Health and community services for trafficked women: An exploratory study of policy and practice

The trafficking of women has attracted considerable international and national policy attention, particularly since the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000), of which the Australian Government has been a signatory since 2005. The provision of health and community services for trafficked women is a central feature of this Protocol, but in Australia service provision is made difficult by how trafficked women are understood and treated in policy and legal terms. This study aimed to explore the provision of health and community services for trafficked women in the Greater Sydney region through a series of interviews with government and non-government organisations. The findings reveal that services have been inaccessible as a result of sparse, uncoordinated, and poorly funded provision. The major obstacle to adequate and appropriate service provision has been a national policy approach focusing on 'border protection' and criminalisation rather than on trafficked women and their human rights. We conclude that further policy development needs to focus on the practical implications of how such rights can be translated into the delivery of health and community services that trafficked women can access and be supported by more effectively

Frailty and use of health and community services by community-dwelling older men: the Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project

Background: frailty is a concept used to describe older people at high risk of adverse outcomes, including falls, functional decline, hospital or nursing home admission and death. The associations between frailty and use of specific health and community services have not been investigated. Methods: the cross-sectional relationship between frailty and use of several health and community services in the last 12 months was investigated in 1,674 community-dwelling men aged 70 or older in the Concord Health and Ageing in Men study, a population-based study conducted in Sydney, Australia. Frailty was assessed using a modified version of the Cardiovascular Health Study criteria. Results: overall, 158 (9.4%) subjects were frail, 679 (40.6%) were intermediate (pre-frail) and 837 (50.0%) were robust. Frailty was associated with use of health and community services in the last 12 months, including consulting a doctor, visiting or being visited by a nurse or a physiotherapist, using help with meals or household duties and spending at least one night in a hospital or nursing home. Frail men without disability in activities of daily living were twice more likely to have seen a doctor in the previous 2 weeks than robust men (adjusted odds ratio 2.04, 95% confidence interval 1.21-3.44), independent of age, comorbidity and socio-economic status. Conclusion: frailty is strongly associated with use of health and community services in community-dwelling older men. The high level of use of medical services suggests that doctors and nurses could play a key role in implementation of preventive intervention

Fixed-term employees in Australia: incidence and characteristics

This paper presents an analysis of fixed-term employment in Australia or 3.3 per cent of employed persons in 2000. It finds that fixed-term employees are largely concentrated in Education (30 per cent of fixed- term employees in August 1998), Health and community services (18 per cent) and in the occupational category of Professionals (44 per cent). Just over 50 per cent worked in the public sector. Fixed-term employees are slightly more likely to be female and younger than ongoing employees.employees - fixed-term employment - ongoing employees

The Potential for Telehealth Consultations in Cardiology and Dermatology in Newfoundland and Labrador: A Synthesis of Research Evidence

This report provides a synthesis of relevant research evidence on the clinical and cost effectiveness of telehealth technologies for specialist-patient consultations in the fields of cardiology and dermatology. The report is intended to inform and assist decision makers in the Labrador-Grenfell Regional Health Authority, the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Health and Community Services and the province’s other Regional Health Authorities by providing research evidence surrounding the effectiveness of telehealth consultation as an intervention for cardiology or dermatology patients. The findings of our synthesis are specifically interpreted for the context of Newfoundland and Labrador. Decision makers from other jurisdictions, particularly those with similar features in terms of potential clients, geography and resources, may also find the content helpful. The report includes explanations of research terms and technical language; as such, there is no need to have a specialized medical or health background to understand its content

Learning from Delivery System Behavior, Dynamics & Interactions to Advance a Culture of Health

A new Systems for Action national research program flows directly from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation\u27s Culture of Health action framework. This program will build evidence on how best to align the delivery and financing systems for medical care, public health, and community services & supports so as to promote wellbeing and resiliency, realize efficiencies in resource use, and reduce inequities in health

Healthy school-age kids (HSAK) program

The Healthy School-Age Kids (HSAK) program is a joint initiative of the Department of Health and Community Services and the Department of Employment, Education and Training and it works within the health promoting school model. It recognises the need for schools, health services, families and communities to work in partnership.   Its aim is to improve the health, well-being and learning outcomes of school-age children living in remote communities of the Northern Territory. This can be achieved by health and education staff working together with children, families and community for health promotion, education and provision of health services. The program components: health promotion in the school and community setting integration of other services and programs for school-age children health checks (screening). This manual is for: nurses, aboriginal health workers and doctors in remote communities school teachers and support staff in remote communities visiting health and education staff to remote communities community members of remote areas. A video Healthy School-Age Kids “Working Together” accompanies this manual and demonstrates how to carry out health checks

Human capital, innovation and the productive ageing: growth and senior aged health in the regional community through engaged higher education

[Abstract]: This paper examines how low relative economic growth and high service and infrastructure costs in non-metropolitan regions that are increasingly attractive to lifestyle-seeking seniors, can be offset by focussing more positively on the human capital dimension of this cohort through closer engagement with higher education learning and innovation. At present, many senior-aged persons attracted to ‘lifestyle’ locations are allowed to let their knowledge, networks and skills ossify through a lack of engagement with processes of learning and innovation and institutional impediments of a structural and attitudinal nature. It represents poor return on sunk investment in human capital, has cost impacts on enabling health and community services and infrastructure and does not contribute as positively as it could to regional growth outcomes through productivity gains. The spatial impact of this will exacerbate as the demographic profile of the nation continues to age. Higher education in these places could be a key instrument in the learning and innovation required to realise the greater productivity gains from senior-aged human capital and the consequential growth and health outcomes at the local and regional scale. The paper reports on the literature, research undertaken and analysis to understand these potentially important issues of policy and practice. The paper has a particular focus on the Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay Burnett regions of Queensland which have some of the highest concentrations of senior aged people in Australia

Case 1 : Mobilizing Knowledge into Action: Best Practices in Responding to Urgent Refugee Health and Resettlement Service Needs

The Syrian Civil War has displaced 6.5 million people internally within Syria (UNHCR, 2016) and has led 5 million to flee the country and live as refugees in Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and other North African countries (UNHCR, 2017). In 2015, the Canadian government and Canadian citizens stepped in with a nationwide commitment to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees. Due to community-based rallying, the commitment expanded to a total of 40,000 Syrian refugees by mid-2017 (Government of Canada, 2017). In response to this urgent and unprecedented arrival of refugees, hundreds of community agencies and many community groups across Canada banded together to provide services and supports to Syrian families (Hansen & Huston, 2016; Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services, 2017). Various sectors were represented in this effort: healthcare, settlement, community and nonprofit, housing, education, government, language, sponsor groups, children’s services, community and civic participation, police and safety, faith-based organizations, research, employment, and food assistance. Among organizations that represented these sectors, Access for Health and Settlement Centre was a community health centre that situated itself in a temporary accommodation site, serving primary health care, interpretation, and other community services (Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services, 2017). Through this effort, Dr. Zola Faraji, a senior scientist at Access for Health and Settlement Centre, and his community-based research team began to recognize the importance of documenting the manner in which the response was unfolding around them within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Zola knew that upon the government’s announcement to resettle so many Syrian refugees in Canada, none of the sectors and agencies who were to participate were adequately prepared to coordinate a response that matched the urgency of the situation. However, the response had been a remarkable one but not without its successes and challenges. Therefore, Zola conducted an environmental scan to document how service provider agencies within the GTA planned and delivered health, settlement, and other services for a large number of refugee families within a short period of time through a cross-sector perspective (Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services, 2017). The study findings captured key successes and challenges that informed the development of best practices for refugee health and resettlement services, particularly in relation to future large-scale arrivals of refugees. Now, Zola and her team are at a crossroad. They possess vital research findings and must develop recommendations as well as relationships with key players across various involved sectors. The team is developing a knowledge translation strategy. How can Zola and her team develop and implement a strategy that ensures that knowledge is not only shared but implemented into action? How can this research be utilized in a knowledge-to-action framework to benefit these vulnerable populations in the future