Asthma management by New Zealand pharmacists: a pharmaceutical care demonstration project

Background: Pharmaceutical care services became recognized in New Zealand in the mid-1990s, albeit with limited evidence of the acceptability and effectiveness of the model. An asthma-specific pharmaceutical care service was trialled in southern New Zealand, based on a 'problem-action-outcome' method, with pharmacists adopting a patient-centred, outcome-focused approach with multidisciplinary consultation. Objective: To report on the implementation and outcomes of a specialist asthma service offered by community pharmacists. Design: Pharmacists in five pharmacies, servicing predominantly rural, established clientele, received training in the asthma service and research documentation. Ten patients per pharmacy were recruited in each year (years 1 and 2) of the study. The patients were entered into the study in cohorts of five per pharmacy twice yearly, with year 2 mirroring year 1. The phase-in design minimized the impact on the pharmacists. The patients acted as their own controls. All patients received individualized care and had approximately monthly consultations with the pharmacist, with clinical and quality of life (QoL) monitoring. Results: A total of 100 patients were recruited. On average, 4.3 medication-related problems were identified per patient; two-thirds of them were compliance-related. The most common interventions were revision of patients' asthma action plans, referral and medication counselling. Clinical outcomes included reduced bronchodilator use and improved symptom control in around two-thirds of patients. Asthma-specific QoL changes were more positive and correlated well with clinical indicators. Conclusion: Further research is warranted to integrate this service into daily practice. Clinical outcomes were generally positive and supported by QoL indicators. Characteristics of New Zealand practice and this sample of pharmacies may limit the generalizability of these findings.

Perceptions of marketing journals by senior academics in Australia and New Zealand

Increasingly, business schools are under pressure to produce quality outputs, including high quality international refereed journal publications. Understanding senior Australian and New Zealand marketing academics' views of journal quality is valuable to individual scholars and to the marketing discipline. This paper presents the findings of a study of such perceptions provided by senior academics in Australia and New Zealand. A survey containing a comprehensive list of 73 journals was sent to all professorial members of ANZMAC and Heads of Marketing Schools in Australia and New Zealand, with an overall response rate of 45%. Respondents rated the journals on a 5-point quality scale and means of ratings were used to establish overall rank. The results suggested that, while senior faculty in Australia and New Zealand have their own distinct perceptions of journal quality, these views are not inconsistent with international views. The implications of the results and directions for future research are discussed.

Classification of perinatal deaths: Development of the Australian and New Zealand classifications

Classifications of perinatal deaths have been undertaken for surveillance of causes of death, but also for auditing individual deaths to identify suboptimal care at any level, so that preventive strategies may be implemented. This paper describes the history and development of the paired obstetric and neonatal Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ) classifications in the context of other classifications. The PSANZ Perinatal Death Classification is based on obstetric antecedent factors that initiated the sequence of events leading to the death, and was developed largely from the Aberdeen and Whitfield classifications. The PSANZ Neonatal Death Classification is based on fetal and neonatal factors associated with the death. The classifications, accessible on the PSANZ website (http://www.psanz.org), have definitions and guidelines for use, a high level of agreement between classifiers, and are now being used in nearly all Australian states and New Zealand.

Public opinion of a proposed wind farm situated close to a populated area in New Zealand: Results from a cross-sectional study

In accordance with New Zealand’s Resource Management Act 1991, in 2003, electricity generating company Genesis Energy made public its intention to apply for consent to build the Awhitu wind farm. Several community groups claiming to represent the majority opposed this application and in September 2004 consent was declined. The aim was to investigate the attitudes of local community members to the proposed wind farm. A survey was mailed to 500 Franklin residents, systematically selected from the local 2004/2005 telephone directory. Forty questionnaires were returned undelivered. Of the remaining 460, completed questionnaires were returned from 46% (211). Most, 70% (145), residents supported a wind farm being built in their area, with 17% (35) neutral, and only 13% (28) against the farm. There was no statistical difference in respondents’ attitudes between sex, age, or residential proximity to the farm. Respondents listed renewable resource (83%), suitability (78%), and environmental friendliness (76%) as main advantages. Visual unsightliness (24%) and noise pollution (21%) were listed as main perceived disadvantages. Contrary to the assertions of several lobby groups, the majority of local residents support the construction of the Awhitu wind farm. Scientifically robust methods are essential to measure appropriately community attitudes, particularly on contentious issues.

Sociodemographic backgrounds and career decisions of Australian and New Zealand dental students

This article describes the sociodemographic and career selection characteristics of dental students in Australia and New Zealand. A total of 672 dental students participated in the study. The survey covered age, language proficiency, type of school attended, place of residence, parental occupation, and level of education. The respondents had an average age of twenty-two years, with a range of eighteen to fifty. Fifty-six percent of respondents were female, and approximately half had completed secondary education in private schools with 44.3 percent having finished in public schools. The majority of students lived with their parents, with only a few respondents reporting a rural home address (6.8 percent). The majority of students (65.3 percent) had placed dentistry as their first career choice and had most likely made the decision after leaving high school or near the end of high school (81.4 percent), with self-motivation being the major influence on their decision. This study provides a description of the sociodemographic profile of Australian and New Zealand dental students and provides a better understanding of career decision issues. It also highlights areas for further investigation and management by educational institutions and public policy.

The relationship between extra-role behaviours and job burnout for primary school teachers: A preliminary model and development of an organisational citizenship behaviour scale

Recent research on teacher stress in primary schools (e.g. Leonard, Bourke & Schofield, 1999) has shown that higher levels of teacher exhaustion are associated with higher levels of student satisfaction. This paper seeks to explain this surprising finding by considering a construct discussed widely in the organisational literature known as extra-role or organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Teacher OCB may include extra efforts to make lessons enjoyable and interesting, organising extra-curricular activities and spending personal time talking with students. The proposed model of analysis also draws on literature relating to job burnout (Maslach, 1982), which generally suggests that the three components of chronic occupational stress - exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced accomplishment - occur together. However, this paper proposes that although teachers who engage in more OCB experience more exhaustion, they may simultaneously increase their feelings of personal accomplishment and work identification, which may in turn help to avert burnout. It is argued that only with this particular set of job attitudes are the effects of exhaustion caused by high levels of OCB sufficiently buffered to avoid job burnout, and thus positively affect students' quality of school life. The development and piloting of an instrument to measure teachers' OCB will be discussed. The preliminary findings reported herein are part of a larger ongoing study investigating the consequences of stress and OCB in primary school teachers.