A review of alcohol and drug education and early intervention programs in Australian government schools

In recent decades, reductions have been observed in Australian school student alcohol and drug use. A range of effective alcohol and drug use programs and policies have contributed to the decline in youth alcohol and drug use. The changing context of youth alcohol and drug use introduces the need to review future prevention and early intervention targets against school programs and policies to establish new direction. This report reviews alcohol and drug use prevention and early interventionapproaches used in Australian government schools. First, a literature review is presented summarising the evidence for effective programs and the theoretical mechanisms that underpin successful behaviour change. Second, the report assesses to what extent the current alcohol and drug use prevention and early intervention approaches used in Australian government schools accord with projected needs and theevidence for effective programs. The literature review completed for this report identified that there are an increasing number of evidence-based alcohol and drug use prevention and early intervention approaches available to Australian schools. However, our examination of state government websites and surveys of school staff suggest that the majority of schools do not use evidence-based programs and guide their school practices instead on general frameworks and principles. The report makes five recommendations:(1) set ambitious behaviour change targets for continued reduction of alcohol and drug use amongst Australian school students;(2) evaluate school practices that are based on frameworks and principles to ensure they are safe and not contributing to harm;(3) offer incentives to schools that use evidence-based alcohol and drug programs;(4) place a priority on the evaluation of school alcohol and drug education programs, within Australian government research funding schemes; and(5) examine positive youth development outcomes in the evaluation of school alcohol and drug education programs

The impact on family functioning of social media use by depressed adolescents: a qualitative analysis of the family options study

BACKGROUND: Adolescent depression is a prevalent mental health problem, which can have a major impact on family cohesion. In such circumstances, excessive use of the Internet by adolescents may exacerbate family conflict and lack of cohesion. The current study aims to explore these patterns within an intervention study for depressed adolescents. METHOD: The current study draws upon data collected from parents within the family options randomized controlled trial that examined family based interventions for adolescent depression (12-18 years old) in Melbourne, Australia (2012-2014). Inclusion in the trial required adolescents to meet diagnostic criteria for a major depressive disorder via the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Childhood Disorders. The transcripts of sessions were examined using qualitative thematic analysis. The transcribed sessions consisted of 56 h of recordings in total from 39 parents who took part in the interventions. RESULTS: The thematic analysis explored parental perceptions of their adolescent\u27s use of social media (SM) and access to Internet content, focusing on the possible relationship between adolescent Internet use and the adolescent\u27s depressive disorder. Two overarching themes emerged as follows: the sense of loss of parental control over the family environment and parents\u27 perceived inability to protect their adolescent from material encountered on the Internet and social interactions via SM. CONCLUSION: Parents within the context of family based treatments felt that prolonged exposure to SM exposed their already vulnerable child to additional stressors and risks. The thematic analysis uncovered a sense of parental despair and lack of control, which is consistent with their perception of SM and the Internet as relentless and threatening to their parental authority and family cohesion

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication

Perspectives on medical education in radiation oncology and the role of the ESTRO School

Radiation oncology is a medical specialty not just delivering ionizing radiation to cancer patients but also participating as an important partner in the care of the patient from diagnosis to cure, follow up or end of life. The specialty is rapidly evolving in a multi- and interdisciplinary setting as multimodality treatment is becoming frequent. This requires that the medical undergraduate and postgraduate training evolve to these changes. The ESTRO School has for more than 30 years offered postgraduate training courses in and outside Europe and strives to develop its services to accommodate the educational needs of a specialty in constant development. Some of these developments are described in the present paper

Family partnerships to support children and young people\u27s mental health: an Evidence Check rapid review brokered by the Sax Institute (www.saxinstitute.org.au) for Be You

Be You sees partnering with families as a key factor in supporting positive mental health outcomes. This review summarises what is known about partnerships between families and educators, and how they work to support the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. It provides an overview of existing research evidence that can be used by school and early learning settings to support educators to build partnerships with families. Specifically, this review addresses the following question:What strategies to build and maintain partnerships between families and educators have been effective in supporting mental health and wellbeing in children and young people

A new wave of leaders: Early evaluation of the interdisciplinary Foundations of Leadership in Radiation Oncology (FLiRO) program

Purpose: Effective leadership across all areas of radiation oncology (RO) is vital to fully realise the benefits of radiation therapy in cancer care. We report outcomes of a novel interdisciplinary leadership program designed for RO professionals under a global joint society initiative. Methods: The Foundations of Leadership in RO (FLiRO) program was designed for aspiring RO leaders. Initially delivered in a blended learning format, it was adapted to fully virtual in 2021. It comprised a webinar tutorial, on-line modules and homework followed by ‘live’ in-person/virtual workshops over an approximately 6-week period. Topics included personal awareness, effective teamwork, quality improvement skills, leading change and conflict management. An immediate post-program online survey was performed using Likert scales to measure self-reported educational value, interaction with others and the likely application of learning to practice. Open comments were invited. Results: 170 participants from 36 countries and 6 continents took part from 2018 to 2021 (99 doctors, 36 physicists, 32 radiation therapists/RTTs and 3 others). 141 (83%) participants responded to the post-program survey. Average weightings for responders’ views on whether pre-determined learning objectives were met ranged from 4.30 to 4.61 on a 5-point scale (1 = ‘not met at all’ and 5 = completely met). For the question addressing potential value of learning for application to their workplace, 124 of 130 (95%) of responders indicated that FLIRO would be ‘very useful’ or ‘extremely useful’. Conclusion: Initial evaluation of the FLiRO program supports its continuation and expansion with ongoing evolution based on emerging evidence around leadership education and participant feedback

Strategies to Increase Uptake of Parent Education Programs in Preschool and School Settings to Improve Child Outcomes: A Delphi Study

Parent education programs, offered via family–school partnerships, offer an effective means for promoting the mental health and educational functioning of children and adolescents at a whole-school level. However, these programs often have a low uptake. This study aimed to identify strategies for increasing the uptake of parent education programs within preschool and school settings. A three-round Delphi procedure was employed to obtain expert consensus on strategies that are important and feasible in educational settings. First, thirty experts rated statements identified from the literature and a stakeholder forum. Next, experts re-appraised statements, including new statements generated from the first round. Ninety statements were endorsed by ≥80% of the experts. Primary themes include strategies for program selection; strategies for increasing the accessibility of programs and the understanding of educational staff on parent engagement and child mental health; strategies for program development, promotion and delivery; as well as strategies for increasing parent and community engagement. This study offers a set of consensus strategies for improving the uptake of parent education programs within family–school partnership

Program logic of a mental health outreach service for socially anxious youth

Program logic of a mental health outreach service for socially anxious yout