Evolution of life drama program

Life Drama is a program of drama-based experiential learning activities involving groups of community leaders and members. The three-year project evolved from a theatre-in-education approach to an intercultural theatre approach incorporating Papua New Guinean performance traditions. It involved Australian, English and Papua New Guinean researchers at four key sites: Tari, Southern Highlands Province; Port Moresby, National Capital District; Madang, Madang Province; and Karkar Island, Madang Province. The project was innovative in a number of ways, including: a Participatory Action Research approach, involving community leaders at various levels as co-researchers; a participatory theatre approach as opposed to a performance approach; emphasis on sexual health promotion and HIV prevention through an experiential learning paradigm; addressing the norms and realities of the community rather than targeting only individual behaviour; an International Theatre Research Laboratory to explore the fusion of traditional cultural elements with contemporary health promotion aims; and an innovative method-assemblage approach to collecting and triangulating quantitative, qualitative, and performative data. The project attracted over $350,000 in funding and support from the Australian Research Council, National AIDS Secretariat in PNG, and private sector and non-government partners. Findings were presented at various conferences and symposia including the annual Medical Symposium in Wewak (2010), the triennial Research in Drama Education conference in Exeter (2011), and the International Research in Drama Education conference (Sydney 2009 and Limerick 2012). A number of peer-reviewed journal articles have been published. Elements of the program have been incorporated into the University of Goroka's compulsory HIV awareness program for undergraduate students. A national dissemination strategy for Life Drama in Papua New Guinea is now underway, with seed funding of AUD$74,000 from the National AIDS Council Secretariat, PNG.

Resourceful Adolescent Program for Teachers (RAP-T) : a program for teachers to promote school connectedness in teenagers

Recent research has shown that school connectedness is one of the most important protective factors against teenage depression. RAP-T aims to increase teachers’ recognition of the importance of school connectedness and to develop strategies to promote four key elements of school connectedness.

Incentivising private health insurance through the income tax regime : Capitalising on behavioural models

The Australian income tax regime is generally regarded as a mechanism by which the Federal Government raises revenue, with much of the revenue raised used to support public spending programs. A prime example of this type of spending program is health care. However, a government may also decide that the private sector should provide a greater share of the nation's health care. To achieve such a policy it can bring about change through positive regulation, or it can use the taxation regime, via tax expenditures, not to raise revenue but to steer or influence individuals in its desired direction. When used for this purpose, tax expenditures steer taxpayers towards or away from certain behaviour by either imposing costs on, or providing benefits to them. Within the context of the health sector, the Australian Federal Government deploys social steering via the tax system, with the Medicare Levy Surcharge and the 30 percent Private Health Insurance Rebate intended to steer taxpayer behaviour towards the Government’s policy goal of increasing the amount of health provision through the private sector. These steering mechanisms are complemented by the ‘Lifetime Health Cover Initiative’. This article, through the lens of behavioural economics, considers the ways in which these assorted mechanisms might have been expected to operate and whether they encourage individuals to purchase private health insurance.

The role of education and awareness in workplace alcohol and drug use in the Australian construction industry : proposed program of research and preliminary results

The main aim of this paper is to outline a proposed program of research which will attempt to quantify the extent of the problem of alcohol and other drugs in the Australian construction industry, and furthermore, develop an appropriate industry-wide policy and cultural change management program and implementation plan to address the problem. This paper will also present preliminary results from the study. The study will use qualitative and quantitative methods (in the form of interviews and surveys, respectively) to evaluate the extent of the problem of alcohol and other drug use in this industry, to ascertain the feasibility of an industry-wide policy and cultural change management program, and to develop an appropriate implementation plan. The study will be undertaken in several construction organisations, at selected sites in South Australia, Victoria and Northern Territory. It is anticipated that approximately 500 employees from the participating organisations across Australia will take part in the study. The World Health Organisation’s Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) will be used to measure the extent of alcohol use in the industry. Illicit drug use, ‘‘readiness to change’’, impediments to reducing impairment, feasibility of proposed interventions, and employee attitudes and knowledge regarding workplace AOD impairment, will also be measured through a combination of interviews and surveys. Among the preliminary findings, for 51% (n=127) of respondents, score on the AUDIT indicated alcohol use at hazardous levels. Of the respondents who were using alcohol at hazardous levels, 76% reported (n97) that they do not have a problem with drinking and 54% (n=68) reported that it would be easy to ‘‘cut down’’ or stop drinking. Nearly half (49%) of all respondents (n=122) had used marijuana/cannabis at some time prior to being surveyed. The use of other illicit substances was much less frequently reported. Preliminary interview findings indicated a lack of adequate employee knowledge regarding the physical effects of alcohol and other drugs in the workplace. As for conclusions, the proposed study will address a major gap in the literature with regard to the extent of the problem of alcohol and other drug use in the construction industry in Australia. The study will also develop and implement a national, evidence-based workplace policy, with the aim of mitigating the deleterious effects of alcohol and other drugs in this industry.

Nurses and teachers : partnerships for green health promotion

Background: The term ‘green health promotion’ is given to health promotion underpinned by the principles of ecological health and sustainability. Green health promotion is supported philosophically by global health promotion documents such as the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (1986) and the ecological public health movement. Green health promotion in schools aims to practice the principles of ecological health and sustainability. Methods: An extended literature review revealed a paucity of literature about green health promotion in schools across disciplines. Literature about nurses and health promotion in schools is generally found in nursing publications. Literature about ecological sustainability in schools is mostly found in teaching publications. Results: This paper explores the nexus between nursing and health promotion, and teachers and ecological sustainability. Collaborative partnerships between health and education do not capitalise on programs such as Health Promoting Schools and the School Based Youth Health Nurse Program in Queensland, Australia. The authors consider how collaborative partnerships between health and education in schools can work towards green health promotion. Conclusion: Nursing’s approach to health promotion and education’s approach to ecological sustainability need to be aligned to enhance green health promotion in schools and promote a new generation of ‘tree huggers and hippies’.

Developing safer passengers through a school-based injury prevention program

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death among young people. Fourteen percent of adolescents aged 13-14 report passenger-related injuries within three months. Intervention programs typically focus on young drivers and overlook passengers as potential protective influences. Graduated Driver Licensing restricts passenger numbers, and this study focuses on a complementary school-based intervention to increase passengers’ personal- and peer-protective behavior. The aim of this research was to assess the impact of the curriculum-based injury prevention program, Skills for Preventing Injury in Youth (SPIY), on passenger-related risk-taking and injuries, and intentions to intervene in friends’ risky road behavior. SPIY was implemented in Grade 8 Health classes and evaluated using survey and focus group data from 843 students across 10 Australian secondary schools. Intervention students reported less passenger-related risk-taking six months following the program. Their intention to protect friends from underage driving also increased. The results of this study show that a comprehensive, school-based program targeting individual and social changes can increase adolescent passenger safety.