Urban Indigenous AOD treatment programs : addressing the lack of evaluative research of culturally appropriate youth services

This presentation discusses the limited research of urban rehabilitation service evaluations and assesses the progress of Goori House Rehabilitation Service, identifying issues preventing a sustainable organisational future.

Residential real estate education and globalisation in Australian real estate markets and practices

The purpose of this scoping paper is to offer an overview of the literature to determine the development to date in the area of residential real estate agency academic and career education in respect to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) transactions and implications in Australia. This paper will review studies on the issue of foreign real estate ownership and FDI in Australian real estate markets to develop an understanding of the current state of knowledge on residential real estate agency practice, career education and real estate licensing requirements in Australia. The distinction between the real estate profession education, compared to other professions such as accounting, legal and finance is based on the intensity of the professional career training prior or post formal academic training. Real estate education could be carried out with relatively higher standards in terms of licensing requirement, career and academic education. As FDI in the Australian real estate market is a complex globalisation and economic phenomenon, a simple content of residential real estate training and education may not promote proper management or capacity in dealing with relevant foreign residential property market transaction. The preliminary summarising from the literature of residential real estate agency education, with its current relevant or emerging licensing requirement are focused on its role and effectiveness and impact in residential real estate market. Particular focus will be directed to the FDI relevant residential real estate agency transactions and practices, which have been strongly influenced by the current residential real estate market and agency practices. Taken together, there are many opportunities for future research to extend our understanding and improving the residential real estate agency education and training of Foreign Direct Investment in the Australian residential real estate sector.

A systematic review of telemedicine services for residents in long term care facilities

We conducted a systematic review of the literature on telemedicine use in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) and assessed the quality of the published evidence. A database search identified 22 papers which met the inclusion criteria. The quality of the studies was assessed and if they contained economic data, they were rated according to standard criteria. The clinical services provided by telemedicine included allied health (n = 5), dermatology (3), general practice (4), neurology (2), geriatrics (1), psychiatry (4) and multiple specialities (3). Most studies (17) employed real-time telemedicine using videoconferencing. The remaining five used store and forward telemedicine. The papers focused on economics (3), feasibility (9), stakeholder satisfaction (12), reliability (5) and service implementation (2). Overall, the quality of evidence for telemedicine in LTCFs was low. There was only one small randomised controlled trial (RCT). Most studies were observational and qualitative, and focused on utilisation. They were mainly based on surveys and interviews of stakeholders. A few studies evaluated the cost associated with implementing telemedicine services in LTCFs. The present review shows that there is evidence for feasibility and stakeholder satisfaction in using telemedicine in LTCFs in a number of clinical specialities.

Dry tropics water smart : a community based approach to residential outdoor water consumption

This paper discusses the Townsville City Council Dry Tropics Water Smart (DTWS) initiative, developed by TCC Integrated Sustainability Services (ISS) and Townsville Water, and informed by The University of Adelaide. The program draws on many years of experience by the TCC team to blend key community-based research approaches in order to develop this residential outdoor water conservation program. Several community pilots have been conducted to test different behaviour change strategies and messages. This paper outlines recent steps taken to develop the community trials, as guided by a combination of behaviour change theories including community-based social marketing and thematic communications methods. Some preliminary results are outlined focused on community uptake of different strategies, community perceptions of communication materials, and some insights into the effectiveness of outdoor water hardware.

What parents value from formal support services in the context of identified child abuse

Parents whose children are identified as having experienced or being at risk of experiencing significant harm potentially provide an invaluable dimension to our understanding of the circumstances that result in child abuse or neglect and how best to respond to these invariably complex situations. This paper reports findings from a study of the experiences of six parents. In-depth interviews were conducted with four mothers and two fathers who had been referred to an intensive family support services by the Queensland statutory child protection authority. Using a critical ecological perspective, the study focused on identifying and understanding the experiences of the parents in using formal family support services, including aspects of service delivery that were helpful or unhelpful. Parents also commented on their experiences of statutory child protection services. Service components and worker qualities that parents identified as being helpful included being accessible, targeted and integrated and being able to meet a continuum of needs, from a micro to a broader level. Their reports provide invaluable insight into how formal family support services, including child protection services, can better meet the needs of parents in addressing the recurring problem of child maltreatment.

Demand Response for Residential Appliances in a Smart Electricity Distribution Network: Utility and Customer Perspectives

This thesis introduces advanced Demand Response algorithms for residential appliances to provide benefits for both utility and customers. The algorithms are engaged in scheduling appliances appropriately in a critical peak day to alleviate network peak, adverse voltage conditions and wholesale price spikes also reducing the cost of residential energy consumption. Initially, a demand response technique via customer reward is proposed, where the utility controls appliances to achieve network improvement. Then, an improved real-time pricing scheme is introduced and customers are supported by energy management schedulers to actively participate in it. Finally, the demand response algorithm is improved to provide frequency regulation services.

Assessing the impact of crime on residential property markets

The aim of this research is to determine if a range of crimes in a suburb have an impact on the residential property sectors in that particular suburb. With the increasing media coverage of crime in specific locations, this knowledge of crime in Brisbane Australia is more available to potential residential property buyers This research is based on the analysis of the crime statistics for 30 suburbs in Brisbane across a range of major crime activities and compares the level of crime to property median prices, sales volume and in a range of suburbs the volume of sale and lease listings. The results of the research show a significant variation in the response of buyers in residential property markets based on the type of crime and the socio-economic status of the suburb. In a range of suburbs, value factors other than crime are the major drivers of the market. The study provides an insight into consumer behaviour in a major city and the response of residential property buyers to an increasing level and awareness of crime statistics in the suburbs they are considering to buy. Implications of this research are that with a greater level of awareness of factors that could be a disadvantage to some potential buyers are not always reflected across a full residential property market. Valuers, property financiers and the public need to be aware of the type of crime and locations that have a direct impact on property prices and saleability These results expand on the current knowledge of value drivers in major residential property markets.

Improving wound management for residents in Residential Aged Care Facilities: National dissemination and implementation of the evidence based Champions for Skin Integrity Program

Overview The incidence of skin tears, pressure injuries and chronic wounds increases with age [1-4] and therefore is a serious issue for staff and residents in Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs). A pilot project funded in Round 2 of the Encouraging Best Practice in Residential Aged Care (EBPRAC) program by the then Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing found that a substantial proportion of residents in aged care facilities experienced pressure injuries, skin tears or chronic wounds. It also found the implementation of the evidence based Champions for Skin Integrity (CSI) model of wound care was successful in significantly decreasing the prevalence and severity of wounds in residents, improving staff skills and knowledge of evidence based wound management, increasing staff confidence with wound management, increasing implementation of evidence based wound management and prevention strategies, and increasing staff awareness of their roles in evidence based wound care at all levels [5]. Importantly, during the project, the project team developed a resource kit on evidence based wound management. Two critical recommendations resulting from the project were that: - The CSI model or a similar strategic approach should be implemented in RACFs to facilitate the uptake of evidence based wound management and prevention - The resource kit on evidence based wound management should be made available to all Residential Aged Care Facilities and interested parties A proposal to disseminate or rollout the CSI model of wound care to all RACFs across Australia was submitted to the department in 2012. The department approved funding from the Aged Care Services Improvement Healthy Ageing Grant (ACSIHAG) at the same time as the Round 3 of the Encouraging Better Practice in Aged Care (EBPAC) program. The dissemination involved two crucial elements: 1. The updating, refining and distribution of a Champions for Skin Integrity Resource Kit, more commonly known as a CSI Resource Kit and 2. The presentation of intensive one day Promoting Healthy Skin “Train the Trainer” workshops in all capital cities and major regional towns across Australia Due to demand, the department agreed to fund a second round of workshops focussing on regional centres and the completion date was extended to accommodate the workshops. Later, the department also decided to host a departmental website for a number of clinical domains, including wound management, so that staff from the residential aged care sector had easy access to a central repository of helpful clinical resource material that could be used for improving the health and wellbeing of their older adults, consumers and carers. CSI Resource Kit Upgrade and Distribution: At the start of the project, a full evidence review was carried out on the material produced during the EBPRAC-CSI Stage 1 project and the relevant evidence based changes were made to the documentation. At the same time participants in the EBPRAC-CSI Stage 1 project were interviewed for advice on how to improve the resource material. Following this the documentation, included in the kit, was sent to independent experts for peer review. When this process was finalised, a learning designer and QUT’s Visual Communications Services were engaged to completely refine and update the design of the resources, and combined resource kit with the goal of keeping the overall size of the kit suitable for bookshelf mounting and the cost at reasonable levels. Both goals were achieved in that the kit is about the same size as a 25 mm A4 binder and costs between $19.00 and $28.00 per kit depending on the size of the print run. The dissemination of the updated CSI resource kit was an outstanding success. Demand for the kits was so great that a second print run of 2,000 kits was arranged on top of the initial print run of 4,000 kits. All RACFs across Australia were issued with a kit, some 2,740 in total. Since the initial distribution another 1,100 requests for kits has been fulfilled as well as 1,619 kits being distributed to participants at the Promoting Healthy Skin workshops. As the project was winding up a final request email was sent to all workshop participants asking if they required additional kits or resources to distribute the remaining kits and resources. This has resulted in requests for 200 additional kits and resources. Feedback from the residential aged care sector and other clinical providers who have interest in wound care has been very positive regarding the utility of the kit, (see Appendix 4). Promoting Healthy Skin Workshops The workshops also exceeded the project team’s initial objective. Our goal of providing workshop training for staff from one in four facilities and 450 participants was exceeded, with overwhelming demand for workshop places resulting in the need to provide a second round of workshops across Australia. At the completion of the second round, 37 workshops had been given, with 1286 participants, representing 835 facilities. A number of strategies were used to promote the workshops ranging from invitations included in the kit, to postcard mail-outs, broadcast emailing to all facilities and aged care networks and to articles and paid advertising in aged care journals. The most effective method, by far, was directly phoning the facilities. This enabled the caller to contact the relevant staff member and enlist their support for the workshop. As this is a labour intensive exercise, it was only used where numbers needed bolstering, with one venue rising from 3 registrants before the calls to 53 registrants after. The workshops were aimed at staff who had the interest and the capability of implementing evidence-based wound management within their facility or organisation. This targeting was successful in that a large proportion (68%) of participants were Registered Nurses, Nurse Managers, Educators or Consultants. Twenty percent were Endorsed Enrolled Nurses with the remaining 12% being made up of Personal Care Workers or Allied Health Professionals. To facilitate long term sustainability, the workshop employed train-the-trainer strategies. Feedback from the EBPRAC-CSI Stage 1 interviews was used in the development of workshop content. In addition, feedback from the workshop conducted at the end of the EBPRAC-CSI Stage 1 project suggested that change management and leadership training should be included in the workshops. The program was trialled in the first workshop conducted in Brisbane and then rolled out across Australia. Participants were asked to complete pre and post workshop surveys at the beginning and end of the workshop to determine how knowledge and confidence improved over the day. Results from the pre and post surveys showed significant improvements in the level of confidence in attendees’ ability to implement evidence based wound management. The results also indicated a significant increase in the level of confidence in ability to implement change within their facility or organisation. This is an important indication that the inclusion of change management/leadership training with clinical instruction can increase staff capacity and confidence in translating evidence into practice. To encourage the transfer of the evidence based content of the workshop into practice, participants were asked to prepare an Action Plan to be followed by a simple one page progress report three months after the workshop. These reports ranged from simple (e.g. skin moisturising to prevent skin tears), to complex implementation plans for introducing the CSI model across the whole organisation. Outcomes described in the project reports included decreased prevalence of skin tears, pressure injuries and chronic wounds, along with increased staff and resident knowledge and resident comfort. As stated above, some organisations prepared large, complex plans to roll out the CSI model across their organisation. These plans included a review of the organisation’s wound care system, policies and procedures, the creation of new processes, the education of staff and clients, uploading education and resource material onto internal electronic platforms and setting up formal review and evaluation processes. The CSI Resources have been enthusiastically sought and incorporated into multiple health care settings, including aged care, acute care, Medicare Local intranets (e.g. Map of Medicine e-pathways), primary health care, community and home care organisations, education providers and New Zealand aged and community health providers. Recommendations: Recommendations for RACFs, aged care and health service providers and government  Skin integrity and the evidence-practice gap in this area should be recognised as a major health issue for health service providers for older adults, with wounds experienced by up to 50% of residents in aged care settings (Edwards et al. 2010). Implementation of evidence based wound care through the Champions for Skin Integrity model in this and the pilot project has demonstrated the prevalence of wounds, wound healing times and wound infections can be halved.  A national program and Centre for Evidence Based Wound Management should be established to: - expand the reach of the model to other aged care facilities and health service providers for older adults - sustain the uptake of models such as the Champions for Skin Integrity (CSI) model - ensure current resources, expertise and training are available for consumers and health care professionals to promote skin integrity for all older adults  Evidence based resources for the CSI program and similar projects should be reviewed and updated every 3 – 4 years as per NH&MRC recommendations  Leadership and change management training is fundamental to increasing staff capacity, at all levels, to promote within-organisation dissemination of skills and knowledge gained from projects providing evidence based training Recommendations for future national dissemination projects  A formal program of opportunities for small groups of like projects to share information and resources, coordinate activities and synergise education programs interactively would benefit future national dissemination projects - Future workshop programs could explore an incentive program to optimise attendance and reduce ‘no shows’ - Future projects should build in the capacity and funding for increased follow-up with workshop attendees, to explore the reasons behind those who are unable to translate workshop learnings into the workplace and identify factors to address these barriers.

"Social Stuff" and institutional micro-processes: Alcohol use by students in Australian university residential colleges

The literature on alcohol consumption among university and residential college students in Australia and comparable countries shows a high incidence of heavy and/or frequent drinking. In this article, we report the findings from a study on alcohol consumption among undergraduate university students living in residential colleges in Australia. The aim of the study was to examine residents’ alcohol use as part of a broader set of institutional practices in higher education that are constructed as central to the student experience. The data were collected through in-depth semistructured interviews with 29 students from seven residential colleges. We found that inclusion of alcohol in many students’ social and extracurricular activities while residing in college is associated with heavy and/or frequent drinking. We suggest that the use of alcohol among students is shaped by the colleges’ institutional micro-processes, leading to a tension between college managements’ aim to foster alcohol citizenship and students’ liberty to engage in frequent and/or heavy drinking.

Infrastructure charges and residential land prices in Brisbane, Australia

This paper examines the question of whether the imposition of developer infrastructure charges on housing developers affects the price of residential land. Developer paid fees or charges are a commonly used mechanism for local governments to fund new infrastructure as a “user pays” method of funding new urban infrastructure. Some argue these costs are passed back to the original land owner by way of lower land prices. However, property developers claim these charges are added on to new land prices, with flow on negative impact to housing affordability. This paper presents the findings of a hedonic land price model that provides the first empirical evidence that infrastructure charges do increase residential land prices in Brisbane, Australia. This research is consistent with international findings and supports the proposition that developer paid infrastructure charges are over-passed to home buyers and are a significant contributor to reduced housing affordability.

Hospital in the Nursing Home program reduces emergency department presentations and hospital admissions from residential aged care facilities in Queensland, Australia: A quasi-experimental study

Background There has been considerable publicity regarding population ageing and hospital emergency department (ED) overcrowding. Our study aims to investigate impact of one intervention piloted in Queensland Australia, the Hospital in the Nursing Home (HiNH) program, on reducing ED and hospital attendances from residential aged care facilities (RACFs). Methods A quasi-experimental study was conducted at an intervention hospital undertaking the program and a control hospital with normal practice. Routine Queensland health information system data were extracted for analysis. Results Significant reductions in the number of ED presentations per 1000 RACF beds (rate ratio (95 % CI): 0.78 (0.67–0.92); p = 0.002), number of hospital admissions per 1000 RACF beds (0.62 (0.50–0.76); p < 0.0001), and number of hospital admissions per 100 ED presentations (0.61 (0.43–0.85); p = 0.004) were noticed in the experimental hospital after the intervention; while there were no significant differences between intervention and control hospitals before the intervention. Pre-test and post-test comparison in the intervention hospital also presented significant decreases in ED presentation rate (0.75 (0.65–0.86); p < 0.0001) and hospital admission rate per RACF bed (0.66 (0.54–0.79); p < 0.0001), and a non-significant reduction in hospital admission rate per ED presentation (0.82 (0.61–1.11); p = 0.196). Conclusions Hospital in the Nursing Home program could be effective in reducing ED presentations and hospital admissions from RACF residents. Implementation of the program across a variety of settings is preferred to fully assess the ongoing benefits for patients and any possible cost-savings.

Residential Docks and Piers: Inventory of laws, regulations, and policies for the New England region

While the homes threatened by erosion and the developer illegally filling in marshlands are the projects that make the headlines, for many state regulatory programs, it’s the residential docks and piers that take up the most time. When is a dock too long? What about crossing extended property lines? And at what point does a creek have too many docks? There are no easy answers to these questions. At the request of the Georgia Coastal Management Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Services Center published in April 2003 an inventory of residential dock and pier management information for the southeastern U.S. This inventory builds upon that effort and includes five New England states and one municipality: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and the Town of Falmouth, Massachusetts. Federal laws, state laws and regulations, permitting policies, and contact information are presented in a tabular format that is easy to use. (PDF contains 16 pages)

Residential Docks and Piers: Inventory of laws, regulations, and policies for the Southeastern United States

While the homes threatened by erosion and the developer illegally filling in marshlands are the projects that make the headlines, for many state regulatory programs, it’s the residential docks and piers that take up the most time. When is a dock too long? What about crossing extended property lines? And at what point does a creek have too many docks? There are no easy answers to any of the dock and pier related questions. Each state has to craft the laws and policies that are best for its natural resources and its political and legal environment. At the same time, mistakes in judgment can be costly for the organization, the homeowner, and the natural resources. At the request of the Georgia Coastal Management Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Services Center compiled an inventory of dock information for four states—Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Federal laws, state laws and regulations, permitting policies, and contact information are included in a tabular format that is easy to use. (PDF contaions 18 pages)