The relative impact of work-related stress, life stress and driving environment stress on driving outcomes

Previous research has shown the association between stress and crash involvement. The impact of stress on road safety may also be mediated by behaviours including cognitive lapses, errors, and intentional traffic violations. This study aimed to provide a further understanding of the impact that stress from different sources may have upon driving behaviour and road safety. It is asserted that both stress extraneous to the driving environment and stress directly elicited by driving must be considered part of a dynamic system that may have a negative impact on driving behaviours. Two hundred and forty-seven public sector employees from Queensland, Australia, completed self-report measures examining demographics, subjective work-related stress, daily hassles, and aspects of general mental health. Additionally, the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) and the Driver Stress Inventory (DSI) were administered. All participants drove for work purposes regularly, however the study did not specifically focus on full-time professional drivers. Confirmatory factor analysis of the predictor variables revealed three factors: DSI negative affect; DSI risk taking; and extraneous influences (daily hassles, work-related stress, and general mental health). Moderate intercorrelations were found between each of these factors confirming the ‘spillover’ effect. That is, driver stress is reciprocally related to stress in other domains including work and domestic life. Structural equation modelling (SEM) showed that the DSI negative affect factor influenced both lapses and errors, whereas the DSI risk-taking factor was the strongest influence on violations. The SEMs also confirmed that daily hassles extraneous to the driving environment may influence DBQ lapses and violations independently. Accordingly, interventions may be developed to increase driver awareness of the dangers of excessive emotional responses to both driving events and daily hassles (e.g. driving fast to ‘blow off steam’ after an argument). They may also train more effective strategies for self-regulation of emotion and coping when encountering stressful situations on the road.

A qualitative study of older adults’ responses to sitting-time questions : do we get the information we want?

Background: In the last decade, there has been increasing interest in the health effects of sedentary behavior, which is often assessed using self-report sitting-time questions. The aim of this qualitative study was to document older adults’ understanding of sitting-time questions from the International Physical Activity (PA) Questionnaire (IPAQ) and the PA Scale for the Elderly (PASE). Methods: Australian community-dwelling adults aged 65+ years answered the IPAQ and PASE sitting questions in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. IPAQ uses one open-ended question to assess sitting on a weekday in the last 7 days 'at work, at home, while doing coursework and during leisure time'; PASE uses a three-part closed question about daily leisure-time sitting in the last 7 days. Participants expressed their thoughts out loud while answering each question. They were then probed about their responses. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and coded into themes. Results: Mean age of the 28 male and 27 female participants was 73 years (range 65-89). The most frequently reported activity was watching TV. For both questionnaires, many participants had difficulties understanding what activities to report. Some had difficulty understanding what activities should be classified as ‘leisure-time sitting’. Some assumed they were being asked to only report activities provided as examples. Most reported activities they normally do, rather than those performed on a day in the previous week. Participants used a variety of strategies to select ‘a day’ for which they reported their sitting activities and to calculate sitting time on that day. Therefore, many different ways of estimating sitting time were used. Participants had particular difficulty reporting their daily sitting-time when their schedules were not consistent across days. Some participants declared the IPAQ sitting question too difficult to answer. Conclusion: The accuracy of older adults’ self-reported sitting time is questionable given the challenges they have in answering sitting-time questions. Their responses to sitting-time questions may be more accurate if our recommendations for clarifying the sitting domains, providing examples relevant to older adults and suggesting strategies for formulating responses are incorporated. Future quantitative studies should include objective criterion measures to assess validity and reliability of these questions.

Live my work : rural nurses and their multiple perspectives of self

Aim. This paper is a report of a study to explore rural nurses' experiences of mentoring. Background. Mentoring has recently been proposed by governments, advocates and academics as a solution to the problem for retaining rural nurses in the Australian workforce. Action in the form of mentor development workshops has changed the way that some rural nurses now construct supportive relationships as mentoring. Method. A grounded theory design was used with nine rural nurses. Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted in various states of Australia during 2004-2005. Situational analysis mapping techniques and frame analysis were used in combination with concurrent data generation and analysis and theoretical sampling. Findings. Experienced rural nurses cultivate novices through supportive mentoring relationships. The impetus for such relationships comes from their own histories of living and working in the same community, and this was termed 'live my work'. Rural nurses use multiple perspectives of self in order to manage their interactions with others in their roles as community members, consumers of healthcare services and nurses. Personal strategies adapted to local context constitute the skills that experienced rural nurses pass-on to neophyte rural nurses through mentoring, while at the same time protecting them through troubleshooting and translating local cultural norms. Conclusion. Living and working in the same community creates a set of complex challenges for novice rural nurses that are better faced with a mentor in place. Thus, mentoring has become an integral part of experienced rural nurses' practice to promote staff retention. © 2007 The Authors.

Which older women could benefit from interventions to decrease sitting time and increase physical activity?

In addition to the well-known health risks associated with lack of physical activity (PA), evidence is emerging about the health risks of sedentary behaviour (sitting). Research about patterns and correlates of sitting and PA in older women is scarce. METHODS: Self-report data from 6,116 women aged 76-81 years were collected as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Woman’s Health. Linear regression models were computed to examine whether demographic, social and health factors were associated with sitting and PA. RESULTS: Women who did no PA sat more than women who did any PA (p<0.001). Seven correlates were associated with sitting and PA (p<0.05). Five of these were associated with more sitting and less PA: three health-related (BMI, chronic conditions, anxiety/depression) and two social correlates (caring duties, volunteering). One demographic (being from another English-speaking country) and one social correlate (more social interaction) were associated with more sitting and more PA. Four correlates, two demographic (living in a city; post-high school education), one social (being single), and one health-related correlate (dizziness/loss of balance) were associated with more sitting only. Two other health-related correlates (stiff/painful joints; feet problems) were associated with less PA only. CONCLUSION: Sedentary behaviour and PA are distinct behaviours in older Australian women. Information about the correlates of both behaviours can be used to identify population groups who might benefit from interventions to reduce sedentary behaviour and/or increase PA.

Using the web to look for work: Implications for online job seeking and recruiting

Purpose - The web is now a significant component of the recruitment and job search process. However, very little is known about how companies and job seekers use the web, and the ultimate effectiveness of this process. The specific research questions guiding this study are: how do people search for job-related information on the web? How effective are these searches? And how likely are job seekers to find an appropriate job posting or application? Design/methodology/approach - The data used to examine these questions come from job seekers submitting job-related queries to a major web search engine at three points in time over a five-year period. Findings - Results indicate that individuals seeking job information generally submit only one query with several terms and over 45 percent of job-seeking queries contain a specific location reference. Of the documents retrieved, findings suggest that only 52 percent are relevant and only 40 percent of job-specific searches retrieve job postings. Research limitations/implications - This study provides an important contribution to web research and online recruiting literature. The data come from actual web searches, providing a realistic glimpse into how job seekers are actually using the web. Practical implications - The results of this research can assist organizations in seeking to use the web as part of their recruiting efforts, in designing corporate recruiting web sites, and in developing web systems to support job seeking and recruiting. Originality/value - This research is one of the first studies to investigate job searching on the web using longitudinal real world data. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Predictors of and reasons for pacifier use in first-time mothers : an observational study

Background: The use of pacifiers is commonplace in Australia and has been shown to be negatively associated with breastfeeding duration. In order to influence behaviour related to the use of pacifiers it is important to understand the reasons for their use. The primary aim of this observational study was to investigate who (if anyone) advises first-time mothers to give a pacifier and the reasons for which they first give (or try to give) a pacifier to their infant. Additionally, this study investigated the predictors of pacifier use and the relationship between pacifier use and breastfeeding duration. Methods: In total, 670 Australian first-time mothers recruited as part of the NOURISH trial completed a questionnaire regarding infant feeding and pacifier use. Results: Pacifiers were introduced by 79% of mothers, of whom 28.7% were advised to use a pacifier by their mother/mother-in-law with a further 22.7% being advised by a midwife. The majority of mothers used a pacifier in order to soothe their infant (78.3%), to help put them to sleep (57.4%) and to keep them comforted and quiet (40.4%). Pacifiers given to infants before four weeks (adjHR 3.67; 95%CI 2.14–6.28) and used most days (adjHR 3.28; 95%CI 1.92–5.61) were significantly associated with shorter duration of breastfeeding. Conclusions: This study identifies an opportunity for educating new mothers and their support network, particularly their infant’s grandmothers, with regards to potential risks associated with the early and frequent use of a pacifier, and alternative methods for soothing their infant, in order to reduce the use of pacifiers and their potentially negative effect on breastfeeding duration

Academics’ work and the concept of “profession” : an Australian case study

Universities in Australia and elsewhere have changed considerably in recent years. Inevitably, this has meant that the work of academics has also changed. Academics’ work is of importance because they are key players in universities and universities matter to the nation economically and intellectually in advancing knowledge and its practical application. Through the changes and challenges that have characterised academia in recent years, there is an assumption that academics’ work is representative of a profession. This research study investigates how academics construct their own perspectives regarding the academic "profession". The study is theoretically informed by Freidson’s theory that conceptualises professions as occupations if they are in control of their work rather than it being under the control of either the market or of their employing institutions. Two research questions guide this study. The first question investigates how academics might construct their work in ideal terms and the second one investigates the extent to which such constructions might constitute a "profession". A qualitative case study was conducted within two Australian universities. In all, twenty academics from ten disciplines took part in the study that consisted of a focus group and fifteen individual interviews. The study was conducted in three phases during which a conceptual framework of academics’ work was developed across three versions. This framework acted both a prompt to discussion and as a potential expression of academics’ work. The first version of the framework was developed from the literature during the first phase of the study. This early framework was used during the second phase of the study when five academics took part in a focus group. After the focus group, the second version of the framework was developed and used with fifteen academics in individual interviews during phase three of the study. The third version of the framework was the outcome of a synthesis of the themes that were identified in the data. The discussion data from the focus group and the individual interviews were analysed through a content analysis approach that identified four major themes. The first theme was that academics reported that their work would ideally be located within universities committed to using their expert knowledge to serve the world. The second theme was that academics reported that they wanted sufficient thinking time and reasonable workloads to undertake the intellectual work that they regard as their core responsibility, particularly in relation to undertaking research. They argued against heavy routine administrative workloads and sought a continuation of current flexible working arrangements. The third theme was that teaching qualifications should not be mandated but that there should be a continuation of the present practice of universities offering academics the opportunity to undertake formal teaching qualifications if they wish to. Finally, academics reported that they wanted values that have traditionally mattered to academia to continue to be respected and practised: autonomy, collegiality and collaborative relationships, altruism and service, and intellectual integrity. These themes are sympathetic to Freidson’s theory of professions in all but one matter: the non-mandatory nature of formal qualifications which he regards as absolutely essential for the performance of the complex intellectual work that characterises occupations that are professions. The study places the issue of academic professionalism on the policy agenda for universities wishing to identify academics’ work as a profession. The study contributes a theory-based and data-informed conceptual framework for academics’ work that can be considered in negotiating the nature and extent of their work. The framework provides a means of analysing what "academic professionalism" might mean; it adds specificity to such discussions by exploring a particular definition of profession, namely Freidson’s theory of professions as occupations that are in control of their own work. The study contributes to the development of theories around higher education concepts of academic professionalism and, in so doing, links that theoretical contribution to the wider professions field.

Becoming professionals : partnerships reshaping preservice teachers’ transition to full-time teaching

While strengthened partnerships between University and Schools have been proposed in recent reviews of teacher education (House of Representative Standing Committee on Education and Vocational Training, 2007; Caldwell & Sutton, 2010; Donaldson, 2010), there is a need to understand the benefits and challenges for participants of these partnerships. The Teacher Education Centre of Excellence (TECE) in this study is a preservice teacher preparation partnership between a Queensland University, Queensland Department of Education, Training and Employment (DETE) and an Education Queensland school. It was established in response to a mandated reform within the Improving Teacher Quality National Partnership Agreement (Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations, 2011). High-achieving Bachelor of Education preservice teachers apply to be part of the 18-month program in the third year of their four-year Education degree. These preservice teachers experience mentoring in partner schools in addition to course work designed and delivered by a DETE appointed Head of Mentoring and a university academic. On completion of the program, graduates will be appointed to South West Queensland rural and remote Education Queensland schools. This paper analyses participant perspectives from the first phase of this partnership in particular identifying the benefits and challenges experienced by the preservice teachers and the leaders of the program from the participating institutions. A sociocultural theoretical perspective (Wenger, 1998) informed the analysis examining how preservice teachers experience a sense of becoming a professional teacher within a specific employment context. Data from interviews with 6 pre-service teachers and 8 program leaders were analysed inductively through coding of interview records. Findings indicate the importance of strong relationships and opportunity for reciprocal learning through ongoing professional conversations as contexts for preservice teachers to develop an identity as an emerging professional. This research has significance for the ongoing development of this partnership as well as informing the principles for the design of future similar partnerships.

Quality of work life among primary health care nurses in the Jazan region, Saudi Arabia : a crosssectional study

Background: Quality of work life (QWL) is defined as the extent to which employee is satisfied with personal and working needs through participating in the workplace while achieving the organisation’s goals. QWL has been found to influence the commitment and productivity of employees in healthcare organisations, as well as in other industries. However, reliable information on the QWL of PHC nurses is limited. The purpose of this study was to assess the QWL among PHC nurses in the Jazan region, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A descriptive research design, namely, a cross-sectional survey was used in this study. Data were collected using Brooks’ survey of quality of nursing work life (QNWL) and demographic questions. A convenience sample was recruited from 143 PHC centres in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. The Jazan region is located in the southern part of Saudi Arabia. A response rate of 91% (N = 532/585) was achieved (effective RR = 87%, n = 508). Data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics, t-test and one way-analysis of variance. Total scores and sub-scores for QWL Items and item summary statistics were computed and reported, using SPSS version 17 for Windows. Results: Findings suggested that the respondents were dissatisfied with their work life. The major influencing factors were unsuitable working hours/shifts, lack of facilities for nurses, inability to balance work with family needs, inadequacy of family-leave time, poor staffing, management and supervision practices, lack of professional development opportunities, and inappropriate working environment in terms of the level of security, patient care supplies and equipment, and recreation facilities (Break-area). Other essential factors include the community’s view of nursing and inadequate salary. More positively, the majority of nurses were satisfied with their co-workers, satisfied to be nurses and had a sense of belonging in their workplaces. Significant differences were found according to gender, age, marital status, dependent children, dependent adults, nationality, ethnicity, nursing tenure, organisational tenure, positional tenure, and payment per month. No significant differences were found according to education level and location of PHC. Conclusions: These findings can be used by PHC managers and policy makers for developing and appropriately implementing successful plans to improve the QWL. This will help to enhance the home and work environments, improve individual and organisation performance and increase nurses’ commitment.

GameFlow heuristics for designing and evaluating real-time strategy games

The GameFlow model strives to be a general model of player enjoyment, applicable to all game genres and platforms. Derived from a general set of heuristics for creating enjoyable player experiences, the GameFlow model has been widely used in evaluating many types of games, as well as non-game applications. However, we recognize that more specific, low-level, and implementable criteria are potentially more useful for designing and evaluating video games. Consequently, the research reported in this paper aims to provide detailed heuristics for designing and evaluating one specific game genre, real-time strategy games. In order to develop these heuristics, we conducted a grounded theoretical analysis on a set of professional game reviews and structured the resulting heuristics using the GameFlow model. The resulting 165 heuristics for designing and evaluating real-time strategy games are presented and discussed in this paper.

Quantum one-time programs

A one-time program is a hypothetical device by which a user may evaluate a circuit on exactly one input of his choice, before the device self-destructs. One-time programs cannot be achieved by software alone, as any software can be copied and re-run. However, it is known that every circuit can be compiled into a one-time program using a very basic hypothetical hardware device called a one-time memory. At first glance it may seem that quantum information, which cannot be copied, might also allow for one-time programs. But it is not hard to see that this intuition is false: one-time programs for classical or quantum circuits based solely on quantum information do not exist, even with computational assumptions. This observation raises the question, "what assumptions are required to achieve one-time programs for quantum circuits?" Our main result is that any quantum circuit can be compiled into a one-time program assuming only the same basic one-time memory devices used for classical circuits. Moreover, these quantum one-time programs achieve statistical universal composability (UC-security) against any malicious user. Our construction employs methods for computation on authenticated quantum data, and we present a new quantum authentication scheme called the trap scheme for this purpose. As a corollary, we establish UC-security of a recent protocol for delegated quantum computation.

Personal exposure to ultrafine particles : the influence of time-activity patterns

Exposure to ultrafine particles (UFPs) is deemed to be a major risk affecting human health. Therefore, airborne particle studies were performed in the recent years to evaluate the most critical micro-environments, as well as identifying the main UFP sources. Nonetheless, in order to properly evaluate the UFP exposure, personal monitoring is required as the only way to relate particle exposure levels to the activities performed and micro-environments visited. To this purpose, in the present work, the results of experimental analysis aimed at showing the effect of the time-activity patterns on UFP personal exposure are reported. In particular, 24 non-smoking couples (12 during winter and summer time, respectively), comprised of a man who worked full-time and a woman who was a homemaker, were analyzed using personal particle counter and GPS monitors. Each couple was investigated for a 48-h period, during which they also filled out a diary reporting the daily activities performed. Time activity patterns, particle number concentration exposure and the related dose received by the participants, in terms of particle alveolar-deposited surface area, were measured. The average exposure to particle number concentration was higher for women during both summer and winter (Summer: women 1.8×104 part. cm-3; men 9.2×103 part. cm-3; Winter: women 2.9×104 part. cm-3; men 1.3×104 part. cm-3), which was likely due to the time spent undertaking cooking activities. Staying indoors after cooking also led to higher alveolar-deposited surface area dose for both women and men during the winter time (9.12×102 and 6.33×102 mm2, respectively), when indoor ventilation was greatly reduced. The effect of cooking activities was also detected in terms of women’s dose intensity (dose per unit time), being 8.6 and 6.6 in winter and summer, respectively. On the contrary, the highest dose intensity activity for men was time spent using transportation (2.8 in both winter and summer).

"Listening, hearing and drawing things together to work on solutions" : NAPCAN Play a Part, Queensland, 2010-2013, Evaluation-Research Report

Responding to the idea of child friendly communities, Play a Part is an innovative program advancing preventative strategies for children and young people to minimise exposure to abuse and neglect. The program was developed ensuing an increase in notifications of suspected child abuse and neglect in 2007. Now completing the second phase, the program is a community engagement strategy that aims to prevent child abuse. Play a Part is described as “a whole of community approach to creating child friendly communities” (NAPCAN, 2012). The Play a Part program was piloted between 2007 and 2010 in five southeast Queensland communities, and is currently operating in parts of Logan City region and the Redlands region. To assess the merit of the second phase of the program the Children and Youth Research Centre at Queensland University of Technology was contracted to undertake an evaluation-research at the beginning of 2013.

‘All in a day’s work’ : the lifeworld of older people in New Zealand rest homes

This doctoral thesis contributes to critical gerontology research by investigating the lived experiences of residents in the everyday world of New Zealand rest homes. There is a need to understand how frail rest home residents experience "age". This study focuses on describing and understanding residents lived experiences. As the New Zealand population is ageing, this phenomenological focus adds clarity to the poorly understood lived experiences about being aged in rest homes. Policy initiatives such as the Positive Ageing Strategy with its emphasis on keeping older people living in the community largely ignore the life practices of the increasing proportions of frail older people who require long-term residential care. My mixed-methods modified framework approach draws on the lifeworld as understood by Max van Manen (1990) and Alfred Schütz (1972). The lifeworld is made up of thematic strands of lived experience: these being lived space, lived time, lived body and lived relations with others, which are both the source and object of phenomenological research (van Manen, 1990). These strands are temporarily unravelled and considered in-depth for 27 residents who took part in audio-recorded interviews, before being interwoven through a multiple-helix model, into an integrated interpretation of the residents‟ lifeworld. Supplementing and backgrounding the interviews with these residents, are descriptive data including written interview summaries and survey findings about the relationships and pastimes of 352 residents living in 21 rest homes, which are counted and described. The residents day-to-day use of rest home space, mediated temporal order, self-managed bodies and minds, and negotiated relationships are interpreted. The mythology of the misery of rest home life is challenged, and a more constructive critical gerontology approach is offered. Findings of this research reveal how meanings around daily work practices are constructed by the residents. These elders participate in daily rest home life, from the sidelines or not at all, as they choose or are able, and this always involves work for the residents. They continue to actively manage satisfactory and fulfilling pastimes and relationships, because in their ordinary, everyday lifeworld it is “all in a day‟s work”.

Curiosity to cupboard : self reported disengagement with energy use feedback over time

This paper discusses findings made during a study of energy use feedback in the home (eco-feedback), well after the novelty has worn off. Contributing towards four important knowledge gaps in the research, we explore eco-feedback over longer time scales, focusing on instances where the feedback was not of lasting benefit to users rather than when it was. Drawing from 23 semi-structured interviews with Australian householders, we found that an initially high level of engagement gave way over time to disinterest, neglect and in certain cases, technical malfunction. Additionally, preconceptions concerned with the “purpose” of the feedback were found to affect use. We propose expanding the scope of enquiry for eco-feedback in several ways, and describe how eco-feedback that better supports decision-making in the “maintenance phase”, i.e. once the initial novelty has worn off, may be key to longer term engagement.