Making sense of mental illness as a full human experience : Perspective of illness and recovery held by people with a mental illness living in the community.

Recovery is a highly contextualized concept amid divergent interpretations and unique experiences. There is substantial current interest in building evidence about recovery from mental illness in order to inform best practice founded in the ways people find to live productive and meaningful lives. This paper presents some accounts related to recovery and illness expressed by eight people through a Participatory Action Research project. The research facilitated entry to the subjective experiences of living in the community as an artist with a mental illness. The people in the research shared an integrated understanding of illness, recovery and identity. Their understanding provided insight into mental illness as an inseparable aspect of who they were. Further, specific issue was raised of recovery as a clinical term with a requirement to meet distinct conventions of recovery. This paper emphasizes that being ill and being well, for the person with a mental illness, is a dynamic and complex development not easily explained or transformed into uniform process or outcomes. Attempts to establish an integral or consensual approach to recovery has, to date, disregarded mental illness as a full human experience. This paper argues that broader frameworks for thinking and responding to the dynamic processes of mental illness and recovery are needed and require acknowledgment of competing and contradictory ideas.

What makes inner city high density living attractive? Insight from residents in Brisbane, Australia

Australia’s urban form and planning has shifted from traditional individual dwellings on spacious suburban blocks towards higher density urban consolidation. Despite relatively strong market demand for inner city high density (ICHD) living, there is ongoing need to explore and understand the aspects that make this urban form liveable and sustainable. The purpose of this research is to explore the viewpoints of current ICHD residents to better understand the liveability and sustainability matters that affect their everyday experiences and perceptions of this urban form. Qualitative interviews with 24 ICHD Brisbane (Australia) residents illustrates their perceptions and experiences of liveability and the ways in which it is broadly understood within three main domains and nine key sub-concepts, including: individual dwelling (thermal comfort, natural light and balconies, noise mitigation), building complex (shared space, good neighbour protocols, environmental sustainability) and the community (transport, amenities, sense of community). Focussing on the experience of ICHD residents, this research highlights the ways in which multiple aspects of the immediate living environment, the dwelling, building complex and the community intertwine to provide residents with a liveable space. The results show that urban features that reflect current societal pressure for greater sustainability such as lower energy use are the exact same features sought by ICHD residents in determining their liveability. By highlighting the aspects current ICHD residents value most about their dwellings, buildings and communities, these findings will help inform policy-makers, planners, developers and designers as they create urban spaces and dwellings that are more liveable and sustainable.

Parking, parties and pets : disputes - the dark side of community living

In the last decade community living, in master planned communities or strata titled complexes, has increased. As land becomes scarcer, the popularity of these schemes is predicted to grow. Offsetting this popularity is the peculiarities of community living, in particular the often unthought-of difficulties arising from living in very close proximity to your neighbour. Such difficulties affect both amenity of life and property value. This paper seeks to inform practitioners of the issues arising from community living. It does this by identifying the more common forms of disputes and considering recent tribunal and court decisions. The paper concludes by identifying the dispute warning signs to assist to practitioners with the valuation process.

A critical regionalist approach to housing design in Vietnam : socio-environmental organisation of living spaces in pre- and post-reform houses

Vietnam has a unique culture which is revealed in the way that people have built and designed their traditional housing. Vietnamese dwellings reflect occupants’ activities in their everyday lives, while adapting to tropical climatic conditions impacted by seasoning monsoons. It is said that these characteristics of Vietnamese dwellings have remained unchanged until the economic reform in 1986, when Vietnam experienced an accelerated development based on the market-oriented economy. New housing types, including modern shop-houses, detached houses, and apartments, have been designed in many places, especially satisfying dwellers’ new lifestyles in Vietnamese cities. The contemporary housing, which has been mostly designed by architects, has reflected rules of spatial organisation so that occupants’ social activities are carried out. However, contemporary housing spaces seem unsustainable in relation to socio-cultural values because they has been influenced by globalism that advocates the use of homogeneous spatial patterns, modern technologies, materials and construction methods. This study investigates the rules of spaces in Vietnamese houses that were built before and after the reform to define the socio-cultural implications in Vietnamese housing design. Firstly, it describes occupants’ views of their current dwellings in terms of indoor comfort conditions and social activities in spaces. Then, it examines the use of spaces in pre-reform Vietnamese housing through occupants’ activities and material applications. Finally, it discusses the organisation of spaces in both pre- and post-reform housing to understand how Vietnamese housing has been designed for occupants to live, act, work, and conduct traditional activities. Understanding spatial organisation is a way to identify characteristics of the lived spaces of the occupants created from the conceived space, which is designed by designers. The characteristics of the housing spaces will inform the designers the way to design future Vietnamese housing in response to cultural contexts. The study applied an abductive approach for the investigation of housing spaces. It used a conceptual framework in relation to Henri Lefebvre’s (1991) theory to understand space as the main factor constituting the language of design, and the principles of semiotics to examine spatial structure in housing as a language used in the everyday life. The study involved a door-knocking survey to 350 households in four regional cities of Vietnam for interpretation of occupancy conditions and levels of occupants’ comfort. A statistical analysis was applied to interpret the survey data. The study also required a process of data selection and collection of fourteen cases of housing in three main climatic regions of the country for analysing spatial organisation and housing characteristics. The study found that there has been a shift in the relationship of spaces from the pre- to post-reform Vietnamese housing. It also indentified that the space for guest welcoming and family activity has been the central space of the Vietnamese housing. Based on the relationships of the central space with the others, theoretical models were proposed for three types of contemporary Vietnamese housing. The models will be significant in adapting to Vietnamese conditions to achieve socioenvironmental characteristics for housing design because it was developed from the occupants’ requirements for their social activities. Another contribution of the study is the use of methodological concepts to understand the language of living spaces. Further work will be needed to test future Vietnamese housing designs from the applications of the models.

Breastfeeding beliefs and practices of African women living in Brisbane and Perth, Australia

The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of breastfeeding among refugee women from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo living in two major capital cities in Australia. Participants were recruited from their relevant community associations and via a snowballing technique. Thirty-one women took part in either individual interviews or facilitated group discussions to explore their experiences of breastfeeding in their home country and in Australia. Thematic analysis revealed four main themes: cultural breastfeeding beliefs and practices; stigma and shame around breastfeeding in public; ambivalence towards breastfeeding and breastfeeding support. Women who originated from these four African countries highlighted a significant desire for breastfeeding and an understanding that it was the best method for feeding their infants. Their breastfeeding practices in Australia were a combination of practices maintained from their countries of origin and those adopted according to Australian cultural norms. They exemplified the complexity of breastfeeding behaviour and the relationship between infant feeding with economic status and the perceived social norms of the host country. The results illustrate the need for policy makers and health professionals to take into consideration the environmental, social and cultural contexts of the women who are purportedly targeted for the promotion of breastfeeding.

Towards a typology of structural arrangements for shared services : evidence from the higher education sector

Shared services are increasingly prevalent in practice, their introduction potentially entailing substantive and highly consequential organizational redesign. Yet, attention to the structural arrangements of shared services has been limited. This study explores types of structural arrangements for shared services that are observed in practice, and the salient dimensions along which those types can be usefully differentiated. Through inductive attention to the shared services literature, and content analysis of 36 secondary case studies of shared services in the higher education sector, three salient dimensions emerged: (1) the existence or not of a separate organizational entity, (2) an intra- or inter-organizational sharing boundary, and (3) involvement or not of a third party. Each dimension being dichotomous yields 23 combinations, or eight shared services structural arrangement types. Each of the eight structural arrangement types is defined and demonstrated through case examples. The typology offers clarity around shared services structural arrangements. It can serve as a useful analytical tool for researchers investigating the phenomenon further, and for practitioners considering the introduction or further development of shared services arrangements. Important follow on research is suggested too.

The compatibility of leasehold and freehold tenure arrangements with environmental offset and trading initiatives

Environmental offsets and environmental trading initiatives are being rapidly introduced into environmental regulatory regimes. These relatively new legal mechanisms are attempting to fill in the gaps left by command and control regulation. The introduction of environmental offset and trading policy in Queensland will need to be compatible with existing land tenure regulation. Who owns and who uses natural resources are controlled by a range of legislative reservations and restrictions. Reservations give the State ownership of certain natural resources such as minerals, quarry material and, in some circumstances, forest products. Where there is a reservation in operation, the land holders rights are weakened. Restrictions in relation to uses prevent land holders from carrying out certain activities on the land. An example of a restriction of use is the operation of the Vegetation Management Act 1999(Qld), which prescribes the manner in which vegetation is to be dealt with. This article explores the nature of freehold and leasehold land tenure in Queensland and examines the effect of reservations and restrictions upon the operation of environmental offset and trading initiatives. Presently Queensland legislation does not directly address the relationship between land tenure and environmental offset and trading initiatives. The stability of tenure required for the creation of environmental offsets can be at odds with the flexibility allowed for under leasehold arrangements. This flexibility may act to undermine the permanency requirement of environmental offset creation (i.e. the guarantee that the offset is created for the long term).

The decline in activities of daily living at discharge (DADLD) index : stratifying patients at lower and higher risk

Background: Decreased ability to perform Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) during hospitalisation has negative consequences for patients and health service delivery. Objective: To develop an Index to stratify patients at lower and higher risk of a significant decline in ability to perform ADLs at discharge. Design: Prospective two cohort study comprising a derivation (n=389; mean age 82.3 years; SD� 7.1) and a validation cohort (n=153; mean age 81.5 years; SD� 6.1). Patients and setting: General medical patients aged = 70 years admitted to three university-affiliated acute care hospitals in Brisbane, Australia. Measurement and main results: The short ADL Scale was used to identify a significant decline in ability to perform ADLs from premorbid to discharge. In the derivation cohort, 77 patients (19.8%) experienced a significant decline. Four significant factors were identified for patients independent at baseline: 'requiring moderate assistance to being totally dependent on others with bathing'; 'difficulty understanding others (frequently or all the time)'; 'requiring moderate assistance to being totally dependent on others with performing housework'; a 'history of experiencing at least one fall in the previous 90 days prior to hospital admission' in addition to 'independent at baseline', which was protective against decline at discharge. 'Difficulty understanding others (frequently or all the time)' and 'requiring moderate assistance to being totally dependent on others with performing housework' were also predictors for patients dependent in ADLs at baseline. Sensitivity, specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV), and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of the DADLD dichotomised risk scores were: 83.1% (95% CI 72.8; 90.7); 60.5% (95% CI 54.8; 65.9); 34.2% (95% CI 27.5; 41.5); 93.5% (95% CI 89.2; 96.5). In the validation cohort, 47 patients (30.7%) experienced a significant decline. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of the DADLD were: 78.7% (95% CI 64.3; 89.3); 69.8% (95% CI 60.1, 78.3); 53.6% (95% CI 41.2; 65.7); 88.1% (95% CI 79.2; 94.1). Conclusions: The DADLD Index is a useful tool for identifying patients at higher risk of decline in ability to perform ADLs at discharge.

ActiGraph GT3X determined variations in “free-living” standing, lying, and sitting duration among sedentary adults

Background Overweight and obesity has become a serious public health problem in many parts of the world. Studies suggest that making small changes in daily activity levels such as “breaking-up” sedentary time (i.e., standing) may help mitigate the health risks of sedentary behavior. The aim of the present study was to examine time spent in standing (determined by count threshold), lying, and sitting postures (determined by inclinometer function) via the ActiGraph GT3X among sedentary adults with differing weight status based on body mass index (BMI) categories. Methods Participants included 22 sedentary adults (14 men, 8 women; mean age 26.5 ± 4.1 years). All subjects completed the self-report International Physical Activity Questionnaire to determine time spent sitting over the previous 7 days. Participants were included if they spent seven or more hours sitting per day. Postures were determined with the ActiGraph GT3X inclinometer function. Participants were instructed to wear the accelerometer for 7 consecutive days (24 h a day). BMI was categorized as: 18.5 to <25 kg/m2 as normal, 25 to <30 kg/m2 as overweight, and ≥30 kg/m2 as obese. Results Participants in the normal weight (n = 10) and overweight (n = 6) groups spent significantly more time standing (after adjustment for moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity and wear-time) (6.7 h and 7.3 h respectively) and less time sitting (7.1 h and 6.9 h respectively) than those in obese (n = 6) categories (5.5 h and 8.0 h respectively) after adjustment for wear-time (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in standing and sitting time between normal weight and overweight groups (p = 0.051 and p = 0.670 respectively). Differences were not significant among groups for lying time (p = 0.55). Conclusion This study described postural allocations standing, lying, and sitting among normal weight, overweight, and obese sedentary adults. The results provide additional evidence for the use of increasing standing time in obesity prevention strategies.

Making Arrangements : Remote proposal sequences and attendant structural phenomena in social interaction

In this thesis, I contribute to the study of how arrangements are made in social interaction. Using conversation analysis, I examine a corpus of 375 telephone calls between employees and clients of three Community Home Care (CHC) service agencies in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. My analysis of the CHC data corpus draws upon existing empirical findings within conversation analysis in order to generate novel findings about how people make arrangements with one another, and some of the attendant considerations that parties to such an activity can engage in: Prospective informings as remote proposals for a future arrangement – Focusing on how employees make arrangements with clients, I show how the employees in the CHC data corpus use ‘prospective informings’ to detail a future course of action that will involve the recipient of that informing. These informings routinely occasion a double-paired sequence, where informers pursue a response to their informing. This pursuit often occurs even after recipients have provided an initial response. This practice for making arrangements has been previously described by Houtkoop (1987) as ‘remote proposing.’ I develop Houtkoop’s analysis to show how an informing of a future arrangement can be recompleted, with response solicitation, as a proposal that is contingent upon a recipient’s acceptance. Participants’ understanding of references to non-present third parties – In the process of making arrangements, references are routinely made to non-present third parties. In the CHC data corpus, these third parties are usually care workers. Prior research (e.g., Sacks & Schegloff, 1979; Schegloff, 1996b) explains how the use of ‘recognitional references’ (such as the bare name ‘Kerry’), conveys to recipients that they should be able to locate the referent from amongst their acquaintances. Conversely, the use of ‘non-recognitional references’ (such as the description ‘a lady called Kerry’), conveys that recipients are unacquainted with the referent. I examine instances where the selection of a recognitional or non-recognitional reference form is followed by a recipient initiating repair on that reference. My analysis provides further evidence thatthe existing analytic account of these references corresponds to the way in which participants themselves make sense of them. My analysis also advances an understanding of how repair can be used, by recipients, to indicate the inappositeness of a prior turn. Post-possible-completion accounts – In a case study of a problematic interaction, I examine a misunderstanding that is not resolved within the repair space, the usual defence of intersubjectivity in interaction (cf. Schegloff, 1992b). Rather, I explore how the source of trouble is addressed, outside of the sequence of its production, with a ‘post-possible-completion account.’ This account specifies the basis of a misunderstanding and yet, unlike repair, does so without occasioning a revised response to a trouble-source turn. By considering various aspects of making arrangements in social interaction, I highlight some of the rich order that underpins the maintenance of human relationships across time. In the concluding section of this thesis I review this order, while also discussing practical implications of this analysis for CHC practice.

Working for a better life : longitudinal evidence on the predictors of employment among recently arrived refugee migrant men living in Australia

Although a number of studies have investigated the predictors of employment among refugee migrants, there is a dearth of evidence from longitudinal data. This study investigated the cross-sectional and longitudinal predictors of employment among 233 adult refugee men living in South-East Queensland, Australia. Participants were interviewed four times at six-month intervals between 2008 and 2010. Using a conceptual model developed from the literature, Generalised Estimating Equations were used to model the predictors of employment. Over time, the employment rate increased from 44 percent to 56 percent. Region of birth, length of time in Australia, seeking employment through job service providers and informal networks, and owning a car were significant predictors of employment. Contrary to previous research, English language proficiency was not a significant predictor when other variables were controlled for. Recognition of overseas skills and qualifications decreased the chances of finding employment. The policy and program implications are discussed.

College, shared house, or home? The impact of living situation on university students’ drinking

University students are recognised as a heavy drinking group who are at risk of both short and long term harms from their alcohol consumption. This paper explores the social dynamics of drinking and the key differences between three core groups of university students – those who live at home, those living in college and those who live independently. We draw on a large scale survey of Australian university students on alcohol consumption and harm minimisation and extensive qualitative individual and focus group interviews with university students in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Our data suggests that living at home supports safer drinking in comparison to the less regulated college context or living independently in shared households.

Conflicts over protection of marine living resources : the ‘Volga Case’ revisited

Non-traditional maritime security concerns have become more importantthan ever in the post-Cold War era. Naval forces of most developedcountries are more concerned about these threats than conventional war.One of the main maritime security issues for many countries in the world isillegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the marine area. Withthese burgeoning issues comes the potential for a large number of disputesinvolving international law. In early 2002, a long-line fishing vessel under aRussian flag –the Volga, was detained by Australian authorities a few hundred meters outside the Exclusive Economic Zone of Australia’s Heard and McDonald Islands in the Southern Ocean. The vessel was reportedly engaged in illegal fishing. This incident gave birth to litigation in international and Australian courts. Apart from these cases, Russia also announced separate litigation against Australia for violation of Articles 111and 87 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (NCLOS).Considering the outcome of these cases, this article critically examines thecharacteristics of litigation as a strategy for pacific settlement of disputesover marine living resources. Using the Volga Case as an example, thisarticle explores some issues related to the judicial settlement of disputes over marine living resources. This article demonstrates that the legal certainty of winning a case may not be the only factor influencing the strategy for settlement of an international dispute.