Strengthening critical health psychology : a critical action orientation

The commentaries on my original article ‘The Emergence of Critical Health Psychology: Can it Contribute to Promoting Public Health?’ provided engaging views on what critical health psychology (CHP) actually is and does. Consideration of each commentary gave rise to numerous themes and generated my own further thoughts on CHP which I frame as five key areas of a continuing dialogue: (1) reflexivity and CHP; (2) health psychology: pluralist or not? (3) CHP as a moral project; (4) social action and change; and (5) strengthening critical approaches to health. Throughout I highlight concepts and issues that are integral to the capacity of CHP to create a shift towards a reinvigorated action-orientated agenda.

Correct procedures and cutting corners: a qualitative study of women's occupational health and safety in a beauty therapy industry

Objective: To examine the context of occupational health and safety related to blood-borne communicable diseases practice. Methods: A case study approach using qualitative semi-structured interviews with five key informants who represented different sectors of the beauty therapy industry in South Australia. Results: Four main themes were identified: (i) exposure to blood and blood-borne communicable diseases; (ii) prevention in practice; (iii) OH&S problems; and (iv) industry needs. Conclusion: Key OH&S issues in the beauty therapy industry include: power relationships between employers and employees, equipment costs, the need for more continuing education, and monitoring of practitioners. Implications: Economic constraints, continuing education, and government regulation of the beauty therapy industry are highlighted as significant areas for further consideration in addressing the OH&S needs of practitioners and their clients.

Public health psychology : a conceptual and practical framework

Increasingly, the development of public health infrastructures requires psychology to reevaluate its contribution to public health at local, national and global levels. Already familiar to some psychologists, particularly those in community psychology and health promotion, the expansion of public health has implications for psychology in terms of knowledge/practice and working differently in multidisciplinary settings. In this article, I provide a critical overview of the implications of the historical and international development of health psychology and the changing nature of public health to strengthen the establishment of public health psychology. A conceptual and practical framework is proposed in which public health psychology theory, methods and practice are considered as well as its relevance to the health social sciences more generally.

Hepatitis C in the workplace : a survey of women’s occupational health and safety in the beauty therapy industry

Objective: To examine current knowledge and practice of occupational health and safety (OH&S) regarding hepatitis C in beauty therapy practice. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to all beauty therapy practices identified through the Telstra Yellow Pages and distributed via beauty therapy product agencies. Results: 119 questionnaires were completed by employers and employees in 99 beauty therapy practices in metropolitan Adelaide. Beauty therapists reported carrying out many practices that had exposed them to blood in the past. More than 80% of the procedures carried out by beauty therapists in the previous week were reported to have led to exposure to blood. 39.5% of respondents had not received information about OH&S practices related to blood spills and 77.5% of respondents had received no OH&S information about hepatitis C. Knowledge of hepatitis C and its transmission was poor, with 62% of respondents incorrectly identifying the prevalence of hepatitis C and respondents incorrectly identifying sneezing (28%), kissing (46%) and sharing coffee cups (42%) as a modes of transmission. 80% of beauty therapy practices had no OH&S representative. Conclusion: Beauty therapy practice can expose both operator and client to blood and is therefore a potential site for the transmission of blood-borne diseases including hepatitis C. OH&S information is inadequate in this industry and knowledge of hepatitis C is poor.

Book Review : "The Psychology of Eating : From Healthy to Disordered Behaviour"

WHEN JANE Ogden embarked on writing a book about the psychology of eating I wonder whether she realized the enormity of the task given the breadth of research literature in this field. Through a series of 12 closely related chapters on eating, health, food choice, dieting, obesity, body image, eating disorders and others, an extensive range of areas of the psychology of eating is covered. As well as these areas, included within each chapter is a discussion of the significance of historical, cultural, social and familial factors, theoretical approaches and empirical data in the understanding of the multifaceted problems related to eating. At the end of each chapter there is a box entitled ‘Towards an integrated model of diet’ that links the content with that of the following chapters...

Book review: "Qualitative Health Psychology. Theories and Methods" Michael Murray and Kerry Chamberlain (Eds.)

Qualitative Health Psychology aims to contribute to the debate about the nature of psychology and of science through ‘an examination of the role of qualitative research within health psychology’ (p. 3). The editors, in bringing together contributors from the UK, Ireland, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand and Australia, have compiled a text that reflects different uses of qualitative health research in diverse social and cultural contexts. Structured into three parts, the book encompasses key theoretical and methodological issues in qualitative research in its attempt to encourage broad epistemological debate within health psychology.

Enhancing critical analysis and problem-solving skills in undergraduate psychology : An evaluation of a collaborative learning and problem-based learning approach

Critical analysis and problem-solving skills are two graduate attributes that are important in ensuring that graduates are well equipped in working across research and practice settings within the discipline of psychology. Despite the importance of these skills, few psychology undergraduate programmes have undertaken any systematic development, implementation, and evaluation of curriculum activities to foster these graduate skills. The current study reports on the development and implementation of a tutorial programme designed to enhance the critical analysis and problem-solving skills of undergraduate psychology students. Underpinned by collaborative learning and problem-based learning, the tutorial programme was administered to 273 third year undergraduate students in psychology. Latent Growth Curve Modelling revealed that students demonstrated a significant linear increase in self-reported critical analysis and problem-solving skills across the tutorial programme. The findings suggest that the development of inquiry-based curriculum offers important opportunities for psychology undergraduates to develop critical analysis and problem-solving skills.

Place psychology: Engaging with notions of 'home'

Psychology of place is theoretical territory shared by a wide range of disciplines. Currently, while environmental psychology addresses such questions as how people interact with and make meaning in places, clinical psychology has paid scant attention to the role of place in mental health. This paper focuses on two concepts from place psychology - place attachment and place identity. Place attachment is here defined as a sense of positively-valanced emotional connection to a familiar place (Morgan 2010). Place identity implies a stronger sense of belonging: the person as part of the place and the place as part of the person (Memmot & Long 2002). Both place attachment and place identity can be seen as relating to notions of ‘home’. My PhD is a work of interdisciplinary practice-based research using creative writing as a methodology to explore how place attachment, place identity and notions of home may support recovery from psychological trauma. A novel provides a site of imaginative encounter between author and reader, in which the two parties collaboratively create place and character through the medium of language. This paper links theory with practice by outlining some choices involved in exploring psychological constructs through narrative fiction.

A commentary on the current and future status of educational and developmental psychology in Australia

Educational and developmental psychology faces a number of current and future challenges and opportunities in Australia. In this commentary we consider the identity of educational and developmental psychology in terms of the features that distinguish it from other specialisations, and address issues related to training, specialist endorsement, supervision and rebating under the Australian government's Medicare system. The current status of training in Australia is considered through a review of the four university programs in educational and developmental psychology currently offered, and the employment destinations of their graduates. Although the need for traditional services in settings such as schools, hospitals, disability and community organisations will undoubtedly continue, the role of educational and developmental psychologists is being influenced and to some extent redefined by advances in technology, medicine, genetics, and neuroscience. We review some of these advances and conclude with recommendations for training and professional development that will enable Australian educational and developmental psychologists to meet the challenges ahead.

Reducing the Risk of Alcohol and Other Drugs in Construction : An Australian Assessment

There is increasing concern about the impact of employees’ alcohol and other drug (AOD) consumption on workplace safety, particularly within the construction industry. No known study has scientifically evaluated the relationship between the use of drugs and alcohol and safety impacts in construction, and there has been only limited adoption of nationally coordinated strategies, supported by employers and employees to render it socially unacceptable to arrive at a construction workplace with impaired judgment from AODs. This research aims to scientifically evaluate the use of AODs within the Australian construction industry in order to reduce the potential resulting safety and performance impacts and engender a cultural change in the workforce. Using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the study will adopt both quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate the extent of general AOD use in the industry. Results indicate that a proportion of the construction sector may be at risk of hazardous alcohol consumption. A total of 286 respondents (58%) scored above the cut-off score for risky alcohol use with 43 respondents (15%) scoring in the significantly ‘at risk’ category. Other drug use was also identified as a major issue that must be addressed. Results support the need for evidence-based, preventative educational initiatives that are tailored specifically to the construction industry.

Job changes, occupational mobility and human capital acquisition : an empirical analysis

Most individuals have more than one job or occupation in their working lives. Most employees are repeatedly faced with the choice of whether to remain in their present job (with the possibility of promotion), or quit to another job in the same occupation with a different firm, or - more radically change occupation. At each stage in an individual's career, the scope for future job or occupational mobility is largely conditioned by the type and quantity of their human capital. This paper presents an empirical study of the factors which link occupational mobility and the acquisition of either firm-based, occupation-specific or general human capital. The data employed are from a cohort of 1980 UK graduates drawn from the Department of Employment Survey 1987. The econometric work presents estimates of the role of firm-based training and occupation-specific training in the career mobility of qualified manpower in the first seven years in the labour market

Pragmatism and precision : psychology in the service of civil litigation

While forensic psychology is commonly associated with the criminal and family law domains, its ambit to offer skills and knowledge at the legal interface also makes it particularly suited to the civil law domain. At this time, civil law is arguably the least represented legislative area in terms of psychological research and professional commentary. However, it is also a broad area, with its very breadth providing scope for research consideration, as urged by Greene. The purposes of this article are (1) to review the broad role of the psychologist in the conduct of civil litigation matters in Australia, (2) to assist the novice to the area by indicating a non-exhaustive list of potentially ambiguous terms and concepts common to the conduct of professional practice, and; (3) to highlight, as an example, one area of practice not only where legal direction demands professional pragmatism but also where opportunity arises for psychological research to vitally address a major social issue.

Towards a model for student selection in clinical psychology

Background Selection of candidates for clinical psychology programmes is arguably the most important decision made in determining the clinical psychology workforce. However, there are few models to inform the development of selection tools to support selection procedures. The study, using a factor analytic structure, has operationalised the model predicting applicants' capabilities. Method Eighty-eight clinical applicants for entry into a postgraduate clinical psychology programme were assessed on a series of tasks measuring eight capabilities: guided reflection, communication skills, ethical decision making, writing, conceptual reasoning, empathy, and awareness of mind and self-observation. Results Factor analysis revealed three capabilities: labelled “awareness” accounting for 35.71% of variance; “reflection” accounting for 20.56%; and “reasoning” accounting for 18.24% of variance. Fourth year grade point average (GPA) did not correlate with performance on any of the selection capabilities other than a weak correlation with performance on the ethics capability. Conclusions Eight selection capabilities are identified for the selection of candidates independent of GPA. While the model is tentative, it is hoped that the findings will stimulate the development and validation of assessment procedures with good predictive validity which will benefit the training of clinical psychologists and, ultimately, effective service delivery.

Longitudinal Evidence on Educational and Occupational Outcomes Amongst South Sudanese Men from Refugee Backgrounds Living in Urban and Regional Southeast Queensland

Australia has continued to benefit from the human, social and economic capital contributed by immigrant resettlement over many years. Humanitarian entrants have also made significant economic, social and civic contributions to the Australian society. Since 2000, approximately 160,000 people have entered Australia under the refugee and humanitarian resettlement program; around 15% have come from South Sudan and one third of these are adult males. In response to the 2003 evaluation of the Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy (IHSS), which recommended to seek further opportunities to settle humanitarian entrants in regional Australia, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has since encouraged regional settlement to “address the demand for less skilled labour in regional economies and to assist humanitarian entrants to achieve early employment”. There is evidence, however, of the many challenges faced by humanitarian arrivals living in regional areas. This chapter focuses on the educational and occupational outcomes among 117 South Sudanese adult men from refugee backgrounds. In particular, the chapter uses both cross-sectional (at first interview) and longitudinal data (four interviews with each participant at six-month intervals) to compares outcomes between men living in Brisbane and those living in the Toowoomba–Gatton region in Southeast Queensland.

Predicting posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress in fire-fighters

Emergency service workers (e.g., fire-fighters, police and paramedics) are exposed to elevated levels of potentially traumatising events through the course of their work. Such exposure can have lasting negative consequences (e. g., Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; PTSD) and/or positive outcomes (e. g., Posttraumatic Growth; PTG). Research had implicated trauma, occupational and personal variables that account for variance in post-trauma outcomes yet at this stage no research has investigated these factors and their relative influence on both PTSD and PTG in a single study. Based in Calhoun and Tedeschi’s (2013) model of PTG and previous research, in this study regression models of PTG and PTSD symptoms among 218 fire-fighters were tested. Results indicated organisational factors predicted symptoms of PTSD, while there was partial support for the hypothesis that coping and social support would be predictors of PTG. Experiencing multiple sources of trauma, higher levels of organisational and operational stress, and utilising cognitive reappraisal coping, were all significant predictors of PTSD symptoms. Increases in PTG were predicted by experiencing trauma from multiple sources and the use of self-care coping. Results highlight the importance of organisational factors in the development of PTSD symptoms, and of individual factors for promoting PTG.