The early postnatal period : exploring women's views, expectations and experiences of care using focus groups in Victoria, Australia

Background: There is growing evidence from Australia and overseas that the care provided in hospital in the early postnatal period is less than ideal for both women and care providers. Many health services face increasing pressure on hospital beds and have limited physical space available to care for mothers and their babies. We aimed to gain a more in-depth understanding of women's views, expectations and experiences of early postnatal care.

Methods: We conducted focus groups in rural and metropolitan Victoria, Australia in 2006. Fifty-two people participated in eight focus groups and four interviews. Participants included eight pregnant women, of whom seven were pregnant with their first baby; 42 women who were in the postpartum period (some up to twelve months after the birth of their baby); and two partners. All participants were fluent in English. Focus group guides were developed specifically for the study and explored participants' experiences and/or expectations of early postnatal care in hospital and at home, with an emphasis on length of hospital stay, professional and social support, continuity of care, and rest. Discussions were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. A thematic network was constructed to describe and connect categories with emerging basic, organizing, and global themes.

Results: Global themes that emerged were: anxiety and/or fear; and the transition to motherhood and parenting. The needs of first time mothers were considered to be different to the needs of women who had already experienced motherhood. The women in this study were generally concerned about the safety of their new baby, and lacked confidence in themselves as new mothers regarding their ability to care for their baby. There was a consistent view that the physical presence and availability of professional support helped alleviate these concerns, and this was especially the case for women having a first baby.

Conclusion: Women have anxieties and fears around early parenting and their changing role, and may consider that the physical availability of professional care providers will help during this time. Care providers should be cognisant of these potential issues. It is crucial that women's concerns and needs be considered when service delivery changes are planned. If anxiety around new parenting is a predominant view then care providers need to recognise this and ensure care is individualised to address each woman's/families particular concerns.

The impact of living environment on satisfaction with social relationships upon commencing university

Making the transition to university is a significant life event for many young people. It is believed that strong social relationships can help make this transition more successful. In this study, 201 full-time, first year university students completed a survey in order to examine whether those students who remained living with their parents differed on a range of social relationship variables compared to those who lived on-campus or off-campus independently from their parents. Results revealed that students living independently off-campus reported significantly lower satisfaction with their living environment and opportunities to make new friends at university, as well as significantly higher levels of depression, and higher levels of loneliness which approached significance. These findings indicate that universities may need to focus more attention on this particular sub-group, in an attempt to increase the successful transition of students from high school to university. Future research could endeavour to develop strategies for increasing university students' social relationships and support networks.

Pathways from rural schools : does VET make a difference?

This paper reports findings from a survey of former students from six Australian rural school clusters. It compares the experiences and outcomes of students who had participated in a school vocational education and training (VET) program with those who had not. School VET courses intended to provide a pathway to local employment appear to be successful in retaining students who otherwise may have left school before completing Year 12, and in assisting their transition from school to work. For all school VET students, the work placement component of the program aids the transition to local jobs and apprenticeships, and increases youth retention in the community. As the findings indicate that school VET students are predisposed to live in a rural area at some time during their working life, the paper concludes that VET programs in rural areas have special potential to develop skills and pathways for the future workforce of rural Australia.

Use of renewable building materials in residential construction : a review

The development of mass-produced environmentally-benign housing is one of the critical factors in the transition to global sustainability. Such housing will need to be constructed from renewable and/or recycled materials, be conditioned using minimal or no non—renewable energy, and be affordable. The universal need for such built environment resource stewardship is urgent. In developing countries, the requirement is to shelter growing populations, and in industrialised countries, there is a need for an alternative to the current resource and nergy-intensive material usage in housing. While there are some good surveys of building materials made from renewable resources, such as the BEDP Environment Design Guide Pro 11 by Gelder (2002), there does not appear to be a comprehensive database of these materials linked to abundant and reliable supply. This paper reviews the current availability and potential usage of renewable materials applicable to Australian mainstream residential construction. It concludes that the current state of publicly available information is dispersed and embedded in multiple sources with variance in detail, incomplete access and uncertain comparison across the sources.

Dissociations between implicit and explicit memory in children : the role of strategic processing and the knowledge base

A review of the literature shows that explicit memory develops substantially from three years of age to adulthood, while implicit memory remains stable across this age range. Previously, this developmental dissociation has been attributed to different memory systems, or to confounds with perceptual vs. conceptual processing. Prompted by an alternative developmental framework, the experiments reported here provide evidence against both interpretations. Instead, it will be argued that (a) the implicit - explicit developmental dissociation reflects differences in strategic processing (strategy use and metamemory) across childhood and (b) that implicit memory can show development if a child's knowledge base in the tested domain is developing with age.

Closing the gap? Building surveyors in Oceania

Purpose – The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has implemented a policy to expand its influence around the world. Quantity or construction surveyors had an established presence and history of working overseas, offering their services particularly in the Middle- and Far-East. Property surveyors found the transition to working in European Union (EU) countries relatively straightforward and numerous UK property consultancies have European, Asian, North American and Oceanic offices. Furthermore UK-based firms establishing partnerships with overseas real estate firms expanded significantly over the past decade. Building surveying (BS) is a different case. Small numbers work in commonwealth countries but it is limited and in many countries professional and academic qualifications are not recognised. This paper aims to consider the extent of the barriers and opportunities facing RICS chartered building surveyors (CBS) in Oceania (taken as Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji) and whether the gap is closing.
Design/methodology/approach – A desktop study reviewed the political, economic and sociological issues that affect the employment opportunities and professional services CBS offer throughout the world. Six opportunities and ten barriers were put to the RICS Oceania Building Surveying Faculty to ascertain their perceptions of these barriers and opportunities. No previous study had identified barriers and opportunities in Oceania for the BS and this research adopted a census survey of RICS practitioners currently employed in the region and the results form the most comprehensive picture of the current position.
Findings – Many respondents felt that stronger links and/or mergers with the different Oceania professional property and surveying bodies would open a large field of opportunities to the CBS. Some provided comments on future business opportunities, for example “leaky buildings,”"dilapidations/‘ make good’ work”, and seemed to be in general agreement that, as businesses came to know the benefits of protecting themselves from rogue tenants (and landlords) by using the services of a CBS, then opportunities would continue to rise. The principal barrier is communicating those skills and the value they add.
Research limitations/implications – The limitations that affected this research were time constraints and communicating with surveyors in Oceania, to whom the authors were not permitted direct access. The research methodology methods were, with hindsight, not ideal for the type and range of data that the researchers sought.
Originality/value – The research will be of use to building surveyors and providers of building-surveying education in Oceania.

The emergence of the global workplace : opportunities and barriers for building surveyors in Oceania

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) the professional body representing surveyors in the UK, has implemented a policy to globalise in order to meet the challenges and opportunities the global marketplace was creating for its members as well as protecting and serving its interests (RICS, 1999). Quantity surveyors had a presence and history of employment outside the UK, particularly in the Middle and Far East. Real estate surveyors found the transition to working in European Union (EU) countries relatively straightforward and numerous UK real estate organisations have European, Asian, North American and Oceanic offices. Additionally UK based firms establishing partnerships with overseas real estate firms expanded significantly over the previous decade. Building Surveying is different. Small numbers worked in commonwealth countries but in most countries their professional and academic qualifications were not recognised. With the changes implemented by the RICS, this paper examines the barriers and opportunities facing RICS Chartered Building Surveyors (CBS) in Oceania (taken as Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji).

A desk top study reviewed the political, economic and sociological variables affecting employment opportunities and professional services which were put to the RICS Oceania Building Surveying Faculty. No previous study had been undertaken to identify the specific barriers and opportunities in Oceania for the BS and this research adopted a census survey of RICS practitioners currently employed in the region and the results form the most comprehensive picture of the current position. The findings are that some of the opportunities and barriers will change in significance over time. The main barriers to growth were perceived as lack of support from a Euro focussed RICS and the difficulties associated with being perceived as outsiders. Opportunities were perceived as emerging in new areas of professional services such as sustainability and energy efficiency.