What are the offence and offender risk factors for Indigenous repeat drink drivers in Queensland?

In Australia and internationally, there is scant information about Indigenous repeat drink drivers. The aim was to identify the risk factors associated with repeat offending. De-identified data on drink driving convictions by offenders identifying as Indigenous in Queensland between 2006 and 2010 were examined. A range of univariate analyses were used to compare first time and repeat offenders on gender, age, court location and region (based on the accessibility/remoteness index of Australia), blood alcohol concentration and sentencing severity. Multivariate logistic regression adjusted for confounding variables. Convictions for repeat offenders were more likely from locations other than ‘major cities’ with the association strongest for courts in the ‘very remote’ region (OR=2.75, 2.06-3.76, p<.001). Indigenous offenders 40 years or older were found to be at reduced risk in comparison to offenders aged 15-24 years (OR=0.68, 0.54-0.86, p=0.01). After controlling for confounding factors, gender, sentencing severity and blood alcohol concentration levels were not significantly associated with recidivism. The association of recidivism and remoteness is consistent with higher rates of alcohol-related transport accidents involving Indigenous Australians in isolated areas. This study provides a platform for future research and allows for early attempts to address the need for intervention to reduce Indigenous drink driving recidivism.

Understanding worker perceptions of common incidents at roadworks in Queensland

The process of building safer roads and roadsides needs to be managed to minimise risks to both the road using public and roadworkers. However, detailed and accurate data on fatalities and injuries at roadworks across Australia are not available. The lack of reliable safety records and consequent poor understanding of the hazards at roadworks motivated this research to examine the common trends in incidents and to understand workers' perceptions of the causes of incidents at roadworks. To achieve these aims, 66 roadworks personnel were interviewed in Queensland including road construction workers, traffic controllers, engineers, and managers. Qualitative analyses identified several major issues and themes. Vehicles driving into work areas, traffic controllers hit by vehicles, rear end crashes at roadwork approaches, and reversing incidents involving work vehicles and machinery were the most common types of incidents. Roadworkers perceived driver errors, such as violation of speed limits, distracted driving, and ignoring signage and traffic controllers' instructions as the main causes of the incidents.

Are more city dwellers caught drink driving than country folk? An analysis by random breath testing apprehension rates

Background Random Breath Testing (RBT) remains a central enforcement strategy to deter and apprehend drink drivers in Queensland (Australia). Despite this, there is little published research regarding the exact drink driving apprehension rates across the state as measured through RBT activities. Aims The aim of the current study was to examine the prevalence of apprehending drink drivers in urban versus rural areas. Methods The Queensland Police Service provided data relating to the number of RBT conducted and apprehensions for the period 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2011. Results In the period, 35,082,386 random breath tests (both mobile and stationary) were conducted in Queensland which resulted in 248,173 individuals being apprehended for drink driving offences. Overall drink driving apprehension rates appear to have decreased across time. Close examination of the data revealed that the highest proportion of drink driving apprehensions (when compared with RBT testing rates) was in the Northern and Far Northern regions of Queensland (e.g., rural areas). In contrast, the lowest proportions were observed within the two Brisbane metropolitan regions (e.g., urban areas). However, differences in enforcement styles across the urban and rural regions need to be considered. Discussion and conclusions The research presentation will further outline the major findings of the study in regards to maximising the efficiency of RBT operations both within urban and rural areas of Queensland, Australia.

Alcohol restrictions and drink driving in remote Indigenous communities in Queensland, Australia

Alcohol restrictions have been implemented in many Indigenous communities internationally, with the aim to reduce alcohol-related harm. Whilst a range of reviews have evaluated such restrictions using different measures, drink driving has been described in several reviews as increasing. Presently, this remains anecdotal; with limited empirical evidence to corroborate these reports. In Australia, the Queensland government introduced alcohol management plans in remote Indigenous communities, during 2002-2003, with total alcohol prohibition commencing in 2008 in some communities. Given road crashes are one of the leading causes of injuries for Indigenous peoples, this study aims to identify if the restrictions have been successful in reducing drink driving or have increased such behaviour. We examine this by reviewing changes in conviction rates and in offender and offence characteristics following the 2008 restrictions. Using de-identified Queensland court drink driving conviction data (2006-2011), from four Indigenous communities, Robust Poisson regression models compared counts of drink driving convictions pre (2006-2008) versus post SRS (2009-2011). Changes in offender characteristics and conviction details (blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and sentencing severity), were examined using chi-squares. Results indicate a decline in convictions after the 2008 SRS in three communities. However, a significant increase in convictions was identified in one study community. Community-level disparity included significant decline in BAC in one community (χ 2=5.58, p=0.02) compared with the three other communities that did not indicate change and a significant increase the number of women convicted in two communities (χ 2=17.36, p<0.01; χ 2=5.79, p=0.04). Alcohol restrictions may have important implications in road safety with these reductions in convictions and BAC in some communities. However, an increase in the number of women convicted and limited changes in BAC for other communities demonstrate the complex relationship between alcohol use, remoteness and driving. Greater focus on demand reduction strategies may be necessary to address alcohol misuse.

Why do Indigenous Australians drink and drive? A qualitative exploration of self-reported influences on drink driving behaviours of Indigenous peoples from remote communities

Drink driving contributes towards high injury rates for Indigenous populations in Canada and Australia, particularly in more isolated regions. At present there is limited research on the cultural and psychosocial factors that underpin Indigenous peoples’ drink driving. This study is part of a broader project aiming to inform a culturally sensitive program. Qualitative interviews with 29 convicted Indigenous drink drivers (aged 20-51 years) from a remote region of Queensland, Australia were used to explore their cognitions about, and underlying motivation for, drink driving as well as the factors that might facilitate or impede it. Although a number of themes were identified, this paper will focus on the first theme, respondents’ self-perceived rationale for their behaviour. Two subthemes were identified: ‘being the hero’ referred to situations where respondents were motivated by a bravado mentality to drive after drinking despite having, on some occasions, the opportunity to avoid this (e.g. another person offering to drive); and ‘family obligations’ which referred to situations where respondents described pressure from members of their extended families to drive after drinking. The underlying responsibility for transporting family members appeared to be difficult to avoid and related to cultural values. Findings indicate the social and individual characteristics for younger drink drivers are similar to mainstream populations. However, the reinforcers for Indigenous drink drivers may be different for this population, consistent with findings on other Indigenous populations outside Australia. Specific programs should contain a family-centred approach and explore the kinship value system to build strategies around these strong relationships.

Prevalence and characteristics of Indigenous drink-driving convictions in Queensland, Australia

Alcohol-involved accidents are one of the leading contributors towards high injury rates among Indigenous Australians. However, there is limited information available to inform existing policies to change current rates. The study aims to provide information about the prevalence and the characteristics of such behaviour. Drink driving convictions from 2006-2010 were extracted from the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney General database. Convictions were regrouped by gender, age, Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia classification (using court location) and sentence severity. A number of cross tabulations were carried out to identify relationships between variables. Standardised adjusted residuals were calculated for each cell in order to determine cell differences that contributed to the chi-square test results. Analysis revealed there were 9,323 convictions, of which the majority were for offences by males (77.5%). In relation to age, 52.6% of the convictions were of persons under 25 years of age. Age was significantly different across the five regions for males only (χ2=90.8, p<0.001), with a larger number of convictions in the ‘very remote’ region of persons over 40+ years of age. Increased remoteness was linked with high range BAC convictions for both males (χ2=168.4, p<0.001) and females (χ2=22.5, p=0.004). Monetary penalties were the primary sentence received for both males and females in all regions. The findings identify the Indigenous drink driving conviction rate to be 6 times that of the general Queensland rate and indicate that a multipronged approach is needed, with tailored strategies for remote offenders, young adults and offenders with alcohol misuse and dependency issues. Further attention is warranted in this area of road safety.

Examining the stability of transport behaviours for high-risk early adolescents

Transport related injury is a leading cause of death and disability for adolescents and represents a substantial burden on public health and the community as a whole. Adolescents appear to have a growing risk of harm due to the co-existence of increasing alcohol use and engagement in risky transport behaviours. Understanding more about the development and stability of these behaviours by young adolescents over time could be beneficial in targeting transport injury prevention interventions for high-risk adolescents. In Australia alcohol use begins to increase significantly through the early and middle adolescent years even though the majority of these young people are still in school. Aim This paper reports on changes over a six month period in alcohol use, anger management experiences and transport risk taking behaviours including riding a bicycle without a helmet and under-age driving for high-risk adolescents and non high-risk early adolescents. Year 9 students (N=1,005) from 20 schools in Queensland, Australia completed a baseline survey in the first half of 2012 and at a six month follow up. Respondents at both times were asked about their engagement in risk taking behaviours measured by Mak’s adolescent delinquency scale, which included five transport related items. They were also asked to rate their alcohol use for the preceding three month period. The stability of these risk taking indicators was measured by comparing baseline results with the six month follow up. Results High-risk adolescents were more likely to report change in their alcohol use and transport behaviours when compared with non high-risk adolescents over a six month period. There were no significant changes in control of anger for either group. Demographic characteristics were not shown to have any significant effect on the stability of risk indicators for high-risk adolescents and non high-risk adolescents. Differences were found in the stability of risk taking indicators for high-risk adolescents and non high-risk adolescents. The findings of this paper have implications in targeting transport risk behaviour change interventions to meet the needs of high-risk adolescents.

What are the offence and offender risk factors for Indigenous repeat drink drivers in Queensland Australia?

Background Road crashes contribute to high injury rates in Indigenous population in Aust, NZ, Canada and USA Alcohol one of the leading risk factors for road crashes: 31.5% Indigenous drivers in remote areas over 0.05mg/100ml, compared to 7.4 percent of non-Indigenous counterparts 17.5% Indigenous drivers in regional areas over 0.05mg/100ml compared to 3.8 percent of non-Indigenous counterparts Indigenous peoples are overrepresented in alcohol-related fatality rates, with this group 40% more likely to be killed

Quality of life for older people in residential care is related to connectedness, willingness to enter care, and co-residents

Aim: To establish associations with quality of life (QOL) of older people in long-term residential care facilities in two New Zealand cities. Methods: The outcome measure of QOL was the Life Satisfaction Index. We used multiple linear regression to explore how broad categories of factors might contribute to QOL. Results: A total of 599 people (median age of 85 years; 74% women) participated. Response rates were 85% for facilities and 83% for residents. A resident's QOL was significantly related to the QOL of co-residents. QOL was higher for people who were more positive about entry to residential care, more physically able, and not depressed, and for those with more family and emotional support. Conclusion: Attending to the circumstances around entry to residential care may enhance QOL, as may promoting physical activity, treating depression and ensuring older people remain emotionally connected to their families. In choosing a facility, noting the QOL of co-residents is important.

Resthomes : where the ‘work’ goes on

Discusses the findings of a recent doctoral thesis looking at the life of frail elderly people in rest homes. Explains how encouraging as much self-management as possible and the continuation of many daily activities can help elderly people keep their self-esteem and dignity.

Agreement to and compliance with advice on removing mats or rugs by older people with visual impairments

The article presents a study which investigated the reasons why advice related to the removal of mats or rags by older people with visual impairments had a low rate of acceptance. The researchers speculated that it may have been due to older people's need to maintain a sense of control and autonomy and to arrange their environments in a way that they decided or a belief that the recommended modification would not reduce the risk of falling. A telephone survey of subsample of the participants was conducted in the Visually Impaired Persons (VIP) Trial. All 30 interviewees had rugs or mats in their homes. Of the 30 participants, 20 had moved the rugs or mats as a result of recommendations, and 10 had not.

Home-based activity program for older people with depressive symptoms: DeLLITE–A randomized controlled trial

PURPOSE We wanted to assess the effectiveness of a home-based physical activity program, the Depression in Late Life Intervention Trial of Exercise (DeLLITE), in improving function, quality of life, and mood in older people with depressive symptoms. METHODS We undertook a randomized controlled trial involving 193 people aged 75 years and older with depressive symptoms at enrollment who were recruited from primary health care practices in Auckland, New Zealand. Participants received either an individualized physical activity program or social visits to control for the contact time of the activity intervention delivered over 6 months. Primary outcome measures were function, a short physical performance battery comprising balance and mobility, and the Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living scale. Secondary outcome measures were quality of life, the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short form, mood, Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), physical activity, Auckland Heart Study Physical Activity Questionnaire, and self-report of falls. Repeated measures analyses tested the differential impact on outcomes over 12 months’ follow-up. RESULTS The mean age of the participants was 81 years, and 59% were women. All participants scored in the at–risk category on the depression screen, 53% had a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision diagnosis of major depression or scored more than 4 on the GDS-15 at baseline, indicating moderate or severe depression. Almost all participants, 187 (97%), completed the trial. Overall there were no differences in the impact of the 2 interventions on outcomes. Mood and mental health related quality of life improved for both groups. CONCLUSION he DeLLITE activity program improved mood and quality of life for older people with depressive symptoms as much as the effect of social visits. Future social and activity interventions should be tested against a true usual care control.

Detecting anomalous events at railway level crossings

Collisions between pedestrians and vehicles continue to be a major problem throughout the world. Pedestrians trying to cross roads and railway tracks without any caution are often highly susceptible to collisions with vehicles and trains. Continuous financial, human and other losses have prompted transport related organizations to come up with various solutions addressing this issue. However, the quest for new and significant improvements in this area is still ongoing. This work addresses this issue by building a general framework using computer vision techniques to automatically monitor pedestrian movements in such high-risk areas to enable better analysis of activity, and the creation of future alerting strategies. As a result of rapid development in the electronics and semi-conductor industry there is extensive deployment of CCTV cameras in public places to capture video footage. This footage can then be used to analyse crowd activities in those particular places. This work seeks to identify the abnormal behaviour of individuals in video footage. In this work we propose using a Semi-2D Hidden Markov Model (HMM), Full-2D HMM and Spatial HMM to model the normal activities of people. The outliers of the model (i.e. those observations with insufficient likelihood) are identified as abnormal activities. Location features, flow features and optical flow textures are used as the features for the model. The proposed approaches are evaluated using the publicly available UCSD datasets, and we demonstrate improved performance using a Semi-2D Hidden Markov Model compared to other state of the art methods. Further we illustrate how our proposed methods can be applied to detect anomalous events at rail level crossings.

Developing targets and strategies for school-based injury prevention programs to reduce alcohol associated transport risks

Background There is considerable and ongoing debate about the role and effectiveness of school-based injury prevention programs in reducing students’ later involvement in alcohol associated transport injuries. Most relevant literature is concerned with pre-driving and licensing programs for middle age range adolescents (15-17 years). This research team is concerned with prevention at an earlier stage by targeting interventions to young adolescents (13-14 years). There is strong evidence that young adolescents who engage in unsafe and illegal alcohol associated transport risks are significantly likely to incur serious related injuries in longitudinal follow up. For example, a state-wide representative sample of male adolescents (mean age 14.5 years) who reported being passengers of drink drivers were significantly more likely to have incurred a hospitalised injury related to traffic events at a 20 year follow up. Aim This paper reports on first aid training integrated with peer protection and school connectedness within the Skills for Preventing Injury in Youth (SPIY) program. A component of the intervention is concerned with providing strategies to reduce the likelihood of being a passenger of a drink driver and effectiveness is followed up at six months post-intervention. Method In early 2012 the study was undertaken in 35 high schools throughout Queensland that were randomly assigned to intervention and control conditions. A total of 2,521 Year 9 students (mean age 13.5years, 43% male) completed surveys prior to the intervention. Results Of these students 316 (13.7%) reported having ridden in a car with someone who has been drinking. This is a traffic safety behaviour that is particularly relevant to a peer protection intervention and the findings of the six month follow up will be reported. Discussion and conclusions This research will provide evidence as to whether this approach to the introduction of first aid skills within a school-based health education curriculum has traffic safety implications.

In their own words : adolescents strategies to prevent friend's risk taking

Injury is a significant public health problem among youth. A primary cause of adolescent injury is risk-taking behavior, including alcohol use, interpersonal violence and road-related risks. A novel approach to prevention is building on friendships by encouraging adolescents to intervene into their friends’ risk taking. Fifty-one early adolescents (13-14 years) and 44 older adolescents (16-17 years) from two Australian schools participated in focus groups, aiming to explore stories of intervening. Findings showed preference for talking to friends; however, participants also spoke to adults, monitored friends’ behavior and planned ahead. Close friendships, perceived harm, and self-efficacy influenced the likelihood of intervening. These findings have implications for the design of risk and injury prevention programs, by suggesting strategies to promote adolescents’ communicative ability for risk reduction. The findings also highlight the language and dialogue of adolescents and suggest that methods for increasing intervening behavior should focus on building social connectedness and increasing self-efficacy.