Prevalence of type 1 diabetes among children aged 0–14 in Australia 2013

Prevalence of type 1 diabetes among children aged 0–14 in Australia 2013 presents the first national picture of children aged 0–14 living with type 1 diabetes in Australia. The report, based on data from the National (insulin-treated) Diabetes Register, highlights that in 2013, 6,091 children aged 0–14 had type 1 diabetes in Australia. This represented 139 cases per 100,000 population, or about 1 in 720 Australians aged 0–14. About 2 in 5 children with type 1 diabetes used an insulin pump to administer insulin. The prevalence of type 1 diabetes among children differed by age, state/territory, and residential remoteness areas

Grandfathers and The Impact of Raising Grandchildren

Objectives. As grandparents are continuing to take on the responsible of raising their grandchildren in the absence of parents much attention in the literature is given to women. Little is known about the adjustment that older men make in these families. This study explored the experiences of grandfathers raising grandchildren. Methods. Data were gathered by semi-structured interviews in a rural community in southeastern North Carolina and analyzed using a qualitative content analysis mode. Twenty-six men, age 65+, who were responsible for the care of at least one grandchild, participated. Results. Eighty-one percent (N = 21) reported that their perception of powerlessness occurred either in the role transition or in the activities of daily parenting. Many expected to continue experiencing powerlessness throughout the parenting of the child. Discussion. Grandfathers experience powerlessness that has not been reported in the literature on grandmothers raising grandchildren. Results affirm the need for special attention to elderly men who take on the role of parent for their grandchildren

Exploring Mental Health Treatment and Prevention among Homeless Older Adults

Homelessness is an issue of social justice, in the United States, because it leaves people vulnerable, unsafe, and ill, while not having their basic needs for food and shelter met. Although the United States is the wealthiest country in the world, a significant number of its residence, whether citizens or not, have experienced homelessness in their lifetime. Less than 5 years ago, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) found that 564,708 people are homeless on any given night. There is a dearth of information available that puts older adults at the forefront or at the center of homelessness epidemic. Moreover, recent HUD reports claim that homelessness has decreased, in the United States, while the National Center on Family Homelessness reported that the number of residents experiencing homelessness is steadily climbing and is expected to hit an historic high, within the next 5 years. Yet, most of the attention given to homelessness as a public health issues, tends to focus on families and children. Few studies have targeted older adults and their primary risk factors experiencing homelessness. Important to note is the fact that consistent data and accurate reporting about homeless older adults are few and far between. This chapter (1) presents a practical definition of homelessness, (2) provides a social work framework for understanding and assessing risk among homeless populations, as well as, (3) emphasizes the importance of cultural competence in health practices for addressing homelessness among older adults as a public health concern

Exploring the therapeutic affordances of self-harm online support communities: An online survey of members

Background: A growing number of online communities have been established to support those who self-harm. However, little is known about the therapeutic affordances arising from engagement with these communities and resulting outcomes. Objective: To explore the presence of therapeutic affordances as reported by members of self-harm online support communities. Methods: In total, 94 respondents (aged 13 to 63 years, M=23.5 years; 94% female) completed an online survey exploring their experiences of engaging with a self-harm online support community. Respondents varied in terms of how long they had been accessing an online community, with 22.3% less than 1 year, 39.4% 1-2 years, 13.8% 2-3 years and 24.5% more than 3 years. Responses were analysed using deductive thematic analysis. Results: The results of our analysis describe each of the 5 therapeutic affordances that were present in the data, namely: 1) “connection”, the ability to make contact with others who self-harm for the purposes of mutual support and in so doing reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation; 2) adaptation”, that is, how use of online support varies in relation to the personal circumstances of the individual user; 3) “exploration” that is, the ability to learn about self-harm and learn about strategies to reduce or stop self-harming behaviour; 4) “narration”, that is, the ability to share experiences as well as read about the experiences of others; and 5) “self-presentation”, that is, how and what users present about themselves to others in the online community. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that engagement with self-harm online support communities may confer a range of therapeutic benefits for some users which may serve to minimise the psycho-social burden of self-harm and promote positive coping strategies. In addition, the online nature of the support available may be helpful to those who are unable to access face-to-face support

Police-Community Engagement and the Affordances and Constraints of Social Media

This article provides an analysis of the ‘affordances’ and ‘constraints’ of technology-mediated police-community engagement in the United Kingdom (UK). Whilst there has been optimism that social media may transform police communicative practice and help democratise policing, studies suggest that this potential has yet to be realised. Drawing on in-depth interviews with communications professionals, the article demonstrates that social media may afford constabularies visibility, editability, and association. However, organisational, individual and technological factors influence whether these affordances are achieved. This article adds to the literature by demonstrating how citizen engagement with mediated communication is not inevitable. It is instead a product of what the technology affords, the relationship between the technology and its users, and the context within which it is used

Safer roads through citizen partnerships: enhancing road safety with community speedwatch volunteers (Report to Road Safety Trust)

Recommendations taken from Pepper, M. and Bullock, K. (2024) Safer roads through citizen partnerships: Enhancing road safety with Community Speedwatch volunteers – a study conducted by the University of Greenwich and University of Surrey exploring the motivations, contributions, and experiences of Community Speedwatch volunteers in Surrey and Sussex constabularies. The study was funded by the Road Safety Trust Small Grants Programme. This research demonstrates the contribution that CSW volunteers make and highlights opportunities for the police service to benefit further from the skills and resources they bring by embedding them as part of the fabric of road safety approaches. Community Speedwatch (CSW) is a national scheme in which citizen volunteers receive training and equipment from their local police service to monitor and record details of speeding vehicles using approved detection devices. This report presents findings from a research project exploring the motivations, contributions, and experiences of CSW volunteers in Surrey and Sussex Constabularies – two police force areas in the south of England, UK. The research incorporated a mixed methods approach including an online survey and focus groups with CSW volunteers, interviews with road safety professionals, observations of CSW shifts, and workshops facilitated during a project conference. The project was funded by the Road Safety Trust Small Grants Programme, forming part of their aim to improve road safety at a local level

Richness, retrievability and reliability: issues in a working knowledge base for good practice in crime prevention

This paper focuses on descriptions of crime prevention projects identified as ‘good practice’, and how they are captured and shared in knowledge bases, with the purpose of improving performance in the field as a whole. This relates both to evidence-based approaches to practice, and to growing attempts at explicit knowledge management. There are, however, fundamental issues in the transfer of effective practice in the crime prevention field, which few working knowledge bases have properly addressed. Evaluation often remains weak and descriptions of successful projects do not always contain the right information to help practitioners select and replicate projects suitable for transfer to their own contexts. Knowledge remains fragmentary. With these concerns in mind this paper systematically examines the projects contained in the UK Home Office ‘Effective Practice Database’, a repository of project descriptions volunteered and self-completed on a standard online form by practitioners. The Home Office descriptions (and their equivalents elsewhere) reveal significant limitations of richness, retrievability and reliability. Ways of addressing these issues are discussed, ranging from the media and processes of ‘knowledge-harvesting’ to the use of more purpose-designed frameworks such as 5Is. But the fundamental issue remains one of taking knowledge management seriously and investing sustained time, money and leadership effort to make it work