Effect of a low-resource-intensive lifestyle modification program incorporating gymnasium-based and home-based resistance training on type 2 diabetes risk in Australian adults

OBJECTIVE--The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a low-resource-intensive lifestyle modification program incorporating resistance training and to compare a gymnasium-based with a home-based resistance training program on diabetes diagnosis status and risk.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS--A quasi-experimental two-group study was undertaken with 122 participants with diabetes risk factors; 36.9% had impaired glucose tolerance (1GT) or impaired fasting glucose (IFG) at baseline. The intervention included a 6-week group self-management education program, a gymnasium-based or home-based 12-week resistance training program, and a 34-week maintenance program. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and 2-h plasma glucose, blood lipids, blood pressure, body composition, physical activity, and diet were assessed at baseline and week 52.

RESULTS--Mean 2-h plasma glucose and FPG fell by 0.34 mmol/1 (95% CI--0.60 to--0.08) and 0.15 mmol/l (-0.23 to -0.07), respectively. The proportion of participants with IFG or IGT decreased from 36.9 to 23.0% (P = 0.006). Mean weight loss was 4.07 kg (-4.99 to -3.15). The only significant difference between resistance training groups was a greater reduction in systolic blood pressure for the gymnasium-based group (P = 0.008).

CONCLUSIONS--This intervention significantly improved diabetes diagnostic status and reduced diabetes risk to a degree comparable to that of other low-resource-intensive lifestyle modification programs and more intensive interventions applied to individuals with IGT. The effects of home-based and gymnasium-based resistance training did not differ significantly.

Meaning of home : a comparison of the meaning of home as identified by samples of Victorians with, and without, an intellectual disability

This phenomenological study of the meaning of home from the perspectives of people with and without an intellectual disability sought to identify, (a) any common ‘essence’ of meaning held by and, (b) the nature of any differences of perception between, the groups. Purposive samples of 18 people with an intellectual disability and 21 non-disabled people were surveyed using a semi-structured interview to ascertain their experiences of home and 'non-homes'. Inductive analysis of the data revealed a shared understanding of the meaning of home at a fundamental level. This shared meaning of home was found to comprise: the ability to exert control over an area; having a personalised space; feeling content with the living situation; a sense of familiarity with the setting; a set of behaviours and routines usually only enacted when at home; common names and uses for rooms; socialising at home with others; the importance of a positive social atmosphere in the home; and, recognition of places as non-homes because they lacked one or more of these attributes. Further analysis revealed the essence of home is its experience as the place where stress is most reduced or minimised for the individual. The study demonstrates that the concept of stress is superordinate to previously identified concepts considered fundamental to home such as privacy, control and non-homes. Major differences between the two samples were largely differences of degree with people who have an intellectual disability reporting the same fundamental attributes of home as people who do not have an intellectual disability, but in a less elaborated form. Principal among these differences of degree was the notion of control over the home and its derivative elements which encompassed the whole dwelling including its setting for people without an intellectual disability but was very restricted for people with an intellectual disability being largely confined to the person's bedroom. Socialising in or from the home was also very limited for people with an intellectual disability in comparison with that experienced by non-disabled informants with the former group conveying an impression of leading significantly socially isolated lives at home. The major implications of this study are related to the meaning of home per se, to residential service provision to people with an intellectual disability, and to future research.

Tutor and teacher timescapes : lessons from a home-school partnership

A partnership project was developed in which parents volunteered to support teachers
in training years 1-3 children in computer skills at a primary school in a small, low
socio-economic community. This article identifies the ways teachers and the ‘tutors’
(as the volunteers were called) understood the value of the project. ‘Being a teacher’
and ‘being a volunteer’ were structured by different forms of social engagement,
which in turn influenced the ways individuals were able to work with each other in
collaborative processes. We argue that the discursive practices encoded in homeschool-
community partnership rhetoric represent ruling-class ways of organising and
networking that may be incompatible with those of people from low socio-economic
backgrounds. When such volunteers work in schools their attendance may be sporadic
and short-term whereas teachers would like ‘reliable’ ongoing commitment. This
mismatch wrought of teachers’ and volunteers’ differing everyday realities needs to be
understood before useful models for partnerships in disadvantaged communities may
be realised.

Public reporting of nursing home quality of care : Lessons from the United States experience for Canadian policy discussion

While the demand for continuing care services in Canada grows, the quality of such services has come under increasing scrutiny. Consideration has been given to the use of public reporting of quality data as a mechanism to stimulate quality improvement and promote public accountability for and transparency in service quality. The recent adoption of the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) throughout a number of Canadian jurisdictions means that standardized quality data are available for comparisons among facilities across regions, provinces and nationally. In this paper, we explore current knowledge on public reporting in nursing homes in the United States to identify what lessons may inform policy discussion regarding potential use of public reporting in Canada. Based on these findings, we make recommendations regarding how public reporting should be progressed and managed if Canadian jurisdictions were to implement this strategy.

The ultimate sustainable home

The introduction of assembly line techniques to vehicle manufacturing by Henry Ford in the early 1900s dramatically reduced production costs, improved quality and made cars affordable to all. As a consequence people’s lives, cities and society were transformed.
Many attempts have been made to apply vehicle mass production techniques to domestic housing manufacturing, but the success has been limited largely due to underdeveloped manufacturing processes, incomplete integration of building services and limited consideration of environmental performance.
This paper describes an approach that promises to revolutionize the building market in Australia by providing architect designed attractive high quality comfortable modular housing system that incorporates state-of-the-art services and controls. Costs, GHG emissions and material wastage are all substantially less than timber framed housing construction commonly used in Australia.