Banner News

https://openspace.dmacc.edu/banner_news/1307/thumbnail.jp

Beyond containment: driving change in residential care : a Queensland, Australia model of therapeutic residential care

Mercy Family Services is a Non-Government Organisation providing a range of out of home care services, including one 'therapeutic residential' and 12 traditional residential care programmes across South East Queensland, Australia. This paper will examine the implementation of a model of therapeutic residential care developed to address a gap in service delivery identified in the Crime and Misconduct Commission: An Inquiry Into Abuse In Foster Care in January 2004, which found there was a need for more therapeutic treatment programmes in order to assist children and young people with severe psychological and behavioural problems (Crime and Misconduct Commission, 2004). Traditional residential care, with a focus on daily care provision and containment, had limited success in meeting this client group's complex needs and it was apparent that a trauma informed model that sought to provide a 'healing' therapeutic milieu was a sector priority. The paper will provide an overview of the Mercy Family Services' therapeutic residential care model recently implemented in the final of four pilot programmes across Queensland, Australia. Further, the learning gained from the process of development of the model, informed by contemporary literature from within Australia and beyond, will be shared, along with the exciting developments emerging as practice is transformed and influences improvements across our entire network of residential programmes. This paper will explore how the historical context of residential care in Queensland, Australia influenced the development of a model of therapeutic residential service delivery developed to meet the challenge of driving change in an environment where containment models and poor outcomes had resulted in a decline in popularity of residential care. The paper will also detail the Mercy Family Services Therapeutic Residential Care model, a community of care approach that is underpinned by a needsbased, trauma-sensitive, and relationship/attachment-focused framework developed by Dr Redshaw, in response to an opportunity to pilot therapeutic residential care commissioned by the Department of Child Safety after recommendations arising from an inquiry intoabuse in foster care conducted in Queensland in 2004. Finally, the paper will share learning experiences from the implementation of the model into practice and initial outcomes for the young people placed during the first year of operation

First recorded introduction of the milliped order Stemmiulida (Eugnatha: Nematophora): Potential establishment in Florida, USA, and new records from Mexico; northward range extension into southern Tamaulipas

Based on two “uni-ocellate” females, the world’s first introductions of the milliped order Stemmiulida are recorded from Florida, United States (US). One individual was collected in 1976 in Gainesville, Alachua County (Co.)., in northcentral peninsular Florida, and the other was taken in 1991 some 408 km (255 mi) to the south-southeast in Pompano Beach, Broward Co. The absence of further individuals and additional samples suggests that the introductions did not result in viable populations, and stemmiulidans are not presently established in the state; the Gainesville site was reinvestigated in 2012 without finding additional specimens. New records from Mexico include the first from Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Yucatan, San Luis Potosí, and Tamaulipas states, with the northernmost ordinal locality now becoming Rancho del Cielo, northwest of Gómez Farias, in the last. A northward range expansion of about 460 km (288 mi) from the previous limit, Xalapa, Veracruz, the site lies a mere 40 km (25 mi) south of the Tropic of Cancer and only some 320 km (200 mi) south of the Rio Grande and the US border at McAllen, Hidalgo Co., Texas. Indigenous Stemmiulida are not expected in the forested Rio Grande Valley of southernmost Texas, but their occurrence in the adjoining Mexican state renders such a discovery more plausible than before

Frog eat frog: exploring variables influencing anurophagy

Background. Frogs are generalist predators of a wide range of typically small prey items. But descriptions of dietary items regularly include other anurans, such that frogs are considered to be among the most important of anuran predators. However, the only existing hypothesis for the inclusion of anurans in the diet of post-metamorphic frogs postulates that it happens more often in bigger frogs. Moreover, this hypothesis has yet to be tested

Greening Modern Rice Farming Using Vermicompost and Its Impact on Productivity and Efficiency: An Empirical Analysis from Bangladesh

Greening modern rice farming while improving productivity and reducing chemical use is a desirable goal for sustainable agriculture. This paper analyzes the impact of vermicomposting on productivity and efficiency of modern rice farming using a random sample of 340 farmers from the southwestern region of Bangladesh by applying a stochastic production frontier approach. Results reveal that productivity is significantly higher and the use of chemicals is significantly lower for vermicompost users as expected. However, profitability gain is not significantly different mainly due to the high cost of vermicompost. Use of vermicompost significantly increases productivity along with other conventional inputs and its users are relatively more technically efficient. Policy implications include investments to raise farmers’ awareness of the benefits of vermicomposting and support entrepreneurs to expand commercial production of vermicompost, which will synergistically curb the use of chemicals in modern rice farming while improving productivity and efficiency.</jats:p

Utilising Interview Methodology to Inform the Development of New Clinical Assessment Tools for Anxiety in Autistic Individuals Who Speak Few or no Words

Autistic individuals with intellectual disability who speak few or no words are at high risk of anxiety but are underrepresented in research. This study aimed to describe the presentation of anxiety in this population and discuss implications for the development of assessments. Interviews were conducted with 21 parents/carers of autistic individuals and nine clinicians. Data were analysed using content analysis and interpretative phenomenological analysis. Anxiety behaviours described by parents/carers included increased vocalisation, avoidance and behaviours that challenge. Changes to routine were highlighted as triggering anxiety. Clinicians discussed the importance of identifying an individual’s baseline of behaviour, knowing an individual well and ruling out other forms of distress. This study raises considerations for early identification of anxiety and for subsequent support

The Incredible Years® Teacher Classroom Management programme and its impact on teachers' professional self-efficacy, work-related stress, and general well-being: Results from the STARS randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Teaching is a stressful occupation with poor retention. The Incredible Years® Teacher Classroom Management (TCM) programme is a training programme that research has demonstrated may be an effective intervention for improving children's mental health, but little research has explored any impacts there may be on the teachers' own professional confidence and mental health. AIMS: In this paper, we evaluate whether TCM may lead to changes in teachers' well-being, namely a reduction in burnout and an improvement in self-efficacy and mental health. SAMPLE: Eighty schools across the South West of England were recruited between September 2012 and September 2014. Headteachers were asked to nominate one class teacher to take part. METHODS: Eighty teachers were randomized to either attend a TCM course (intervention) or not (control). TCM was delivered to groups of up to 12 teachers in six whole-day workshops that were evenly spread between October and April. At baseline and 9-month follow-up, we measured teachers' mental health using the Everyday Feelings Questionnaire (EFQ), burnout using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS), and self-efficacy using the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale-Short (TSES-Short). RESULTS: Using linear regression models, there was little evidence of differences at follow-up between the intervention and control teachers on the outcomes (the smallest p-value was .09). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings did not replicate previous research that TCM improved teachers' sense of efficacy. However, there were limitations with this study including low sample size

Two new Poyntonophrynus species (Anura: Bufonidae) highlight the importance of Angolan centers of endemism

Abstract The pygmy toad genus Poyntonophrynus is endemic to southern Africa. The morphology of these small toads is conserved. They are usually dully colored, and are predominately adapted to arid conditions. During recent surveys in Angola we found Poyntonophrynus specimens that were not assignable to known species. Using an integrative approach, based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, morphology, osteology, biogeography and ecology, we identified three new lineages, and describe two of them as new species. All three lineages are closely related to P. pachnodes, an Angolan endemic species, but they are geographically isolated from it. The new species are morphologically distinguishable, and are associated with two of the most important Angolan centers of endemism: the western escarpment and the central highlands. In order to get a more comprehensive understanding of the osteology of the genus, we also provide an osteological characterization of P. dombensis, which was not available to date. Our findings i) increase the number of earless species in the genus Poyntonophrynus, ii) emphasize southwestern Africa as the cradle of diversification in this genus, iii) report the occurrence of Poyntonophrynus in humid environments, thus showing that these toads are ecologically more variable than previously thought, and iv) underline the importance of further biodiversity studies in Angolan centers of endemism

Prevalence of anxiety symptomatology and diagnosis in syndromic intellectual disability: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Individuals with syndromic intellectual disability are at increased risk of experiencing anxiety. Comparing prevalence estimates of anxiety will allow the identification of at-risk groups and inform causal pathways of anxiety. No known study has explored estimates of anxiety symptomatology and diagnosis, including specific anxiety profiles, across groups whilst accounting for methodological quality of studies. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to fill this gap. Prior to review completion, methodology and analysis plans were registered and documented in a protocol (CRD42019123561). Data from 83 papers, involving a pooled sample of 13,708 across eight syndromes were synthesised using a random effects model. Anxiety prevalence ranged from 9% (95% CI: 4-14) in Down syndrome to 73% in Rett syndrome (95% CI: 70-77). Anxiety prevalence across syndromic intellectual disability was higher than for intellectual disability of mixed aetiology and general population estimates. Substantial variability between syndromes identified groups at higher risk than others. The identification of high-risk groups is crucial for early intervention, allowing us to refine models of risk and identify divergent profiles