'I don't really care about what someone else's studied' : Drinking guidelines and the government of pleasure

This paper examines data from a Drinkwise Australia funded research project that investigated the cultural drivers of drinking in 14-24 year-old Australians. The research included two studies. In one we conducted interviews and focus groups with administrators and young people in a range of sporting clubs and in the other we interviewed 60 young people aged 20-24 about their drinking biographies. The drinking biographies study is the focus of this paper. At the time of interviewing the draft guidelines on low-risk drinking were released by the NH&MRC and we asked our participants what they knew about them and if they would affect their drinking patterns. The responses to these questions are examined in light of O’Malley and Valverde’s claim that pleasure is silenced and/or deployed strategically in liberal governance discourses about drugs and alcohol (2004: 25). This is despite the fact that research indicates that pleasure is an important motivation for drinking.

The SF36 Version 2: critical analyses of population weights, scoring algorithms and population norms

Background: The SF36 Version 2 (SF36V2) is a revision of the SF36 Version 1, and is a widely used health status measure. It is important that guidelines for interpreting scores are available.

Method: A population sample of Australians (n = 3015) weighted to achieve representativeness was administered the SF36V2. Comparisons between published US weights and sample derived weights were made, and Australian population norms computed and presented.

Major findings: Significant differences were observed on 7/8 scales and on the mental health summary scale. Possible causes of these findings may include different sampling and data collection procedures, demographic characteristics, differences in data collection time (1998 vs. 2004), differences in health status or differences in cultural perception of the meaning of health. Australian population norms by age cohort, gender and health status are reported by T-score as recommended by the instrument developers. Additionally, the proportions of cases within T-score deciles are presented and show there are important data distribution issues.

Principal conclusions: The procedures reported here may be used by other researchers where local effects are suspected. The population norms presented may be of interest. There are statistical artefacts associated with T-scores that have implications for how SF36V2 data are analysed and interpreted.

Assessing advanced life support (ALS) competence: Victorian practices

Advanced life support (ALS) assessments are performed to assess nurses’ abilities to recognize cardiac arrest events, and appropriately manage patients according to resuscitation guidelines. Although there is evidence for conducting assessments after initial ALS education, there is little evidence to guide educators about ongoing assessments in terms of methods, format and frequency.

The aim of this study was to determine methods used by educators to assess ALS skills and knowledge for nurses in Victorian intensive care units. This descriptive study used telephone interviews to collect data. Data were analysed using content analysis. Twenty intensive care educators participated in this study. Thirteen educators (65%) were employed in public hospitals, and 7 educators (35%) worked in private hospitals across 12 Level 3 (60%) and 8 Level 2 (40%) intensive care units.

Results showed all educators used scenarios to assess ALS skills, with 12 educators (60%) including an additional theoretical test. There was variability in ALS assessment frequency, assessment timing in relation to initial/ongoing education, person performing the assessment, and the assessor/participant ratio. Nineteen educators (95%) reported ALS skill competency assessments occurred annually; 1 educator (5%) reported assessments occurred every 2 years. Assessments were conducted during a designated month (n = 10), numerous times throughout the year (n = 8), or on nurses’ employment anniversaries (n = 2). All educators reported many nurses avoided undertaking assessments.

Variability in ongoing ALS assessment methods was evident in Victorian intensive care units with some units applying evidence-based practices. Consideration should be given to the purposes and methods of conducting annual ALS assessments to ensure resources and strategies are directed appropriately. To encourage nurses to retain ALS skills and knowledge, regular practices are recommended as an alternative to assessments. However, further research is required to support this notion.

Teaching EBP : part 2 – making sense of clinical practice guidelines

Previously, we indicated that we wanted to address the dialogue pertaining to education and teaching approaches to increase the use of specific types of evidence that exist to guide and inform practice, and began this by focusing on Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG). This column builds on that knowledge to highlight how educators can use CPGs in practice and change situations whilst also raising awareness of the limitations of these tools in terms of their impact on practice.

The money laundering risk posed by low-risk financial products in South Africa : findings and guidelines

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level and nature of criminal abuse of financial products that are classified as posing a low anti-money laundering/combating of financing of terrorists (AML/CFT) risk in South Africa to determine the effectiveness of the simplified due diligence measures that apply to these products.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents empirical research on the views of bank officials and law enforcement officials regarding the criminal abuse of South African financial products that are subject to simplified customer due diligence controls.

Findings – South Africa's AML/CFT laws allow certain deposit-taking institutions and money remitters to implement simplified customer due diligence measures in relation to specific low-risk products that are mainly designed to allow previously unbanked persons to access financial services. The paper finds that the products have been abused by criminals but that the incidence of such abuse and the amounts involved are low. The paper investigates possible weaknesses in the current system that allow limited criminal abuse to occur. It concludes with a number of guidelines that emerge from the study and are of value to regulators that wish to implement a similar system.

Originality/value – The South African AML/CFT scheme in relation to low-risk products is of interest to many international regulators that are grappling with the interplay between effective AML/CFT controls and the impact of strict controls on the ability of socially and economically excluded persons to access appropriate financial services. This paper provides evidence that appropriately designed controls can facilitate financial inclusion while limiting the risk of criminal abuse.

Victorian index of estuary condition : recommended themes and measures

Deakin University was engaged by the Department of Sustainability and Environment to develop an Index of Estuary Condition (IEC) for evaluating the environmental condition of Victorian estuaries. The Index will ultimately complement the existing Index of Stream Condition (ISC) by providing a consistent statewide assessment of the environmental condition of estuaries. This will better enable:

• Estuarine condition to be reported at regional, state and national levels.

• Prioritisation of resource allocation.

• Strategic evaluation of management interventions in estuaries.

Workshops involving participants with expertise in a variety of disciplines were convened to integrate learnings from assessment programs currently being developed interstate and overseas. This report synthesises and builds on the output from those workshops which:

• Identified key components (themes) of estuaries that contribute to estuarine condition.

• Contributed to development of a broad conceptual model for Victorian estuaries

• Identified possible measures of each theme

In keeping with the sub-indices of the ISC, six themes were identified for use in the IEC: Physical form, Hydrology, Water quality, Sediment, Flora and Fauna. Several measures within each theme are recommended to assess estuary condition.

Implementation of particular measures in the IEC partly depends on the investment required to both collect and interpret the required data. With regard to data collection, each measure was assessed according to whether there is an established sampling procedure, how frequently data need to be collected and the level of expertise required for collection and processing. For interpreting the data, measures were scored on whether baseline condition is established and whether descriptions and scores are developed which reflect the extent of deviation from that condition. These scores were used to indicate which measures are feasible to implement immediately and which require further investigation.

A trial of the recommended IEC measures in a selection of estuaries is recommended as it would provide an opportunity to test the measures and their suitability for application statewide. It is suggested that the trial is conducted in estuaries subject to various levels of threats within each of the four estuary classes described by Barton et al. (2008)

A practical strategy for discovering, evaluating and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunity : research based action guidelines

It has been argued that entrepreneurship researchers do not place sufficient emphasis on making their research findings relevant to entrepreneurs and their advisors. The paper utilises five general principles introduced by Hindle, Anderson and Gibson (2004) to convert a complex range of entrepreneurship research findings into useful action guidelines for practicing entrepreneurs. The existing research-based knowledge concerning opportunity assessment is distilled into a diagrammatic framework. This framework and a sequence of ten, plain-English questions, provides entrepreneurs and SME operators with a strategic tool (nick-named the '4/10 strategy') for discovering, evaluating and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities.

A practical strategy for discovering, evaluating and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunity : research based action guidelines

It has been argued that entrepreneurship researchers do not place sufficient emphasis on making their research findings relevant to entrepreneurs and their advisors. The paper utilises five general principles introduced by Hindle, Anderson and Gibson (2004) to convert a complex range of entrepreneurship research findings into useful action guidelines for practicing entrepreneurs. The existing research-based knowledge concerning opportunity assessment is distilled into a diagrammatic framework. This framework and a sequence of ten, plain-English questions, provides entrepreneurs and SME operators with a strategic tool (nick-named the "4/10 strategy") for discovering, evaluating and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities.

From what we know to how we use it : five principles for turning entrepreneurship research and practitioner action guidelines

This and the companion paper that follows owe their existence to a paper presented by Kevin Hindle at the AGSE Regional Entrepreneurship and Innovation Research Exchange in February 2004. In his paper, Hindle (2004) argued passionately that entrepreneurship researchers must ensure that the best of their hardwon wisdom does not find its beginning motivation and final resting place in the pages of arcane journals that practitioners never read. He suggested that if every entrepreneurship researcher committed, say once every two years, to write a "how to" article it would significantly enhance the status of the research community in the eyes of practising entrepreneurs and those who provide support and services to them.

The argument was well-received, particularly by two people in the audience, Robert Anderson, the managing editor of the Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, the journal of the Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship/Conseil Canadien des PME et de l'entrepreneuriat (CCSBE/ CCPME), and Brian Gibson, the editor of Small Enterprise Research, the journal of the Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand (SEAANZ). For both editors, Hindle's argument was a familiar one. The membership of CCSBE/CCPME and SEAANZ consists of academic researchers, educators, government employees in both policy and program areas, and those offering support and services to entrepreneurs and the managers of small enterprises. In both organizations, there is a general consensus that the needs of "academics" are well met, but not so the needs of the non-academic constituents.

Turning entrepreneurship research findings into practical action guidelines : the example of opportunity assessment

It is argued that entrepreneurship researchers do not place sufficient emphasis on making their research findings relevant to entrepreneurs and their advisors. The paper provides a Specific example demonstrating five general principles that can be used to turn a complex range of entrepreneurship research findings into useful action guidelines for practising entrepreneurs. The existing research-based knowledge concerning opportunity assessment is distilled into a diagrammatic framework. This framework and a sequence of ten, plain-English questions, provides entrepreneurs and SME operators with a tool for discovering, evaluating and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities.

Developing Clinical Practice Guidelines for violence risk assessment in mental health triage : a systematic review

Background : On a global level, there is a growing trend to utilise mental health triage service systems as a way of providing consumers with access to 24 hour mental health care. At present, violence risk assessment in mental health triage lacks a suitable evidence base and clear guidelines. This presentation provides an overview of a Clinical Practice Guideline for violence risk assessment at point of entry to health services.
Aims : The objective of this study was to develop Clinical Practice Guidelines for violence risk assessment in mental health triage, and to pilot test the Clinical Guidelines in two major hospitals in Melbourne.
Method : The method employed in the study was a systematic review, as per the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council’s methodology for developing Clinical Guidelines. Research was conducted at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Alfred Hospital to establish the utility of the Guideline in practice.
Results : The systematic review established the highest level of evidence for violence risk assessment. Clinical Practice Guidelines for mental health triage were developed from these findings.
Conclusions : Evidence based Clinical Guidelines maximise the potential for creating safer outcomes for consumers, families/carers, and health care workers.