Social capital and neighbourhood centres in Queensland : qualitative case studies of three neighbourhood centres

This research paper examines the potential of neighbourhood centres to generate and enhance social capital through their programs, activities, membership associations and community engagement. Social capital is a complex concept involving elements of norms, networks, and trust and is generally seen as enhancing community cohesion and the ability to attain common goals (outlined in more detail in Section 3). The aim of this research project is to describe the nature of social capital formation in terms of development and change in norms, networks and trust within the context of the operations of neighbourhood centres in three Queensland locations (i.e., Sherwood, Kingston/Slacks Creek, and Maleny). The study was prompted by surprisingly little research into how neighbourhood centres and their clients contribute to the development of social capital. Considering the large volume of research on the role of community organisations in building social capital, it is remarkable that perhaps the most obvious organisation with 'social capitalist' intentions has received so little attention (apart from Bullen and Onyx, 2005). Indeed, ostensibly, neighbourhood centres are all about social capital.

Asset allocation policy, returns and expenses of superannuation funds : recent evidence based on default options

We examine the asset allocation, returns, and expenses of superannuation funds whose assets are mainly invested in default investment options between 2004 and 2012. A majority of these funds fail to earn returns commensurate with their strategic asset allocation policy. It appears that much of the variation of returns between the funds might be a result of their engaging in significant active management of assets. Our results indicate that returns from active management are negatively related to expenses. We also find strong evidence of economies of scale existing in these superannuation funds across different size categories.

A Sustainable Community for Older People : Case Studies of Green Retirement Villages in Australia

In Australia, the proportion of the population aged 65 years and over reached 13.5% in 2010 and is expected to increase steadily to around 20% by the year 2056 [Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2010], creating what has been regarded as a looming crisis in how to house and care for older people. As a viable accommodation option, the retirement village is widely accepted as a means of promoting and enhancing independence, choice and quality of life for older people. Recent research by Barker (2010) indicates that the current and potential residents of retirement villages are generally very conscious of resource consumption and would like their residences and community to be more sustainable. The aim of this study was to understand the perception of older people toward sustainability ideas and identify the sustainable practices involved in retirement villages to improve the wellbeing of residents. Multiple research methods, including content analysis, questionnaire survey, interviews and case studies were conducted for the research purpose. The results indicate that most retirement village residents understand and recognize the importance of sustainability in their lifestyle. However, their sustainability requirements need to be supported and enhanced by the provision of affordable sustainability features. Additionally, many retirement village developers and operators realize the importance of providing a sustainable retirement community for their residents, and that a sustainable retirement village (that is environmental-friendly, affordable, and improves social engagement) can be achieved through the consideration of project planning, design, construction, and operations throughout the project life cycle. The clear shift from healthcare to lifestyle-focused services in the recent development of retirement villages together with the increasing number of aged people moving into retirement villages (Simpson and Cheney, 2007) has raised awareness of the need for the retirement village industry to provide a sustainable community for older people to improve their life quality after retirement. This is the first critical study of sustainable development in the retirement village industry and its potential in addressing the housing needs of older people, providing a contribution towards improving the life quality of older people and with direct and immediate significance to the community as a whole.

Evidence-based practice and rural nursing : A literature review

This literature review is an exploration of issues related to evidence-based practice and rural nursing. Given the contribution that nursing research can make to improved client care in rural areas, it is important that nurses’ awareness and understanding of evidence-based practice be enhanced, and that strategies for fostering the development of clinically relevant programs of nursing research be identified for rural health services. The review highlights the deficiencies in the current metropolitan-based approaches to evidence-based practice that may disadvantage rural clients and nursing practitioners, because they do not accommodate the inherent differences in rural and metropolitan healthcare cultures. It emphasises the need to seek approaches to research-based practice that arise from the specific needs of the rural setting.

Incorporating translation in qualitative studies : two case studies in education

Cross-language qualitative research in education continues to increase. However, there has been inadequate discussion in the literature concerning the translation process that ensures research trustworthiness applicable for bilingual researchers. Informed by the literature on evaluation criteria for qualitative data translation, this paper compares two different procedures for incorporating translation in education qualitative research to provide a clear depiction of the complexities involved in translating qualitative data and the strengths and weaknesses of each procedure. To maintain the trustworthiness of the qualitative research, it is necessary to minimise translation errors, provide detailed accounts of the translation process, involve more than one translator and remain open to scrutiny from those seeking to access the translation process. Taking into account the resource constraints often faced by novice qualitative researchers, this paper provides some strategies that can be employed in similar contexts.

Development of an evidence-based framework to guide injury prevention interventions for off-road motorcyclists

There is little research on off-road motorcycle and all-terrain vehicle riders though injury levels are high. This thesis identified formal responsibility for monitoring injuries, targeting young male and recreational riders, promotion of family members as models, and controlled and accessible riding locations as ways to increase safety. These recommendations were based on analysis of Queensland hospitalisation records, rider personal reports and survey responses.

CPD : Using evidence based clinical practice guidelines in the management of anaemia in patients with chronic renal failure

Anaemia is a chronic problem in patients with renal insufficiency, especially chronic renal failure (CRF). In patients with CRF, anaemia is primarily due to a deficiency in erythropoietin (EPO), a glycoprotein growth factor that stimulates RBC production. The long-term effects and burden of anaemia for patients with CRF can be physical, emotional and financial. With efficient, systematic management of anaemia, clinicians have the potential to realise not only better clinical outcomes for CRF patients but also significant cost savings for them and the health system. During the last decade, significant advances have been made in clinicians’ understanding of how best to manage anaemia in this vulnerable population. One of the most important efforts to improve clinical practice has been the development of best practice guidelines.

An evidence-based brochure to educate contact lens wearers about safe contact lens wear

Contact lenses are a successful and popular means to correct refractive error and are worn by just under 700,000 Australians1 and approximately 125 million people worldwide. The most serious complication of contact lens wear is microbial keratitis, a potentially sight-threatening corneal infection most often caused by bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria, in particular pseudomonas species, account for the majority of severe bacterial infections. Pathogens such as fungi or amoebae, which feature less often, are associated with significant morbidity. These unusual pathogens have come into the spotlight in recent times with an apparent association with specific lens cleaning solutions...

Safe perioperative fasting : implementation of evidence based guidelines and an ‘at risk’ checklist

Introduction Guidelines existed at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) to direct preoperative/pre-procedural fasting in day patients undergoing general anaesthetic. However audit, risk analyses and a recent research project at the RCH identified prolonged pre-procedural fasting times in children undergoing day surgical and gastroenterology procedures. Aims 1. Reduce median fasting time to <8 hrs for children admitted for a day procedure under general anaesthetic; 2. Identify children at risk of perioperative hypoglycaemia. Methods The study was conducted in 4 phases: 1) revision and implementation of evidence-based perioperative fasting guidelines with staff education relating to these guidelines; 2) cross-sectional descriptive study with day surgical patients (n = 377) requiring preoperative fasting. ‘Normal risk’ and ‘High risk’ groups were identified for fasting hypoglycaemia using an ‘at risk’ checklist. Venous blood glucose (BGL) testing was performed at a) anaesthetic induction; b) prior to first caloric food/fluid postoperatively; 3) chart audit to evaluate efficacy of guidelines and parent information; 4) development of recommendations for clinical practice. Results The median fasting time for children having morning surgery (14 hrs, IQ range 5–22 hrs) was twice as long compared to afternoon lists (7 hrs, IQ range 6–22 hrs) (p < 0.001). Median fasting times were not significantly different between ‘at risk’ and control groups (p = 0.496). However the proportion of children who experienced hypoglycaemia (BGL <3 mmol/L) was greater in the ‘at risk’ group (5, 8%) compared to the control group (18, 4.3%). Although not statistically significant (x2 = 2.254, p = 0.133), ‘at risk’ children appear more likely to experience hypoglycaemia as children in the control group, constituting a clinically significant finding. Conclusion Appropriate identification and management of ‘high risk’ children, will reduce the risk of deleterious sequelae in children undergoing surgical or investigative procedures requiring general anaesthesia.

Evidence-Based Health Practice

Research is one of the subjects that students in the health professions often find challenging and yet the process of finding, critiquing, using and evaluating information is essential to professional development and practice. This book introduces fundamental research concepts that are relevant to the wider health-care and disability support sector while also making strong connections to the various areas of practice that students identify with.Examples and cases are taken from a wide range of professions and countries to help students understand the significance of research used by colleagues from other disciplines and become interprofessional practitioners.

Using Participatory Design (PD) as youth engagement strategy to inform design and development of evidence-based wellbeing e-tools

The paper presents a participatory design research framework as a primary method for structuring youth engagement, participation and contribution to the design, development and usability evaluation of three evidencebased e-tools for wellbeing, which include smart phone mobile apps as well as e-health websites. The three projects are part of a series of six e-tools part of Safe and Supportive program under Young and Well CRC. The participatory design method, developed by Zelenko (2012) for application in design of online health promoting technologies, was further piloted in partnership with Inspire USA for specific application within the CRC, deploying a combination of creative design workshops and speculative design activities in developing e-tool prototypes with young people. This paper presents the resulting participatory research framework as it was implemented across the e-tool projects to facilitate active youth participation in co-designing the e-tools and ensuring the final designs are relevant to young people and deliver health messages in engaging ways. The principles of Participatory Design (PD) that inform the new framework include a high degree of participant agency in creative decisionmaking and a commitment to the process of co-designing, with young people working alongside designers and developers. The paper will showcase how the PD framework was applied across three projects to increase young people’s contribution to final design outcome.

Outback institutions : an application of the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to four case studies in Australia’s Outback -- Part 4 : Incentives for community participation and land use decisions in Etheridge Shire, Queensland

Natural resource management planning in the Northern Gulf region of Queensland is concerned with ‘how [natural assets] and community aspirations can be protected and enhanced to provide the Northern Gulf community with the economic, social and environmental means to meet the continuing growth of the region in an ecological and economically sustainable way’ (McDonald & Dawson 2004). In the Etheridge Shire, located in the tropical savanna of the Northern Gulf region, two of the activities that influence the balance between economic growth and long-term sustainable development are: 1. the land-use decisions people in the Shire make with regards to their own enterprises. 2. their decisions to engage in civically-minded activities aimed at improving conditions in the region. Land-use decision and engagement in community development activities were chosen for detailed analysis because they are activities for which policies can be devised to improve economic and sustainable development outcomes. Changing the formal and informal rules that guide and govern these two different kinds of decisions that people can make in the Etheridge Shire – the decision to improve one’s own situation and the decision to improve the situation for others in the community – may expand the set of available options for people in the Shire to achieve their goals and aspirations. Identifying appropriate and effective changes in rules requires, first, an understanding of the ‘action arena’, in this case comprised of a diversity of ‘participants’ from both within and outside the Etheridge Shire, and secondly knowledge of ‘action situations’ (land-use decisions and engagement in community development activities) in which stakeholders are involved and/or have a stake. These discussions are presented in sections 4.1.1.1 and 4.1.1.2.

A review of international speed enforcement policies and practices : evidence-based recommendations for best practice

Extensive research has highlighted the positive and exponential relationship between vehicle speed and crash risk and severity. Speed enforcement policies and practices throughout the world have developed dramatically as new technology becomes available, however speeding remains a pervasive problem internationally that significantly contributes to road trauma. This paper adopted a three-pronged approach to review speed enforcement policies and practices by: (i) describing and comparing policies and practices adopted in a cross-section of international jurisdictions; (ii) reviewing the available empirical evidence evaluating the effectiveness of various approaches, and; (iii) providing recommendations for the optimisation speed enforcement. The review shows the enforcement strategies adopted in various countries differ both in terms of the approaches used and how they are specifically applied. The literature review suggests strong and consistent evidence that police speed enforcement, in particular speed cameras, can be an effective tool for reducing vehicle speeds and subsequent traffic crashes. Drawing from this evidence, recommendations for best practice are proposed, including the specific instances in which various speed enforcement approaches typically produce the greatest road safety benefits, and perhaps most importantly, that speed enforcement programs must utilise a variety of strategies tailored to specific situations, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.