Successful Transition to Retirement in Australia

The transitions of old age include many changes in appearance, hormonal changes such as the menopause, changes in family structures such as children leaving home, and changes in work patterns such as retirement. The study of such transitions has grown rapidly in recent years. In the 1970s there were 203 peer-reviewed articles containing the keyword retirement, according to PsycINFO. By the 2000s this had risen to 1,804 (Shultz & Wang, 2011). Conceptualising retirement, Ekerdt noted, “The designation of retirement status is famously ambiguous because there are multiple overlapping criteria by which someone might be called retired, including career cessation, reduced work effort, pension receipt, or self-report” (p. 70) (Ekerdt, 2010). This study measures retirement via self-report. Although Australians no longer face a compulsory retirement age, at which they are no longer considered useful to the workforce, retirement is still an important transition for individuals, their families, and for the wider society. Based on estimates from the 2006 census and the 2007 Survey of Employment Arrangements, Retirement and Superannuation - the most recent for which such data are available - an estimated 7.7 million Australians were aged 45 years or over. Of these, 3.1 million people were retired (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). As is evident, the likelihood of being retired increases with age. In 2007, there were more retired women (1.8 million) than retired men (1.3 million). The average age at retirement for women is 47, compared with 58 for men. For all age groups over 45 years, more men than women intend never to retire (16.7% and 11.9% respectively) (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). Of those retirees who had worked in the last 20 years, the most common main reason for retiring is the retiree's health. This is a more common reason for retired men (38%) than retired women (25%). Other common reasons for retirement for men include financial reasons (20%) and being retrenched or made redundant (10%). While financial considerations are more likely to influence men, women are more likely to make their decision based on family considerations. Common reasons for women to retire include caring responsibilities (15%) and to spend more time with their family or partner (13%) (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). It is relatively easy to find advice about financial preparation for retirement, compared to successfully navigating the cognitive, emotional, or social aspects of the transition. What does retirement mean to those approaching it? Stokes found that it means the end of work and the loss of identity in response to a society that has a negative perception of old age (Stokes, 1992). This is consistent with the disengagement theory of aging in which aging is seen as a process of disengagement from other people (Cumming et al, 1961). On the other hand, the street protests seen in France in October 2010, in response to the French government’s proposal to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, could be interpreted as some people looking forward to retirement as a release from the burden of employment. In a study examining retirement experiences, three main groups of people who could be delineated on the basis of their experience were identified (Kloep & Hendry, 2006)

Nurses’ Knowledge and Perception of Resident Mobility in Long-Term Care Facilities

Background: Decreased mobility for patients in long-term care (LTC) can lead to a slew of health-related issues such as sedentariness, cognitive decline, increased falls, and pressure injuries. Lack of perception and/or knowledge of the importance of mobility can lead to care of omission by nurses towards their patients. Educational interventions are effective to increase nurse’s knowledge base and perceived importance of resident mobility. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to assess the effect of an in-person educational intervention on the nurses’ perception and understanding of the importance of mobility for LTC residents. Methods: One thirty-minute PowerPoint educational intervention was developed based on the most recent recommendations form several evidence-based peer reviewed articles. It was completed by 31 nurses throughout eight sessions over a two-day period in December 2020. Participants completed five perception questions and five knowledge base questions before and after the educational intervention. The effectiveness of intervention was analyzed using a paired t-test for perception questions and McNemar’s P-test for knowledge base questions. Results: Thirty-one participants completed the pre and post education questionnaire. Results showed that there is a positive perception increase and at least a 50% increase in knowledge scores after the educational intervention. Conclusion: An in-person educational intervention had a positive impact on LTC nurses’ perception and knowledge towards mobility. Future projects should focus on sustainment of this through annual competencies

‘Exit, loyalty and voice': the experience of adult learners in the context of de- industrialisation in County Durham

This thesis examines the effects of de-industrialisation on the lives of adult learners attending adult education programmes in the former coal mining and steel working communities of County Durham. It presents the outcomes of a qualitative study of life history stories which are ‘person centred’. Focusing on the subjective experiences of learners, both past and present, was an appropriate way in which the learner voice could be heard as well as helping to understand their experiences and views on the effects that de- industrialisation has had on their lives, and if lifelong learning was improving their life chances. The importance of social class and gender in configuring and understanding adult learner experiences are critical factors whilst, at the same time, the collective resources of these working class communities have been systematically undermined. Furthermore, the provision of publically funded adult education has declined dramatically since the 1980s. Through the prism of learners’ lives the study explores experiences of employability skills programmes and community adult education programmes on shaping the position, disposition and identity of learners who have experienced a major trauma to their communities, their families and themselves. Ontological insecurity, a product of de-industrialisation, has a critical impact on the lives of these adults. The thesis adopts Hirschman’s (1970) framework of ‘Exit, Loyalty and Voice’, originally used to frame the responses of workers confronting the possibility of job losses in a firm, as a way of understanding the reactions of adult learners to the impact of de-industrialisation on communities. In Hirschman’s framework the relationship between exit, loyalty and voice followed a distinctive pattern. Loyalty, for example, was the opposite of voice, as people in a firm stayed silent in order to be saved from job loss. In this study, loyalty to the community has enabled individuals to benefit from support and community provision, which has given them a lifeline for survival and a step on the way to finding a voice. Exit, in the original framework, involved proactive workers getting ‘ahead of the curve’ by finding alternative employment before others. In this study, employability skills training – as a resource for exit - does not deliver. Instead, it systematically demoralises individuals and undermines their capacity to act. It involves churning learners between welfare and more training programmes and, where and when available, into short-term work. The overall impact has resulted in the social exclusion of these learners from the labour market and from the community - the opposite of agency. It is argued that this is a paradox given that social and economic inclusion was an aim of lifelong learning policies. The thesis challenges the claim of neoliberal ideology that purports to promote the freedom of individuals to determine their own fate. Those attending employability skills programmes are expected to find solutions to structural problems, and are subjected to coercive methods through psychological interventions that are expected to bring about attitudinal behaviour changes to achieve employability. It is argued that this is a paradox given deficient labour market conditions which are beyond the control of the learner. Attention is given to public sector community adult education that once offered liberating models of adult education, but have now been subjected to the logic of neoliberal governmentality. This is creating new ‘subjectivities’ for educators, who are being coerced to deliver learning for the economy rather than social purpose education. What has emerged is a new role of the employability trainer

Health informatics in developing countries: An analysis and two African case studies.

This thesis relates informatics to the problems of health and medicine experienced in less developed countries. It evaluates the potential of health informatics and investigates the issues that constrain successful implementations. This serves as a basis for establishing a generic description of viable computer applications in the developing world. The thesis contains two case studies from sub-Saharan Africa. The first, undertaken in The Gambia, is based on a computer-assisted data collection system used in a longitudinal child health survey. The second, undertaken in Kenya, relates to a medical decision-aid system used in an out-patient clinic of a district hospital. In each case, an outline is given of the background to the application domain, and an analysis is made of some comparable prior systems that have been developed and evaluated. The two case studies provide interesting investigatory comparisons since both systems are used by health personnel with little computer experience, and exploit some state-of-the-art technologies despite the identified constraints that exist in developing countries. The context, system design, methods, and results of each case are described. A generalised evaluation approach is proposed and is used to summarise the case study findings. The evaluation framework employed includes components related to functional and human perspectives as well as the anticipated benefits to the health care system. The thesis concludes by suggesting some guidelines for the design and evaluation of future health information systems

Children’s voices in the Framework for Early Learning – a portraiture study

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is developing a Framework for Early Learning to support adults in working with children from birth to six years. The Framework is premised on an understanding of children as being active in shaping and creating their own lives. This perspective supports the inclusion of children’s voices in decisions which affect them. The NCCA is using a portraiture study to facilitate children as partners in developing the Framework. The portraits will provide a detailed description of individual children’s experiences and reflections on their time in early childhood settings and will provide an important benchmark for the NCCA in developing a national framework for early learning and development which is grounded in an Irish context. This contextualisation will help to ensure that the Framework is relevant and helpful to adults in working with children in Ireland

Two Cases of Small Cell Carcinoma of the Gallbladder

Small cell carcinoma of the gallbladder is a rare disease process with approximately 40 cases reported in the literature. It is most often found in elderly female population and is associated with cholelithiasis and cigarette smoking. A multidisciplinary approach to treatment with wide surgical resection and adjuvant chemotherapy is the current standard of care. Notwithstanding prompt medical intervention, it is a disease with a poor prognosis. The pathology is characterized by early metastases and extensive local invasion. Herein, we report two cases of small cell carcinoma addressed at our institution. In both cases, a radical resection was performed with subsequent referral to oncology for additional therapy

In-situ resonant band engineering of solution-processed semiconductors generates high performance n-type thermoelectric nano-inks.

Thermoelectric devices possess enormous potential to reshape the global energy landscape by converting waste heat into electricity, yet their commercial implementation has been limited by their high cost to output power ratio. No single "champion" thermoelectric material exists due to a broad range of material-dependent thermal and electrical property optimization challenges. While the advent of nanostructuring provided a general design paradigm for reducing material thermal conductivities, there exists no analogous strategy for homogeneous, precise doping of materials. Here, we demonstrate a nanoscale interface-engineering approach that harnesses the large chemically accessible surface areas of nanomaterials to yield massive, finely-controlled, and stable changes in the Seebeck coefficient, switching a poor nonconventional p-type thermoelectric material, tellurium, into a robust n-type material exhibiting stable properties over months of testing. These remodeled, n-type nanowires display extremely high power factors (~500 µW m-1K-2) that are orders of magnitude higher than their bulk p-type counterparts

Ringing up about breastfeeding: a randomised controlled trial exploring early telephone peer support for breastfeeding (RUBY) - trial protocol

BACKGROUND: The risks of not breastfeeding for mother and infant are well established, yet in Australia, although most women initiate breastfeeding many discontinue breastfeeding altogether and few women exclusively breastfeed to six months as recommended by the World Health Organization and Australian health authorities. We aim to determine whether proactive telephone peer support during the postnatal period increases the proportion of infants who are breastfed at six months, replicating a trial previously found to be effective in Canada. DESIGN/METHODS: A two arm randomised controlled trial will be conducted, recruiting primiparous women who have recently given birth to a live baby, are proficient in English and are breastfeeding or intending to breastfeed. Women will be recruited in the postnatal wards of three hospitals in Melbourne, Australia and will be randomised to peer support or to 'usual' care. All women recruited to the trial will receive usual hospital postnatal care and infant feeding support. For the intervention group, peers will make two telephone calls within the first ten days postpartum, then weekly telephone calls until week twelve, with continued contact until six months postpartum. Primary aim: to determine whether postnatal telephone peer support increases the proportion of infants who are breastfed for at least six months. HYPOTHESIS: that telephone peer support in the postnatal period will increase the proportion of infants receiving any breast milk at six months by 10% compared with usual care (from 46% to 56%).Outcome data will be analysed by intention to treat. A supplementary multivariate analysis will be undertaken if there are any baseline differences in the characteristics of women in the two groups which might be associated with the primary outcomes. DISCUSSION: The costs and health burdens of not breastfeeding fall disproportionately and increasingly on disadvantaged groups. We have therefore deliberately chosen trial sites which have a high proportion of women from disadvantaged backgrounds. This will be the first Australian randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of proactive peer telephone support for breastfeeding. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12612001024831

Methane emissions from oil and gas platforms in the North Sea

Since 1850 the concentration of atmospheric methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas, has more than doubled. Recent studies suggest that emission inventories may be missing sources and underestimating emissions. To investigate whether offshore oil and gas platforms leak CH4 during normal operation, we measured CH4 mole fractions around eight oil and gas production platforms in the North Sea which were neither flaring gas nor offloading oil. We use the measurements from summer 2017, along with meteorological data, in a Gaussian plume model to estimate CH4 emissions from each platform. We find CH4 mole fractions of between 11 and 370 ppb above background concentrations downwind of the platforms measured, corresponding to a median CH4 emission of 6.8 g CH4 s−1 for each platform, with a range of 2.9 to 22.3 g CH4 s−1. When matched to production records, during our measurements individual platforms lost between 0.04 % and 1.4 % of gas produced with a median loss of 0.23 %. When the measured platforms are considered collectively (i.e. the sum of platforms' emission fluxes weighted by the sum of the platforms' production), we estimate the CH4 loss to be 0.19 % of gas production. These estimates are substantially higher than the emissions most recently reported to the National Atmospheric Emission Inventory (NAEI) for total CH4 loss from United Kingdom platforms in the North Sea. The NAEI reports CH4 losses from the offshore oil and gas platforms we measured to be 0.13 % of gas production, with most of their emissions coming from gas flaring and offshore oil loading, neither of which was taking place at the time of our measurements. All oil and gas platforms we observed were found to leak CH4 during normal operation, and much of this leakage has not been included in UK emission inventories. Further research is required to accurately determine total CH4 leakage from all offshore oil and gas operations and to properly include the leakage in national and international emission inventories