Geekdom for Grrrls health : Australian undergraduate experiences developing and promoting women’s health in cyberspace

There is an increasing global reliance on the Internet for retrieving information on health, illness, and recovery (Sillence et al, 2007; Laurent et al, 2009; Adams, 2010). People suffering from a vast array of illnesses, conditions, and complaints, as well as healthy travelers seeking advice about safe practices abroad, and teens seeking information about safe sexual practices are all now more likely to go to the internet for information than they are to rely solely on a general practitioner or physician (Santor et al, 2007; Moreno et al, 2009; Bartlett et al, 2010). Women in particular seek advice and support online for a number of health-related concerns regarding issues such as puberty, conception, pregnancy, postnatal depression, mothering, breast-cancer recovery, and ageing healthily (van Zutphen, 2008; Raymond et al, 2005). In keeping with this increasing socio-technological trend, the Women’s Health Unit at the Queensland University of Technology (Q.U.T), Brisbane, Australia, introduced the research, design, and development of online information resources for issues affecting the health of Australian women as an assessment item for students in the undergraduate Public Health curriculum. Students were required to research a particular health issue affecting Australian women, including pregnancy, pregnancy terminations, postnatal depression, returning to the work force after having a baby, breast cancer recovery, chronic disease prevention, health and safety for sex-workers, and ageing healthily. Students were required to design and develop websites that supported people living with these conditions, or who were in these situations. The websites were designed for communicating effectively with both women seeking information about their health, and their health practitioners. The pedagogical challenge inherent in this exercise was twofold: firstly, to encourage students to develop the skills to design and maintain software for online health forums; and secondly, to challenge public health students to go beyond generating ‘awareness’ and imparting health information to developing a nuanced understanding of the worlds and perspectives of their audiences, who require supportive networks and options that resonate with their restrictions, capabilities, and dispositions. This latter challenge spanned the realms of research, communication, and aesthetic design. This paper firstly, discusses an increasing reliance on the Internet by women seeking health-related information and the potential health risks and benefits of this trend. Secondly, it applies a post-structural analysis of the de-centred and mobile female self, as online social ‘spaces’ and networks supersede geographical ‘places’ and hierarchies, with implications for democracy, equality, power, and ultimately women’s health. Thirdly, it depicts the processes (learning reflections) and products (developed websites) created within this Women’s Health Unit by the students. Finally, we review this development in the undergraduate curriculum in terms of the importance of providing students with skills in research, communication, and technology in order to share and implement improved health care and social marketing for women as both recipients and providers of health care in the Internet Age.

The experiences of African women giving birth in Brisbane, Australia

Our purpose in this research was to uncover first-person descriptions of the birth experiences of African refugee women in Brisbane, Australia, and to explore the common themes that emerged from their experiences. We conducted semistructured interviews with 10 African refugees who had given birth in Brisbane. Essences universal to childbirth such as pain, control, and experiences of caregivers featured prominently in participants’ descriptions of their experiences. Their experiences, however, were further overshadowed by issues such as language barriers, the refugee experience, female genital mutilation (FGM), and encounters with health services with limited cultural competence.

Colorectal cancer survivors’ exercise experiences and preferences : qualitative findings from an exercise rehabilitation programme immediately after chemotherapy

Little is known about cancer survivors’ experiences with and preferences for exercise programmes offered during rehabilitation (immediately after cancer treatment). This study documented colorectal cancer survivors’ experiences in an exercise rehabilitation programme and their preferences for programme content and delivery. At the completion of 12-weeks of supervised exercise, 10 participants took part in one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Data from these interviews were coded, and themes were identified using qualitative software. Key findings were that most participants experienced improvements in treatment symptoms, including reduced fatigue and increased energy and confidence to do activities of daily living. They also reported that interactions with the exercise trainer and a flexible programme delivery were important aspects of the intervention. Most participants reported that they preferred having a choice of exercise, starting to exercise within a month after completing treatment, having supervision and maintaining a one-on-one format. Frustrations included scheduling conflicts and a lack of a transition out of the programme. The findings indicate that colorectal cancers experience benefits from exercise offered immediately after treatment and prefer individual attention from exercise staff. They further indicate directions for the implementation of future exercise programmes with this population.

Impacts and opportunities : resident's view on sustainable development of tourism in regional Queensland, Australia

Tourism development is a priority for rural and regional areas of Australia. The challenge is how to develop the tourism industry in a sustainable manner. As part of a larger project investigating community perceptions of opportunities, strategies and challenges in regional sustainable development, this article explores participant's views and opinions of tourism development. Through purposive sampling, 28 local community leaders and residents in the Darling Downs region in Queensland, Australia, participated in four semi-structured focus groups. This paper focuses on two of these focus groups, where tourism was a critical issue. Participants were generally positive about the tourism industry and its impacts on their community, although they expressed several triple bottom line concerns about economic, environmental and scoial issues. Four key themes emerged: appropriate land use management, limited resources and ageing/insufficient infrastructure, preservaation of community heritage and lifestyle, and regional conflict. Residents supported sustainable tourism development and wanted to be more actively involved in decision-making, demanding greater transparency - and true engagement - from local government.

Householder experiences with resource monitoring technology in sustainable homes

The use of feedback technologies, in the form of products such as Smart Meters, is increasingly seen as the means by which 'consumers' can be made aware of their patterns of resource consumption, and to then use this enhanced awareness to change their behaviour to reduce the environmental impacts of their consumption. These technologies tend to be single-resource focused (e.g. on electricity consumption only) and their functionality defined by persons other than end-users (e.g. electricity utilities). This paper presents initial findings of end-users' experiences with a multi-resource feedback technology, within the context of sustainable housing. It proposes that an understanding of user context, supply chain management and market diffusion issues are important design considerations that contribute to technology 'success'.

Creative, culture tourism and place-making : Istanbul and London film industries

During the last decade many cities have sought to promote creativity by encouraging creative industries as drivers for economic and spatial growth. Among the creative industries, film industry play an important role in establishing high level of success in economic and spatial development of cities by fostering endogenous creativeness, attracting exogenous talent, and contributing to the formation of places that creative cities require. The paper aims to scrutinize the role of creative industries in general and the film industry in particular for place making, spatial development, tourism, and the formation of creative cities, their clustering and locational decisions. This paper investigates the positive effects of the film industry on tourism such as incubating creativity potential, increasing place recognition through locations of movies filmed and film festivals hosted, attracting visitors and establishing interaction among visitors, places and their cultures. This paper reveals the preliminary findings of two case studies from Beyoglu, Istanbul and Soho, London, examines the relation between creativity, tourism, culture and the film industry, and discusses their effects on place-making and tourism.

The role of nature-based experiences in the development and maintenance of wellness

Wellness is now seen as central to redefining the National Health agenda. There is growing evidence that contact with nature and physical activity in nature has considerable positive effects on human health. At the most basic level humanity is reliant on the natural world for resources such as air and water. However, a growing body of research is finding that beyond this fundamental relationship exposure to the non-human natural world can also positively enhance perceptions of physiological, emotional, psychological and spiritual health in ways that cannot be satisfied by alternate means. Theoretical explanations for this have posited that non-human nature might 1) restore mental fatigue, 2) trigger deep reflections, 3) provide an opportunity for nurturing and 4) rekindle innate connections. In this paper the authors show how human wellness is strongly connected to their relationship with the natural world. This paper points to how non-human nature could be better utilised for enhancing human health and wellness.

The embodied hybrid space : designing ubiquitous computing towards an amplification of situated real world experiences

The emergence of mobile and ubiquitous computing technology has created what is often referred to as the hybrid space – a virtual layer of digital information and interaction opportunities that sit on top of and augment the physical environment. Embodied media materialise digital information as observable and sometimes interactive parts of the physical environment. The aim of this work is to explore ways to enhance people’s situated real world experience, and to find out what the role and impact of embodied media in achieving this goal can be. The Edge, an initiative of the State Library of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and case study of this thesis, envisions to be a physical place for people to meet, explore, experience, learn and teach each other creative practices in various areas related to digital technology and arts. Guided by an Action Research approach, this work applies Lefebvre’s triad of space (1991) to investigate the Edge as a social space from a conceived, perceived and lived point of view. Based on its creators’ vision and goals on the conceived level, different embodied media are iteratively designed, implemented and evaluated towards shaping and amplifying the Edge’s visitor experience on the perceived and lived level.

Preservice teachers’ memories of their secondary science education experiences

Understanding preservice teachers’ memories of their education may aid towards articulating high-impact teaching practices. This study describes 246 preservice teachers’ perceptions of their secondary science education experiences through a questionnaire and 28-item survey. ANOVA was statistically significant about participants’ memories of science with 15 of the 28 survey items. Descriptive statistics through SPSS further showed that a teacher’s enthusiastic nature (87%) and positive attitude towards science (87%) were regarded as highly memorable. In addition, explaining abstract concepts well (79%), and guiding the students’ conceptual development with practical science activities (73%) may be considered as memorable secondary science teaching strategies. Implementing science lessons with one or more of these memorable science teaching practices may “make a difference” towards influencing high school students’ positive long-term memories about science and their science education. Further research in other key learning areas may provide a clearer picture of high-impact teaching and a way to enhance pedagogical practices.

Childhood experiences of cancer : an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach

Pediatric oncology has emerged as one of the great medical success stories of the last 4 decades. The cure rate of childhood cancer has increased from approximately 25% in the 1960’s to more than 75% in more recent years. However, very little is known about how children actually experience the diagnosis and treatment of their illness. A total of 9 families in which a child was diagnosed with cancer were interviewed twice over a 12-month period. Using the qualitative methodology of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), children’s experiences of being patients with a diagnosis of cancer were explicated. The results revealed 5 significant themes: the experience of illness, the upside of being sick, refocusing on what is important, acquiring a new perspective, and the experience of returning to wellbeing. Changes over time were noted because children’s experiences’ were often pertinent to the stage of treatment the child had reached. These results revealed rich and intimate information about a sensitive issue with implications for understanding child development and medical and psychosocial treatment.

New media services : ratings and recommendations websites in the travel and tourism industry

The travel and hospitality industry is one which relies especially crucially on word of mouth, both at the level of overall destinations (Australia, Queensland, Brisbane) and at the level of travellers’ individual choices of hotels, restaurants, sights during their trips. The provision of such word-of-mouth information has been revolutionised over the past decade by the rise of community-based Websites which allow their users to share information about their past and future trips and advise one another on what to do or what to avoid during their travels. Indeed, the impact of such user-generated reviews, ratings, and recommendations sites has been such that established commercial travel advisory publishers such as Lonely Planet have experienced a pronounced downturn in sales ¬– unless they have managed to develop their own ways of incorporating user feedback and contributions into their publications. This report examines the overall significance of ratings and recommendation sites to the travel industry, and explores the community, structural, and business models of a selection of relevant ratings and recommendations sites. We identify a range of approaches which are appropriate to the respective target markets and business aims of these organisations, and conclude that there remain significant opportunities for further operators especially if they aim to cater for communities which are not yet appropriately served by specific existing sites. Additionally, we also point to the increasing importance of connecting stand-alone ratings and recommendations sites with general social media spaces like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and of providing mobile interfaces which enable users to provide updates and ratings directly from the locations they happen to be visiting. In this report, we profile the following sites: * TripAdvisor, the international market leader for travel ratings and recommendations sites, with a membership of some 11 million users; * IgoUgo, the other leading site in this field, which aims to distinguish itself from the market leader by emphasising the quality of its content; * Zagat, a long-established publisher of restaurant guides which has translated its crowdsourcing model from the offline to the online world; * Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree site, which attempts to respond to the rise of these travel communities by similarly harnessing user-generated content; * Stayz, which attempts to enhance its accommodation search and booking services by incorporating ratings and reviews functionality; and * BigVillage, an Australian-based site attempting to cater for a particularly discerning niche of travellers; * Dopplr, which connects travel and social networking in a bid to pursue the lucrative market of frequent and business travellers; * Foursquare, which builds on its mobile application to generate a steady stream of ‘check-ins’ and recommendations for hospitality and other services around the world; * Suite 101, which uses a revenue-sharing model to encourage freelance writers to contribute travel writing (amongst other genres of writing); * Yelp, the global leader in general user-generated product review and recommendation services. In combination, these profiles provide an overview of current developments in the travel ratings and recommendations space (and beyond), and offer an outlook for further possibilities. While no doubt affected by the global financial downturn and the reduction in travel that it has caused, travel ratings and recommendations remain important – perhaps even more so if a reduction in disposable income has resulted in consumers becoming more critical and discerning. The aggregated word of mouth from many tens of thousands of travellers which these sites provide certainly has a substantial influence on their users. Using these sites to research travel options has now become an activity which has spread well beyond the digirati. The same is true also for many other consumer industries, especially where there is a significant variety of different products available – and so, this report may also be read as a case study whose findings are able to be translated, mutatis mutandis, to purchasing decisions from household goods through consumer electronics to automobiles.

Life on the edge : housing experiences in three remote Australian indigenous settlements

This analysis of housing experiences and aspirations in three remote Indigenous settlements in Australia (Mimili, Maningrida and Palm Island) reveals extreme liveability problems directly related to the scale and form of housing provision. Based upon field visits to each of the settlements and extensive interviews with residents and local housing and community officers, the paper analyses two aspects of living in such housing conditions at two spatial scales, the layout of the settlement and the design of individual houses. The failings at both scales are shown to be the fault of a dysfunctional housing system that is only recently been addressed.