Psychosocial assessment : a critical incident analysis of child and family health nurses' decision-making in an early parenting setting

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Health.Child and family health nurses are skilled professionals, responsible for making decisions regarding care. Decision-making in nursing is a complex process involving both formal and informal thinking to gather and analyse information, evaluate significance, weigh alternative actions and to make judgements regarding care. The nurses’ ability to make decisions affects access to and the outcomes of care. Psychosocial assessment of women in the first postnatal year is critical to ensure access to care. Many women caring for their babies experience mental illness. It is essential that these women are recognised and help is offered to them to reduce the risk of mental illness onset or, when present, to provide support and treatment for mental illness. The objective of this research is to describe the clinical decision-making process of child and family health nurses when they undertake psychosocial assessment of women in the postnatal period. A description of the clinical decision-making process of nurses will provide information and education for health care professionals undertaking postnatal psychosocial assessment. Critical Incident technique is the methodology used to explore the process of clinical decision-making. Thinking in Practice is the theoretical framework that is used to understand the clinical decision-making process. Twelve Child and Family Health nurses working in an early parenting service were interviewed in this research study. Both template and thematic analysis were used to work with the data. This research found that decision-making in regard to postnatal psychosocial assessment is a complex process. The nurses move through relevant domains of information that are specific to each woman, most commonly information on parenting and care of the child, information from assessment tools and women determined issues or goals were considered. The nurses used a variety of thinking strategies in each information domain, most commonly searching for information, recognising pattern, drawing a conclusion and judging the value of the information

A case study of pressure group activity in Western Australia: Medical care of the dying bill (1995)

When the Australian Labor Party member for Kalgoorlie, Ian Taylor, presented his Private Member\u27s Bill - the Medical Care of the Dying Bill (1995), he laid the foundation for this thesis. Mr Taylor introduced his Bill to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly on 28 March 1995. The Bill codified the terminally ill patient\u27s right to refuse medical treatment, which clarified common law. This thesis attempts to overcome the dearth of literature in Western Australian lobbying concerning conscience-vote issues. It also identifies the key issues in understanding political lobbying, the form of pressure group activity that takes place and why certain groups respond in different ways. The pressure groups selected for this case study are examined, classified and evaluated resulting in a prescription for lobby group activity for similar conscience-vote issues. According to the Bill\u27s sponsor, Ian Taylor, the legislation was needed to deal with the inconsistencies in common law of the medical treatment of terminally ill people. The Law Reform Commission in its 1991 Report on Medical Treatment for the dying, stated that there was a need to deal with the issue in Western Australia. Due to the advances in medical treatment practices in the past 50 years, doctors can prolong the life of patients for whom there is no cure. The major problem, however, is the Criminal Code: doctors and care providers can be at risk of prosecution and conviction if the patient\u27s wishes are respected and medical treatment is withdrawn, leading to the patient\u27s death. At present there is a general common law right to refuse medical treatment. According to Mr Taylor, the difficulty lies in the fact that in Western Australia, the common law is overridden by the Criminal Code. The Bill also highlighted the role of palliative care and the treatment of the dying. The opinion of most pressure groups was that the rights of terminally ill patients should be protected and enhanced. Of the groups selected for this case study, only the Coalition for the Defence of Human Life objected to the Bill. Other groups supported the principles of the Bill, while some hoped for voluntary euthanasia legislation and others gave tacit approval. Of all the groups the L. J. Goody Bioethics Centre distinguished itself as a key organisation which tended to monopolise political influence. Media exposure of the issue was high, particularly in The West Australian. The right to die issue was canvassed and often was reported with references to euthanasia. At the same time the Northern Territory legislation, the Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill (1995), was receiving much media attention. The issue of euthanasia was necessarily discussed in the context of national and international arenas. The political masters of thought on citizen participation and group theory were introduced early in the thesis. John Locke, Jean -Jacques Rousseau, James Madison, Alexis de Tocqueville, Thomas Paine and John Stuart Mill provided valuable insight into the nature of modern political thought on this interesting aspect of political activity. Contemporary political writers such as Trevor Matthews. Dean Jaensch and Graham Maddox were also consulted. The eight pressure groups selected for the study were the: • West Australian Voluntary Euthanasia Society Inc. • Coalition for the Defence of Human life • Australian Medical Association (WA Branch) • Australian Nursing Federation (WA Branch) • L. J. Goody Bioethics Centre • Silver Chain Nursing Association Inc. • Uniting Church of Australia • Anglican Church of Australia Information from the groups formed a significant part of this thesis. An attempt was made in the conclusion to ascertain the effectiveness of the various strategies utilised by the pressure groups and provide an insight into lobbying practices. Ultimately, though, the contentious Bill was not given a third reading. Nor was it debated in the Legislative Council. At one stage it was considered likely that the Bill would be recommitted to parliament. The monitoring of the Medical Care of the Dying Bill (1995) undertaken in this thesis, indicates that this would have been a lengthy and divisive process

Instructors’ Perspectives Of Giving Audio And Video Feedback: Can You Hear Me Now?

This study investigated university instructors’ perspectives, values and processes of giving assignment feedback to students using written, audio and video formats and examined samples of feedback in these formats for differences in amount of content, language complexity and tone of feedback. The instructors represented different campus disciplines and a variety of campus, online and hybrid environments, and their classes included undergraduate and graduate students and ranged from small to large class sizes. This qualitative study applied Media Naturalness Theory to a phenomenological and discourse analysis of instructor interviews and feedback samples. The interview data revealed intentionality in selecting different feedback formats and three major factors affecting instructors’ choices of feedback formats: 1) educational purpose of the feedback, 2) the interpersonal relationship between instructor and students, and 3) efficiency of time and effort. Differentiation within these themes also impacted the choice of feedback formats. Instructors usually chose to use written or audio formats on minor assignment types such as discussion postings or short papers, while using combinations of audio and video narrations with written comments for major assignments. Most instructors appreciated the options that technology provided for them when giving feedback to students, but they also noted challenges in using different feedback formats. Feedback samples from instructors were analyzed for tone, language complexity and amount of content in the different types of feedback formats. The number of words in different feedback formats varied considerably, as did the tone and language complexity. The more expansive formats of audio and video presented the most information with regard to word counts, tone and complexity. The feedback samples were also reviewed to discern how closely instructors’ actual practice matched their perceptions and values of the different feedback formats. Findings have implications for instructors’ practices when giving feedback and further research regarding audio and video technologies for feedback, and formative and summative feedback effects

All about us : important family records / 1218

Cover title.Includes index

Exploring the feasibility of a community-based strength training program for older people with depressive symptoms and its impact on depressive symptoms

BACKGROUND: Depression is a disabling, prevalent condition. Physical activity programs may assist depression management in older people, ameliorate co-morbid conditions and reduce the need for antidepressants. The UPLIFT pilot study assessed the feasibility of older depressed people attending a community-based progressive resistance training (PRT) program. The study also aimed to determine whether PRT improves depressive status in older depressed patients. METHODS: A randomised controlled trial was conducted. People aged ≥ 65 years with depressive symptoms were recruited via general practices. Following baseline assessment, subjects were randomly allocated to attend a local PRT program three times per week for 10 weeks or a brief advice control group. Follow-up assessment of depressive status, physical and psychological health, functional and quality of life status occurred post intervention and at six months. RESULTS: Three hundred and forty six people responded to the study invitation, of whom 22% had depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale, GDS-30 score ≥ 11). Thirty two people entered the trial. There were no significant group differences on the GDS at follow-up. At six months there was a trend for the PRT intervention group to have lower GDS scores than the comparison group, but this finding did not reach significance (p = 0.08). More of the PRT group (57%) had a reduction in depressive symptoms post program, compared to 44% of the control group. It was not possible to discern which specific components of the program influenced its impact, but in post hoc analyses, improvement in depressive status appeared to be associated with the number of exercise sessions completed (r = -0.8, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The UPLIFT pilot study confirmed that older people with depression can be successfully recruited to a community based PRT program. The program can be offered by existing community-based facilities, enabling its ongoing implementation for the potential benefit of other older people

Applied Learning Activity for Health and Fitness Students to Advocate for School Playground and Gymnasium Safety

Playground accidents are a leading cause of injury to children at school and home. Health and physical education faculty and students from a university school of education and college of nursing collaborated with wellness team members in a public school system to complete a systematic planning process. The aim was to enhance the school health program and reduce risk of injuries. University faculty mentored health and physical education students as they developed professional competencies related to program planning and advocacy. Students identified safety hazards in 52 school/community playgrounds and 45 gymnasiums, and reported maintenance issues to reduce the risk of injuries. Teachers, parents, students and community residents can learn to assess playground and gymnasium safety, identify hazards, and plan improvements to the school health environment

The Sorghum bicolor reference genome: improved assembly, gene annotations, a transcriptome atlas, and signatures of genome organization.

Sorghum bicolor is a drought tolerant C4 grass used for the production of grain, forage, sugar, and lignocellulosic biomass and a genetic model for C4 grasses due to its relatively small genome (approximately 800&nbsp;Mbp), diploid genetics, diverse germplasm, and colinearity with other C4 grass genomes. In this study, deep sequencing, genetic linkage analysis, and transcriptome data were used to produce and annotate a high-quality reference genome sequence. Reference genome sequence order was improved, 29.6&nbsp;Mbp of additional sequence was incorporated, the number of genes annotated increased 24% to 34&nbsp;211, average gene length and N50 increased, and error frequency was reduced 10-fold to 1 per 100&nbsp;kbp. Subtelomeric repeats with characteristics of Tandem Repeats in Miniature (TRIM) elements were identified at the termini of most chromosomes. Nucleosome occupancy predictions identified nucleosomes positioned immediately downstream of transcription start sites and at different densities across chromosomes. Alignment of more than 50 resequenced genomes from diverse sorghum genotypes to the reference genome identified approximately 7.4&nbsp;M single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 1.9&nbsp;M indels. Large-scale variant features in euchromatin were identified with periodicities of approximately 25&nbsp;kbp. A transcriptome atlas of gene expression was constructed from 47 RNA-seq profiles of growing and developed tissues of the major plant organs (roots, leaves, stems, panicles, and seed) collected during the juvenile, vegetative and reproductive phases. Analysis of the transcriptome data indicated that tissue type and protein kinase expression had large influences on transcriptional profile clustering. The updated assembly, annotation, and transcriptome data represent a resource for C4 grass research and crop improvement

The combined effects of genetic risk and perceived discrimination on blood pressure among African Americans in the Jackson Heart Study

Both genomics and environmental stressors play a significant role in increases in blood pressure (BP). In an attempt to further explain the hypertension (HTN) disparity among African Americans (AA), both genetic underpinnings (selected candidate genes) and stress due to perceived racial discrimination (as reported in the literature) have independently been linked to increased BP among AAs. Although Gene x Environment interactions on BP have been examined, the environmental component of these investigations has focused more on lifestyle behaviors such as smoking, diet, and physical activity, and less on psychosocial stressors such as perceived discrimination