Mandates: An Australian example at the Queensland University of Technology

This presentation describes a situation where an open access mandate was developed and implemented at an institutional level, in this case, an Australian University. Some conclusions are drawn about its effect over a five year period of implementation.

Listening, sharing understanding and facilitating consumer, family and community empowerment through a priority driven partnership in Far North Queensland

Objectives: This paper provides an example of a mental health research partnership underpinned by empowerment principles that seeks to foster strength among community organizations to support better outcomes for consumers, families and communities. It aims to raise awareness among researchers and service providers that empowerment approaches to assist communities to address mental health problems are not too difficult to be practical but require long-term commitment and appropriate support. Methods: A collaborative research strategy that has become known as the Priority Driven Research (PDR) Partnership emerged through literature review,consultations, Family Wellbeing Program delivery with community groups and activities in two discrete Indigenous communities. Progress to date on three of the four components of the strategy is described. Results: The following key needs were identified in a pilot study and are now being addressed in a research-based implementation phase: (i) gaining two-way understanding of perspectives on mental health and promoting universal awareness; (ii) supporting the empowerment of carers, families, consumers and at-risk groups through existing community organizations to gain greater understanding and control of their situation; (iii) developing pathways of care at the primary health centre level to enable support of social and emotional wellbeing as well as more integrated mental health care; (iv) accessing data to enable an ongoing process of analysis/sharing/planning and monitoring to inform future activity. Conclusion: One of the key learnings to emerge in this project so far is that empowerment through partnership becomes possible when there is a concerted effort to strengthen grassroots community organizations. These include social health teams and men’s and women’s groups that can engage local people in an action orientation. Key words: Aboriginal, empowerment, Indigenous, mental health.

The Queensland study of melanoma : Environmental and genetic associations (Q-MEGA); Study design, baseline characteristics, and repeatability of phenotype and sun exposure measures

Cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) is a major health issue in Queensland, Australia, which has the world’s highest incidence. Recent molecular and epidemiologic studies suggest that CMM arises through multiple etiological pathways involving gene-environment interactions. Understanding the potential mechanisms leading to CMM requires larger studies than those previously conducted. This article describes the design and baseline characteristics of Q-MEGA, the Queensland Study of Melanoma: Environmental and Genetic Associations, which followed up 4 population-based samples of CMM patients in Queensland, including children, adolescents, men aged over 50, and a large sample of adult cases and their families, including twins. Q-MEGA aims to investigate the roles of genetic and environmental factors, and their interaction, in the etiology of melanoma. Three thousand, four hundred and seventy-one participants took part in the follow-up study and were administered a computer-assisted telephone interview in 2002-2005. Updated data on environmental and phenotypic risk factors, and 2777 blood samples were collected from interviewed participants as well as a subset of relatives. This study provides a large and well-described population-based sample of CMM cases with follow-up data. Characteristics of the cases and repeatability of sun exposure and phenotype measures between the baseline and the follow-up surveys, from 6 to 17 years later, are also described.

Cooperative learning in Thailand : professional development to enhance primary education

The overall purpose of this study was to develop a model to inform the design of professional development programs and the implementation of cooperative learning within Thai primary school mathematics classrooms. Action research design, with interviews, surveys and observations, was used for this study. Survey questionnaires and classroom observations investigated the factors that influence the implementation of cooperative learning strategies and academic achievement in Thai primary school mathematics classrooms. The teachers’ interviews and classroom observation also examined the factors that need to be addressed in teacher professional development programs in order to facilitate cooperative learning in Thai mathematics classrooms. The outcome of this study was a model consisting of two sets of criteria to inform the successful implementation of cooperative learning in Thai primary schools. The first set of criteria was for proposers and developers of professional development programs. This set consists of macro- and micro-level criteria. The macro-level criteria focus on the overall structure of professional development programs and how and when the professional development programs should be implemented. The micro-level criteria focused on the specific topics that need to be included in professional development programs. The second set of criteria was for Thai principals and teachers to facilitate the introduction of cooperative learning in their classrooms. The research outcome also indicated that the attainment of these cooperative learning strategies and skills had a positive impact on the students’ learning of mathematics.

Differences between journalistic and academic accounts of child sexual abuse in Australia

The paper uses qualitative textual analysis to compare journalistic and academic accounts of child sexual abuse. There are seven main differences. Academic accounts suggest higher levels of neglect, emotional abuse, and physical abuse than sexual abuse in Australia, by contrast, journalistic accounts highlight sexual abuse. Academic accounts suggest that child sexual abuse in Australia is decreasing; journalistic accounts suggest that it is increasing. Academic accounts suggest that the majority of cases of child sexual abuse are perpetrated by family members; journalistic accounts focus on abuse by institutional figures (teachers, priests) or by strangers. Academic accounts have shown that innocent sexual play is a normal part of childhood development; journalistic accounts suggest that any sexual play is either a sign of abuse, or in itself constitutes sexual abuse. Academic accounts suggest that one of the best ways to prevent sexual abuse is for children to receive sex education; journalistic accounts suggest that children finding out about sex leads to sexual abuse. Academic accounts can gather data from the victims; journalistic accounts are excluded from doing so. Academic researchers talk to abusers in order to understand how child sexual abuse can be prevented; journalistic accounts exclude the voices of child sexual abusers.

AITPM Email Newsletter Volume 0905, June 2009 : President's Message

President’s Message Hello fellow AITPM members, Due to three colliding forces of nature I find myself writing this month’s message from home – today, I am still getting over a persistent virus that seemed to set in just after returning from Singapore a couple of weeks ago, which my diabetes won’t let me get away with too easily (no Kermit the Frog swine flu jokes please). Combine this with a very wet day in Brisbane – in fact the wettest for 20 years (how can we complain, except for flash flooding?). And in Queensland today is a state school teachers’ strike, so one half of our brood is over watching TV. Family snapshots aside, the biggest news for our industry of late is the $8.5 billion announced in the Federal Budget for transport infrastructure projects; many “shovel ready”, but some – and fortunate for our profession – desktop ready. This newsletter provides nationwide coverage on the transport infrastructure aspects of the Federal Budget. We’ll need a bit more time to carefully look at the ensuing State Budgets’ announcements. Regarding the federal budget announcements, I am pleased to see serious attention being paid to upgrading the M1 system – I hope to see a motorway standard facility connecting Adelaide to at least Rockhampton in my lifetime. But some other important roads are of course missing out in this particular budget. Various levels of commitment are being made to urban passenger rail – some project significant while others planning significant. Enhancement of suburban rail is important across the capitals and Australia’s medium sized cities such as the Gold Coast and Newcastle. Not much on road safety initiatives jumped out at me, but I believe it is implied in the large road projects and in some of the detail elsewhere. I do believe it’s about time a ‘Vision Zero’ style policy is adopted at the National level, since any death is unacceptable on the road, just as it is in any other workplace. So, overall some good news on building transport infrastructure to keep the economy purring during this recession, and strongly supporting it during future boom times. The other edge to the sword, of course, is that we tax payers will be paying a considerable amount for borrowings for these projects over a long period of time. I close again in reminding everyone again that AITPM’s flagship event, the 2009 AITPM National Conference, Traffic Beyond Tomorrow, is being held in Adelaide from 5 to 7 August. www.aitpm.com has all of the details about how to register, sponsor a booth, session, etc. Best regards all, Jon Bunker

Should mental health issues be addressed in primary care, and can it be done? Views of rural general practitioners in Queensland

Objective: The aim of this paper was to examine self-efficacy and perceived appropriateness among rural general practitioners (GPs) in regards to screening and intervention for physical, lifestyle and mental health issues. ----- Method: Fifty GPs from 25 practices in eight rural Queensland towns completed a written survey designed for the study. ----- Results: General practitioners rated opportunistic screening or assessment for smoking and for detection of relapse of mental disorders as the most appropriate, with even cardiovascular and diabetes risk falling behind these. Self-efficacy was highest for medical disorders for smoking assessment. It was significantly lower for alcohol, mental health issues, and addressing risks of physical disorder in people with mental disorders. ----- Conclusions: High appropriateness ratings suggest that current strategies to boost self-efficacy of GPs in addressing mental health issues are timely.

Challenges faced by general practitioners and allied mental health services in providing mental health services in rural Queensland

Objective: To examine the views of rural practitioners concerning issues and challenges in mental health service delivery and possible solutions. Design: A qualitative study using individual semi-structured interviews. Setting: Eight general practices from eight rural Queensland towns, three rural mental health services and two non-government organisations, with interviews being conducted before recent changes in government-subsidised access to allied health practitioners. Participants: A sample of 37 GPs, 19 Queensland Health mental health staff and 18 participants from community organisations. Main outcome measures: Analysis of qualitative themes from questions about the key mental health issues facing the town, bow they might be addressed and what challenges would be faced in addressing them. Results: There was substantial consensus that there are significant problems with inter-service communication and liaison, and that improved collaboration and shared care will form a critical part of any effective solution. Differences between groups reflected differing organisational contexts and priorities, and limitations to the understanding each had of the challenges that other groups were facing. C onclusions: Improvements to mental health staffing and to access to allied health might increase the ability of GPs to meet the needs of less complex patients, but specific strategies to promote better integrated services are required to address the needs of rural and regional patients with complex mental health problems. The current study provides a baseline against which effects of recent initiatives to improve mental health care can be assessed.

The effectiveness of using a simple ARIA based geographical classification to identify road crash patterns in rural and urban areas of Queensland

Research has noted a ‘pronounced pattern of increase with increasing remoteness' of death rates in road crashes. However, crash characteristics by remoteness are not commonly or consistently reported, with definitions of rural and urban often relying on proxy representations such as prevailing speed limit. The current paper seeks to evaluate the efficacy of the Accessibility / Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+) to identifying trends in road crashes. ARIA+ does not rely on road-specific measures and uses distances to populated centres to attribute a score to an area, which can in turn be grouped into 5 classifications of increasing remoteness. The current paper uses applications of these classifications at the broad level of Australian Bureau of Statistics' Statistical Local Areas, thus avoiding precise crash locating or dedicated mapping software. Analyses used Queensland road crash database details for all 31,346 crashes resulting in a fatality or hospitalisation occurring between 1st July, 2001 and 30th June 2006 inclusive. Results showed that this simplified application of ARIA+ aligned with previous definitions such as speed limit, while also providing further delineation. Differences in crash contributing factors were noted with increasing remoteness such as a greater representation of alcohol and ‘excessive speed for circumstances.' Other factors such as the predominance of younger drivers in crashes differed little by remoteness classification. The results are discussed in terms of the utility of remoteness as a graduated rather than binary (rural/urban) construct and the potential for combining ARIA crash data with census and hospital datasets.

Aligning school reform and teacher education reform in the middle years : an Australian case study

This paper discusses the development of a new Bachelor of Education (Middle Years of Schooling) at The University of Queensland, Australia. The middle years of schooling have increasingly been the focus of education reform initiatives in Australia, but this has not been accompanied by significant increases in the number of teacher education institutions offering specialised middle schooling-level teacher preparation programmes. Considering the rapidly changing social and economic context and the emergent state of middle schooling in Australia, the programme represented a conceptual and practical opportunity and challenge for The University of Queensland team. Working collaboratively, the team sought to design a teacher education preservice programme that was both responsive and generative: that is, responsive to local school contexts and to current education research and reform at national and international levels; and generative of cutting-edge theories and practices associated with middle schooling, teachers' work, and teacher education. This paper focuses on one component of the Middle Years of Schooling Teacher Education programme at The University of Queensland; namely, the practicum. We first present the underlying principles of the practicum programme and then examine "dilemmas" that emerged early in the practicum. These issues and tensions were associated with the ideals of "middle years" philosophy and the pragmatics of school reform associated with that approach. Within this context, we explore what it means to be both responsive and generative, and describe how we as teacher educators negotiated the extremes these terms implied.

Biotechnology education : topics of interest to students and teachers

This paper presents the findings of a survey that investigates the biotechnology topics of interest according to students and teachers for inclusion in biology lessons and reports on the similarities and differences in teachers’ and students’ biotechnology topics of interest. The study is of significance as biotechnology has been identified as a key area of technological and economic importance worldwide yet there is scant literature relating to teachers’ and students’ interests concerning biotechnology education topics. 500 students and their 15 teachers completed the survey. Interviews were conducted with 3 teachers and 60 students. Responses indicate there is a mismatch in the interests of students and teachers, and what they perceive as being possible topics for inclusion in biology and biotechnology lessons. Where teachers are provided with the freedom to design and assess their own units of work, this mismatch of interests causes problems. The study found students withdrawing from biology courses in post compulsory settings due to lack of interest, and perceived lack of relevance of the course. It is possible that this lack of agreement on topics of interest is a factor in the world wide decline of enrolments in the sciences.

Behaviour disorders and the negligent teacher

The purpose of this paper is to examine the legal implications of the continuing rise in the number of school children diagnosed with behaviour disorders. Not only are teachers now subject to a dense grid of legal regulation, they are also increasingly vulnerable to actions in tort. It will be argued here that as more and more children are labelled ‘disordered’, then the concomitant duty of care requirements for teachers becomes more onerous. As a consequence, teachers are less likely to be able to defend themselves against claims of negligence. It is concluded that while the schooling system needs to retain a healthy scepticism about each new pathologising disorder that seeks special status for its sufferers, it also needs to provide greater training and resources for teachers regarding disorder management. It is also concluded that recent changes to negligence law regarding the issue of ‘reasonable foreseeability’ within breach of duty of care, may not be as significant as might have been hoped by the teaching community. Indeed, the elevated standard of care, as required by increasing numbers of disordered pupils, place teachers in an ever more difficult legal position.

The Queensland investigation into the decriminalisation of altruistic surrogacy

Tabling of report, "Investigation into the decriminalisation and regulation of altruistic surrogacy in Queensland' - issues - recommendations - need for decriminalisation of altruistic surrogacy in Queensland.