Improving access to evidence-based acute stroke services: development and evaluation of a health systems model to address equity of access issues

Level 1 evidence for management of patients with stroke in a dedicated Stroke Care Unit (SCU) demonstrates improved outcomes by about 20%. It has been estimated that 21% of Australian hospitals provide an SCU and that these SCUs are mainly located in either metropolitan sites and/or in hospitals with more than 300 beds. To address equity issues related to access to SCUs, the National Stroke Foundation and the Australian Government undertook the National Stroke Units Program. One program outcome was the development of a conceptual model of acute stroke service delivery. The development process and initial evaluation of the model are described. Use of the model to increase capacity within the health care system to treat stroke is discussed.

Using accelerated, whole-of-brain learning techniques in higher education: principles and practice

Accelerated learning is an integrative method of learning, combining both sides of the brain to strengthen a student's relationship with self, teacher, subject matter and other students, and so assists students to achieve deep, rather than surface, learning. While the approach has been used to teach school pupils and trainees in the corporate world, its use in marketing education in universities is limited, and there are no reports of studies focusing on its use in postgraduate coursework degrees. Thus this paper examines how accelerated learning could be used in teaching marketing at universities at the MBA level. Some techniques are synthesised from the literature that are particularly appropriate for the students and constraints of an MBA program in a university. We conclude that accelerated learning techniques can be used and are effective in a MBA program. Essentially, accelerated learning incorporate many, already known ideas but it is a useful comprehensive framework.

The measurement precision and evaluation of the diameter profiles of single wool fibres

A recent model of Single Fibre Analyser 3001 (SIFAN3001) was firstly employed to obtain the single wool fibre diameter profiles (SfFDP’s) at multiple orientations. The results showed that using SIFAN3001 to measure fibre diameter at four orientations for 50 single fibres randomly sub-sampled from each mid-side sample can produce average fibre diameter profiles (ASfFDP’s) of fibres within staples. Within the testing regime used, the precision estimates for the total samples were ±1.3µm for mean fibre diameter of staples and ±1.4µm for average fibre diameter of the ASfFDP’s at each scanned step in the diameter profile. The mean diameter ratio (ellipticity) obtained from the four orientations was 1.08±0.01, confirming that the Merino wool fibres under review were elliptical rather than circular. The elliptical morphology of wool fibres and the precision of fibre diameter measurement at each point along a fibre will be considered in the development of a mechanical model of Staple Strength testing.

Strategic public land use assessment and planning in Victoria : over 30 years of trailblazing but where to from here?

Conflict over the appropriate uses and management of public land have been a feature of the Australian political landscape for at least the past 30 years. While various attempts have been made to establish land use assessment and planning institutions in various jurisdictions, the success of these often short lived attempts at institutional approaches for managing land use conflict have been patchy at best. The experience in the State of Victoria has been somewhat different, with public land use assessment and planning having been informed by a series of independent statutory bodies since 1970 (the Land Conservation, Environment Conservation, and Victorian Environmental Assessment Councils). To some degree at least the value of this approach is indicated by the extent to which Victoria’s bioregions are now protected in conservation reserves. However, while there has always been a statutory body in operation, the roles and responsibilities of these bodies have been subject to significant legislative change, with existing bodies replaced by new bodies in 1997 and 2001. Justifications for these reforms included changing circumstances and new understandings about environmental management, as well as changing views about public administration. As a way of contributing to enhancing the design of institutions for mediating land use conflict and contributing to sustainable land use and management, this paper investigates the lessons that can be learnt from the Victorian experience by examining the implications of the changing roles and responsibilities of these institutions, and then discussing possible future directions for strategic land use planning.

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.

Child protection, risk assessment and blame ideology

In this article we use qualitative data drawn from a sample of child protection cases 10 demonstrate holV the process of al1ributing blame to parents and carers for child maltreatment is a sign!ficanr influence 011 decisionmaking,
sometimes to the detriment of assessing the flltllre safety of children. We foctls on two cases which both demonstrate how the process of apportioning blame can lead to decisions which might not be considered 10 be in the best interests of the children concerned. We conceptualise blame as an 'ideology' with its roots in the discourse of the 'risk society', pelpetuated and sustained by the technology of risk assessment. The concept of blame ideology is offered as an addition to theOlY which seeks 10 explain the influences on decision making in child protection practice.

Physical education, sport and hyper-masculinity in schools

Among widening social anxieties about practices and performances of contemporary masculinity are questions about the place of hyper-masculine (contact) sports, such as games of football. Foremost are concerns about some of the values and attitudes that appear to circulate within such contexts. With their historical leaning towards character attributes aligned to hardness, solidarity and stoicism, there is growing pressure on coaches and teachers to manage and mediate the participation of young males in this arena. Against this backdrop, this paper explores some of the tensions that emerge in schools when the codes and mores frequently associated with a hyper-masculine sporting identity are seen to flourish. Foremost here is the emergence of cultures of entitlement, abuse and exclusion. Following the illumination of such cultures across three research narratives, this paper discusses the sorts of reforms that are needed to promote more educative and responsible engagement with hyper-masculine sports in, and beyond, schools.