Comparing codes of ethics among the top companies in Australia, Canada and the USA

In the twentieth century, industrialized economies around the world enacted legislation to protect free and fair trade. These legislative initiatives were often precipitated by exposure to unethical business practices. With the fairly recent corporate business scandals around the world, ethics is once again at the forefront of concerns about commercial exchanges. This situation has become more complex with the globalization of commercial trade. Subsequently, there have been various attempts by international organizations to regulate the conduct of global corporations. One key technique to try to regulate the conduct of corporation is the use of codes of ethics. This study examines corporate codes of ethics and the measures in place to communicate the ethos of the codes to both internal and external stakeholders in three countries. A questionnaire that was non-sponsored and unsolicited was sent to the top companies operating in the private sector within Australia, Canada and the USA. Nine key areas of corporate ethics are examined and they are divided into two categories as follows:

Regulation
Consequences for a Breach
Ethical Perfonnance Appraisal
Conduct Ethical Audits

Staff Support
Support of Whistle blowers
Guide to Strategic Planning
Ethics Committee
Ethics Training Committee
Staff Training
Ethics Ombudsman.

Australian implementation and evaluation of active support

Background The implementation and evaluation of Active Support in Australia is reported, the first such formal evaluation outside the UK.

Method Residents and staff of five group homes participated. Active Support was introduced by training staff in one home at a time. Effectiveness was assessed using direct observation of resident engagement in activity and of staff help, as well as written assessments of resident outcomes.

Results Staff help and resident engagement increased in four of five group homes. There was significantly greater participation in a wider variety of domestic activities, as well as more frequent and varied community participation. Change in resident engagement was positively related to change in staff help, but not related to residents' level of adaptive behaviour.

Conclusions Most of our findings were consistent with earlier UK studies. There was evidence of the successful transfer of Active Support training skills to an Australian training team. Nonsignificant trends towards reduced depression and increased adaptive behaviour warrant further investigation.

The management of depressed elderly care recipients : family perspectives on the skills of professional carers

Recent studies have identified high levels of depression among older people, both those in their own homes and those in residential care. With the world's population ageing, it is timely for health service providers to consider how the escalating population of depressed elderly people will be managed. Although treating general practitioners may be the health professionals most expected to detect, treat, and monitor depression among the elderly, professional carers are well placed to assist in the detection and monitoring of the disorder. This study conducted individual interviews with 15 family members of depressed aged-care recipients to determine their perceptions of the skills and knowledge of depression of professional carers. Family members reported that carers are more likely to avoid than engage with their clients about depressive symptomatology and do not communicate their concerns with managers or general practitioners (GPs). Family members believed that, in general, professional carers were undertrained in these areas. The implications of these findings for health service planning and staff training are discussed.

Quality of internal control procedures : antecedents and moderating effect on organisational justice and employee fraud

Purpose – This study aims to bring together theoretical concepts from the organizational justice, internal control and fraud literature to develop two distinct models relating to employee fraud and the quality of internal control procedures (ICP), respectively.

Design/methodology/approach – Survey data from 64 Australian firms were used to develop the two models. The first model was tested using a logistic regression analysis, and the second model was tested using a multiple regression analysis.

Findings – The first model reveals that the quality of ICP has a moderating effect on the relationship between perceptions of organizational justice and employee fraud. The second model indicates that ICP quality is significantly and positively related to three key organizational factors: the corporate ethical environment, the extent of risk management training of staff, and the internal audit (IA) activity level.

Practical implications – Risk management strategies relating to employee fraud will need to pay greater attention to organizational factors that affect both perceptions of justice at the workplace and ICP quality, including fostering a more ethical and equitable work environment, increasing IA activities and staff training in risk management.

Originality/value – Using the fraud triangle framework, this study extends previous literature by providing empirical evidence on the role of organizational justice and ICP regarding employee fraud.

Active support, participation and depression

Background
Staff training in Active Support is designed to enable direct support staff to increase the engagement and participation of people with intellectual disabilities in a range of daily activities.

Method
Residents (n = 41) and staff of nine group homes participated. The effectiveness of Active Support was evaluated with a pre-test:post-test design, using a number of standardized assessments and other questionnaires, with group home staff as informants. These assessments were conducted before Active Support training and an average of 6.5 months later.

Results
Following implementation of Active Support residents experienced significant increases in domestic participation and adaptive behaviour. There were significant decreases in internalized challenging behaviour, overall challenging behaviour and depression. There was no significant pre–post change in other forms of challenging behaviour.

Conclusions
Our findings confirm and extend previous Active Support research showing that implementation of Active Support is followed by increased resident participation in activities. The significant improvements in adaptive behaviour, challenging behaviour and depression are of particular interest as the present study is among the first to report such effects. The study’s limitations are discussed.

Promoting children's social and emotional wellbeing in childcare centers within low socioeconomic areas: strategies, facilitators and challenges

Althought childcare centres have a vital role to play in the social and emotional development of children, the strategies used to promote children’s wellbeing in such settings are not well researched. This study aimed to identify the strategies, facilitators and key challenges for promoting children’s social and emotional wellbeing as reported by childcare directors and workers during semi-structured interviews. They reported mainly informal strategies with few formalised policies, curricula or strategies. Staff reported frequent difficulties communicating with parents and/or children due to many families speaking little or no English. Lack of staff training and inadequate resources for activities were other key challenges they identified. Perceived facilitators included staff having strong relationships with each other and sharing a common philosophy, as well as having an open door policy for parents. Systematic development of skills to promote children’s social and emotional wellbeing could help leverage childcare staff’s potential to promote children’s wellbeing during a crucial stage of child development.

A study protocol to investigate the management of depression and challenging behaviors associated with dementia in aged care settings

Background: 

Community-based efforts to prevent obesity: Australia-wide survey of projects

Issues addressed: 

A randomised controlled trial of an intervention to increase the implementation of a healthy canteen policy in Australian primary schools: study protocol

Background: The implementation of healthy school canteen policies has been recommended as a strategy to help prevent unhealthy eating and excessive weight gain. Internationally, research suggests that schools often fail to implement practices consistent with healthy school canteen policies. Without a population wide implementation, the potential benefits of these policies will not be realised. The aim of this trial is to assess the effectiveness of an implementation intervention in increasing school canteen practices consistent with a healthy canteen policy of the New South Wales (NSW), Australia, government known as the 'Fresh Tastes @ School NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy'.Methods/design: The parallel randomised trial will be conducted in 70 primary schools located in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Schools will be eligible to participate if they are not currently meeting key components of the healthy canteen policy. Schools will be randomly allocated after baseline data collection in a 1:1 ratio to either an intervention or control group using a computerised random number function in Microsoft Excel. Thirty-five schools will be selected to receive a multi-component intervention including implementation support from research staff, staff training, resources, recognition and incentives, consensus and leadership strategies, follow-up support and implementation feedback. The 35 schools allocated to the control group will not receive any intervention support as part of the research trial. The primary outcome measures will be i) the proportion of schools with a canteen menu that does not contain foods or beverages restricted from regular sale ('red' and 'banned' items) and ii) the proportion of schools where healthy canteen items ('green' items) represent the majority (>50%) of products listed on the menu. Outcome data will be collected via a comprehensive menu audit, conducted by dietitians blind to group allocation. Intervention effectiveness will be assessed using logistic regression models adjusting for baseline values.Discussion: The proposed trial will represent a novel contribution to the literature, being the first randomised trial internationally to examine the effectiveness of an intervention to facilitate implementation of a healthy canteen policy.

Implementing training packages in a TAFE institute: perceptions and concerns of staff

The advent of training packages is a further change to the vocational education and training sector and is currently being implemented by teaching professionals. This paper outlines the findings of a project involving teachers in a TAFE institution as they begin the process of implementing the cross-industry Laboratory Operations Training Package into their teaching centre. The impetus for the research was the recognition that the change brought about by the new initiative would present a challenge for the teachers and a further change to their role in vocational education and training (VET). The research was qualitative in the form of a case study. Findings demonstrated that the implementation required a significant change in the philosophy of educational practice within the centre and that the implementation process was causing the teachers anxiety and confusion.

Staff behaviour and resident engagement before and after active support training

Background Identifying the factors associated with greater increases in resident engagement has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of active support (AS).

Method Observational data from Stancliffe, Harman, Toogood, and McVilly's (2007) study of AS were analysed to evaluate amount of staff help, effectiveness of staff help, and staff use of praise.

Results Lag analyses showed that antecedent staff help was consistently followed by resident engagement at pre-test. This strong association did not increase significantly at post-test. Resident engagement was more likely to follow staff help than the other way around. There was an increase from pre-test to post-test in help and praise by staff. The higher absolute amount of praise was largely the result of the increase in staff help.

Conclusions The amount of staff help, its effectiveness, and use of praise by staff may each be important in increasing engagement. These factors should continue to be the focus of research attention and applied efforts to help ensure active support is consistently effective.

Intervention for depression among palliative care patients and their families : a study protocol for evaluation of a training program for professional care staff

Background: Clinical depression is highly prevalent yet under-detected and under-treated in palliative care settings and is associated with a number of adverse medical and psychological outcomes for patients and their family members. This article presents a study protocol to evaluate a training intervention for non-physician palliative care staff to improve the recognition of depression and provide support for depressed patients and their family members. Details of the hypotheses and expected outcomes, study design, training program development and evaluation measures are described.
Methods and Design: A randomised controlled trial will be implemented across two palliative care services to evaluate the “Training program for professional carers to recognise and manage depression in palliative care settings”. Pre-, post- and three-month follow-up data will be collected to assess: the impact of the training on the knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy and perceived barriers of palliative care staff when working with depression; referral rates for depression; and changes to staff practices. Quantitative and qualitative methods, in the form of self-report questionnaires and interviews with staff and family members, will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention.
Discussion: This study will determine the effectiveness of an intervention that aims to respond to the urgent need for innovative programs to target depression in the palliative care setting. The expected outcome of this study is the validation of an evidence-based training program to improve staff recognition and appropriate referrals for depression, as well as improve psychosocial support for depressed patients and their family members.

Evaluation of a training program to assist care staff to better recognize and manage depression among palliative care patients and their families

This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a training program to improve the knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy of palliative care staff and thus enable them to better detect and manage depression among palliative care patients and their families. Participants were 90 professional carers who completed a four-session training program. Knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and barriers to working with depressed patients were assessed preintervention, post-intervention, and at a three-month follow-up. The results demonstrated that compared to the control group, the intervention group had improved in all of these areas. Improvements were maintained at the three-month follow-up in all areas except attitudes. The results of this study indicate the importance of training in managing depression among palliative care staff. Booster sessions will likely be needed to ensure that training program gains are maintained.

Rehabilitation staff perspectives on training for problem-solving therapy for primary care in a low vision service

Vision rehabilitation staff were trained to deliver problem-solving therapy for primary care (PSTPC) over the telephone to adults with depressive symptoms and low vision. Training was a 2-day workshop, completion of training cases, and assessment of treatment fidelity. Staff perspectives of training and challenges in PST-PC delivery were explored. Telephone-administered semistructured interviews were conducted pre- and post-workshop and following PST-PC competency. In all, 14 staff (mean age = 47.64 years, SD = 12.68 years, 93% females) achieved competency and 6 withdrew. Results showed an increased understanding of PST-PC from pre- to post-workshop (Z = −2.71, p = .007) and pre-workshop to post-competency (Z = −3.09, p = .002). A high level of satisfaction with training was reported. Staff challenges included the clients’ ability to define problems and brainstorm solutions. Training enabled staff to competently deliver PST-PC and may serve as a model for integrating depression care into vision rehabilitation services recommended by international guidelines.