreign, second and first language education (e.g., Teng, 2009), and a more recent and critical approach informed by diverse theoretical understandings of the ‘linguistic landscape’ (e.g., Rowland, 2013). In this paper I draw from these two approaches to suggest ways of helping EFL learners use environmental print to develop knowledge and skills required of English readers in the twenty-first century: (1) fluency in breaking the codes of English and other languages of publicly displayed text; (2) facility with making meaning as the English of these texts becomes ever more diverse in cultural, historical and contextual implication; (3) use of environmental English in contexts that range from the local to the transnational; and (4) critique of the presence of English and attendant worldviews in the urban environment (Chern & Dooley, forthcoming). The psychological concept of motivation and the complementary sociological concept of investment are at the heart of my deliberations here: realisation of the pedagogic potential of environmental print to develop literate resources requires consideration of sources of motivation in the classroom learning situation (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011), as well as learner investment in literate practices in English (Norton, 2010).