Widening access to lifelong learning for adults in Ethiopia: opportunities with recognition of prior learning

Socio-economic implication of the lifelong learning for all agenda is enormous. The very idea of lifelong learning frees learning from time and space constraints. It advocates learning to be an activity of a lifetime both within and without the formal education system. The assumption is that lifelong and life-wide learning will promote competitiveness, creativity, employability and social cohesion. Taking it in the context of developing countries such as Ethiopia, lifelong learning as an educational organising principle may play a vital role in supporting efforts to eradicate illiteracy and reduce poverty. Recently, Ethiopia has introduced the third phase of their education sector development programme, which underscores the importance of adult education, and a national strategy for adult education. This paper analyses the two documents to understand the extent to which non-formal and formal education are linked, and thereby to highlight the significance of institutionalising the recognition of prior learning (RPL) to promote lifelong learning for adults and working population.

Community views on responding to a local asbestos disease epidemic : implications for policy and practice

The Latrobe Valley region of Victoria, Australia, has the highest rate of asbestos disease in the state due to extensive past use of asbestos in the power industry. Current responses to asbestos disease epidemics in Australia and internationally are dominated by medical, scientific, legal and government perspectives. The voices and perspectives of those most directly affected – exposed and diseased workers, their families and communities – are relatively rarely heard.A qualitative interview study was conducted to determine what people in the Latrobe Valley community think could or should be done following their own asbestos disease epidemic. Analysis identified several themes. Notably, these represent a sophisticated community understanding of issues that is largely consistent with state-of-the-art occupational health and public health knowledge.Some themes are well known already, eg the need for fair and timely compensation, adequate healthcare facilities and services, and more education. Others point to neglected possibilities, such as the need for reconciliation and social healing to complement the dominant individual medico-legal focus. Employer suppression of hazard information and denial of asbestos-related disease in past decades continues to have a profound effect on people's views in the present. Reconciliation in some form, eg acknowledgement of or apology for past wrongs, was identified as a necessary first step in developing new and better policy and practice responses; action in this regard has important implications for the implementation and effectiveness of other policy and practice interventions. Further, a need for substantive community participation in the development of policy and practice responses – currently lacking – was identified. Findings suggest that community is an under-recognised and under-utilised resource in responding to a local asbestos disease epidemic.The Latrobe Valley situation is a microcosm of the broader Australian and international story. It offers insights on the perspectives of those most affected by asbestos issues, how such people and their views can be used to strengthen current policy and practice responses, and how their participation is essential to building comprehensive public and social health responses to this global problem.

Comparison of food industry policies and commitments on marketing to children and product (re)formulation in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji

Unhealthy food environments are known to be major drivers of diet-related non-communicable diseases globally, and there is an imperative for major food companies to be publicly accountable for their actions to improve the healthiness of food environments. This paper examines the prevalence of publicly available policies and commitments of major packaged food and soft drink manufacturers, and fast-food restaurants in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji with respect to reducing food marketing to children and product (re)formulation. In each country, the most prominent companies in each sector were selected. Company policies, commitments and relevant industry initiatives were gleaned from company and industry association websites. In Australia and New Zealand, there are a higher proportion of companies with publicly available marketing and formulation policies than in Fiji. However, even in Australia, a large proportion of the most prominent food companies do not have publicly available policies. Where they exist, policies on food marketing to children generally focus on those aged less than 12, do not apply to all types of media, marketing channels and techniques, and do not provide transparency with respect to the products to which the policies apply. Product formulation policies, where they exist, focus mostly on salt reduction and changes to the make-up of overall product portfolios, and do not generally address saturated fat, added sugar and energy reduction. In the absence of strong policies and corresponding actions by the private sector, it is likely that government action (e.g. through co-regulation or legislation) will be needed to drive improved company performance.

Improving access to the justice system for people with communication difficulties : a training program for people working in the justice system

This training package is provided as a guide and resource to promote awareness and understanding of people who have complex communication needs and give people who work in law and justice system strategies to facilitate successful communication interactions. Complex communication needs are defined as communication problems associated with a wide range of physical, sensory and environmental causes which restrict/limit an individual's ability to participate independently in society. They and their communication partners may benefit from using Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) methods. Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) is an approach or communication system that makes it possible for a person without speech to communicate. AAC includes gestures and sign language, picture and alphabet boards and high technology electronic communication devices that produce computerised speech. Many people with complex communication needs use a combination of AAC communication to express themselves. It is hoped that this package will facilitate access to the justice system for a group of people who may experience social disadvantage as a result of their complex communication needs. The information included in the package is not exhaustive. It is designed to : provide the trainer and staff with a general understanding of complex communication needs; challenge misconceptions about people who have little or no functional speech; provide practical strategies and guidelines to assist staff to more successfully communicate with people with complex communication needs.

Is access to alcohol associated with alcohol/substance abuse among people diagnosed with anxiety/mood disorder?

To investigate the relationship between access to off-license alcohol outlets and areas with dual treatment for alcohol/drug abuse and anxiety/mood disorder compared to areas with anxiety/mood disorder only in an urban setting in New Zealand.

Sociocultural influences on strategies to lose weight, gain weight, and increase muscles among ten cultural groups

This study determined how sociocultural messages to change one's body are perceived by adolescents from different cultural groups. In total, 4904 adolescents, including Australian, Chilean, Chinese, Indo-Fijian, Indigenous Fijian, Greek, Malaysian, Chinese Malaysian, Tongans in New Zealand, and Tongans in Tonga, were surveyed about messages from family, peers, and the media to lose weight, gain weight, and increase muscles. Groups were best differentiated by family pressure to gain weight. Girls were more likely to receive the messages from multiple sociocultural sources whereas boys were more likely to receive the messages from the family. Some participants in a cultural group indicated higher, and others lower, levels of these sociocultural messages. These findings highlight the differences in sociocultural messages across cultural groups, but also that adolescents receive contrasting messages within a cultural group. These results demonstrate the difficulty in representing a particular message as being characteristic of each cultural group.

Perioperative Mortality Rate (POMR): a global indicator of access to safe surgery and anaesthesia

The unmet global burden of surgical disease is substantial. Currently, two billion people do not have access to emergency and essential surgical care. This results in unnecessary deaths from injury, infection, complications of pregnancy, and abdominal emergencies. Inadequately treated surgical disease results in disability, and many children suffer deformity without corrective surgery.

Efficacy of mirtazapine add on therapy to haloperidol in the treatment of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia: a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study.

The negative symptoms of schizophrenia remain a major clinical challenge. Mirtazapine is an antidepressant with antagonist properties at 5-HT2A, 5-HT3 and alpha 2 receptors as well as indirect 5-HT1a agonist effects. Many of these pharmacological actions have clinical or preclinical evidence of efficacy in schizophrenia. This study was a 6-week randomized placebo-controlled trial of mirtzepine or placebo add on to haloperidol 5 mg in the treatment of 30 patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia. The primary finding of the trial was a 42% reduction in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) negative symptom scores in the mirtazapine group compared to placebo at the end of 6 weeks (mirtazapine 13.9, SD 1.56; placebo 23.9, SD 1.56; P = 0.000, F = 20.31, d.f. = 1). The PANNS total scores, Clinical Global Impression severity and improvement scales in addition showed superiority of mirtazapine over placebo. There was no difference between the groups on the Hamilton depression scale at endpoint, suggesting that the improvement in negative symptoms was not an artifact of mood improvement. These results suggest a potential role for mirtazapine in the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

Reboxetine add on therapy to haloperidol in the treatment of schizophrenia: a preliminary double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study.

The negative symptoms of schizophrenia remain a major clinical challenge. Reboxetine is an antidepressant whose major mechanism of action is as a noradrenergic reuptake inhibitor. This study was a 6-week randomized placebo-controlled trial of reboxetine or placebo add on to haloperidol 5 mg in the treatment of 30 patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia. The trial failed to demonstrate any significant difference between the placebo and reboxetine groups on any of the outcome measures. This trial does not suggest that increased noradreneregic drive mediated by reuptake inhibition in patients taking dopamine antagonists is of therapeutic value in schizophrenia.

Development of guidelines for adults on how to communicate with adolescents about mental health problems and other sensitive topics: a Delphi study

There is little evidence-based information available to guide adults in the general community on communicating effectively with adolescents about mental health problems or other sensitive topics. The Delphi methodology was used to develop guidelines to fill this evidence gap. An online questionnaire containing potential guideline statements was developed following a literature search and input from two focus groups. Two expert panels (Youth Mental Health First Aid instructors and young consumer advocates) rated the questionnaire over three rounds, according to whether or not they believed that the statements should be included in the guidelines. Results were analyzed by comparing endorsement rates between the panels. Of the 175 statements presented, 80 were rated as essential or important by ≥90% of both panels and were included in the guidelines. The Delphi process has offered an effective way to achieve consensus between expert panels on useful tips to help adults communicate with adolescents.

Effect of electrospinning parameters and polymer concentrations on mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion of randomly-oriented electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) nanofiber mats

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanofiber mats prepared by an electrospinning technique were used as an active layer for making mechanical-to-electric energy conversion devices. The effects of PVDF concentration and electrospinning parameters (e.g. applied voltage, spinning distance), as well as nanofiber mat thickness on the fiber diameter, PVDF β crystal phase content, and mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion properties of the electrospun PVDF nanofiber mats were examined. It was interesting to find that finer uniform PVDF fibers showed higher β crystal phase content and hence, the energy harvesting devices had higher electrical outputs, regardless of changing the electrospinning parameters and PVDF concentration. The voltage output always changed in the same trend to the change of current output whatever the change trend was caused by the operating parameters or polymer concentration. Both voltage and current output changes followed a similar trend to the change of the β crystal phase content in the nanofibers. The nanofiber mat thickness influenced the device electrical output, and the maximum output was found on the 70 μm thick nanofiber mat. These results suggest that uniform PVDF nanofibers with smaller diameters and high β crystal phase content facilitate mechanical-to-electric energy conversion. The understanding obtained from this study may benefit the development of novel piezoelectric nanofibrous materials and devices for various energy uses.