The Racism, Acceptance, and Cultural-Ethnocentrism Scale (RACES): Measuring Racism in Australia

No existing scale has been designed for, and validated in, the Australian context which can objectively evaluate the levels of general racist attitudes in Australian individuals or groups. Existing Australian measures of racist attitudes focus on single groups or have not been validated across the lifespan. Without suitable instruments, racism reduction programs implemented in Australia cannot be appropriately evaluated and so cannot be judged to be making a meaningful difference to the attitudes of the participants. To address the need for a general measure of racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious acceptance, an Australian scale was developed and validated for use with children, adolescents, and adults. The Racism, Acceptance, and Cultural-Ethnocentrism Scale (RACES) is a 34-item self-report instrument measuring explicit racist attitudes, consisting of three interdependent subscales (Accepting Attitudes – 12 items; Racist Attitudes – 8 items; Ethnocentric Attitudes – 4 items) and a 10-item measure of social desirability. The current chapter summarises the mixed methods approach to the development and evaluation of the novel scale, and reports on the reliability and validity data for children, adolescents, and adults from diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds around Australia. The results of examinations of psychometric properties, including latent structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and predictive validity, are discussed. Utilised analytical techniques include qualitative thematic analysis of interviews and focus groups, unidimensional and multidimensional Rasch (Item Response Theory) analyses, and various Classical Test Theory analyses

“I\u27m making a positive change in my life”: A mixed method evaluation of a well-being tertiary education unit

Issue Addressed: Mental health disorders (MHDs) are prevalent amongst university students with detrimental impacts on individual students, universities and the wider community. There is an urgent need for proactive and preventative strategies to address the mental health crisis in the university population. This study evaluated the efficacy of a 13-week unit developed to directly educate university students about ways to improve and maintain well-being. Methods: Fifty-eight university students from five disciplines participated in a 13-week elective undergraduate unit “Well-Being Fundamentals for Success” as part of their degree. The Act Belong Commit mental health promotion campaign framework formed the basis of teaching materials. Outcome well-being measures were self-assessed at weeks 1, 6 and 12 using four scales: (1) Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS); (2) Perceived Stress Scale (PSS); (3) Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) and (4) Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). Post-unit group interviews (n = 11) were analysed for key themes. Results: Linear mixed models demonstrated a significant improvement in BRS over the semester; well-being (WEMBS) and mindful attention (MAAS) did increase but not significantly. There was a significant increase in stress (PSS) over the semester. Key themes that emerged from the group interviews were that (1) University life contributes to well-being; (2) University life contributes to stress; (3) The well-being unit helped students see and do things differently; (4) An overall endorsement of the unit. Conclusion: University students’ resilience increased over the semester following participation in a curriculum focused on well-being which featured a combination of theoretical content and experiential workshops. So what? Incorporating mental well-being curriculum into tertiary education is proactive preventive health strategy which may assist with the increasing prevalence of MHD in Australia

The Australian Racism, Acceptance, and Cultural-Ethnocentrism Scale (RACES):Item response theory findings

BACKGROUND: Racism and associated discrimination are pervasive and persistent challenges with multiple cumulative deleterious effects contributing to inequities in various health outcomes. Globally, research over the past decade has shown consistent associations between racism and negative health concerns. Such research confirms that race endures as one of the strongest predictors of poor health. Due to the lack of validated Australian measures of racist attitudes, RACES (Racism, Acceptance, and Cultural-Ethnocentrism Scale) was developed. METHODS: Here, we examine RACES’ psychometric properties, including the latent structure, utilising Item Response Theory (IRT). Unidimensional and Multidimensional Rating Scale Model (RSM) Rasch analyses were utilised with 296 Victorian primary school students and 182 adolescents and 220 adults from the Australian community. RESULTS: RACES was demonstrated to be a robust 24-item three-dimensional scale of Accepting Attitudes (12 items), Racist Attitudes (8 items), and Ethnocentric Attitudes (4 items). RSM Rasch analyses provide strong support for the instrument as a robust measure of racist attitudes in the Australian context, and for the overall factorial and construct validity of RACES across primary school children, adolescents, and adults. CONCLUSIONS: RACES provides a reliable and valid measure that can be utilised across the lifespan to evaluate attitudes towards all racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious groups. A core function of RACES is to assess the effectiveness of interventions to reduce community levels of racism and in turn inequities in health outcomes within Australia. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12939-016-0338-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Development and validation of the Australian Racism, Acceptance, and Cultural-Ethnocentrism Scale (RACES): measuring racism in Australia

Existing Australian measures of racist attitudes focus on single groups and have generally not been validated across the lifespan. To redress this, a measure of racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious acceptance – the Australian Racism, Acceptance, and Cultural-Ethnocentrism Scale (RACES) – was developed and validated with children, adolescents, and adults. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 30 high school attendees aged 14-22 years, conducted from December 2011 to January 2012 in Victoria, Australia, understandings of and experiences with racism were critically examined. Data demonstrated the ambiguity of racism, while confirming that Australian youth utilise a reasonably consistent and sophisticated explanatory model to conceptualise, explain, and classify racism. The interview and focus group data were used to develop RACES items, and the preliminary instrument was consequently pilot tested with eight children. Expert advice and cognitive interviewing techniques ensured the item content was comprehensive, comprehendible, and relevant. RACES was utilised throughout the implementation of a Victorian anti-racism and pro- diversity initiative, Building Harmony in the Growth Corridor (Building Harmony), which was implemented from March to September 2012 with 296 primary school children. RACES enabled an evaluation of the efficacy of this initiative, which was one of few racism prevention interventions to respond proactively to potential diversity issues as new populations arrive within an identified area. The instrument was also disseminated to 402 adolescents and adults in the Australian community from April 2012 to April 2013. Consequent work aimed to provide the first exploration of psychopathic personality traits and racist attitudes, due to both being anti-social and sharing several commonalities, including their development and manifestation. RACES was refined and its reliability and validity was empirically investigated with data modelled and analysed utilising both Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory. Psychometric properties, including content, construct, factorial, convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity, in addition to internal consistency and test-retest reliability, were each explored. The analyses provided strong support for the instrument as a robust measure of racist attitudes in the Australian context and for the overall reliability and validity of the 24-item RACES across primary school children, adolescents, and adults. The results indicate that RACES is a three-dimensional scale of Accepting Attitudes (12 items), Racist Attitudes (8 items), and Ethnocentric Attitudes (4 items), in addition to a 10-item measure of social desirability, each a reliable and valid scale independently. The instrument is the first Australian measure of general racist attitudes towards all racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious groups to be empirically validated across the lifespan. It is hoped that RACES will be utilised to assess and consequently enhance the efficacy of anti-racism and pro-diversity initiatives to assist with the reduction of racism throughout the Australian community

Additional file 1: of The Australian Racism, Acceptance, and Cultural-Ethnocentrism Scale (RACES): item response theory findings

The Australian Racism, Acceptance, and Cultural-Ethnocentrism Scale Appendix. Appendix of additional figures not included in main text. (DOCX 906 kb

Additional file 1: of The Australian Racism, Acceptance, and Cultural-Ethnocentrism Scale (RACES): item response theory findings

The Australian Racism, Acceptance, and Cultural-Ethnocentrism Scale Appendix. Appendix of additional figures not included in main text. (DOCX 906 kb

Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and the utilisation of primary care in urban and regional settings

INTRODUCTION: There are marked inequities in access to and use of different primary care providers - including GPs, practice nurses, allied health services and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) providers among populations residing in different geographical areas of Australia. Little research has focused on patterns of primary care health service utilisation according to locality in relation to the management of serious chronic illness, with even less on the use of CAM. In this article geographic similarities and differences in primary care service usage are examined among people with cardiovascular disease and/or type 2 diabetes mellitus residing in regional and urban Victoria, Australia. METHODS: Between April and July 2010, hard-copy questionnaires were sent to a random selection of 10 000 registrants from the National Diabetes Services Scheme, 2162 were distributed via Heart Support Australia and community organisations within the state of Victoria; an online version yielded 290 valid responses. This article draws on data from the 2914 returned survey responses in which people provided their residential postal codes. From this information, geographic location was determined on the basis of the Australian Standard Geographical Classification. Data were subject to inferential analyses using PASW Statistics 18.0 (SPSS; Chicago, IL, USA). A series of contingency table analyses were conducted to evaluate the relationship between primary care service use and respondents' geographical locality. Contingency analyses and χ(2) tests were also conducted to examine the differences between rural and metropolitan frequency of GP use. RESULTS: In comparison with urban respondents, rural respondents reported greater use of allied health practitioners, district or practice nurses, and community health centres. Conversely, use of hospital outpatient services was significantly higher among metropolitan respondents. Use of GP clinics was not related significantly to respondents' locality, nor was use of inpatient hospital services or use of counselling, psychiatry or psychology services. Frequency of GP use, however, varied significantly among geographical categorisations, with urban respondents visiting their GPs more frequently. CONCLUSIONS: While GPs play an important role in chronic disease management in Australia, the rate of GP attendance remains lower among patients living in regional areas. By contrast, the level of patient engagement with nurse practitioners and allied health professionals in this study was significantly higher among rural respondents. Issues related to access appear to play an important role in determining what primary care services people use when managing their chronic conditions and their frequency of consultation

“I\u27m making a positive change in my life”: A mixed method evaluation of a well-being tertiary education unit

Issue Addressed: Mental health disorders (MHDs) are prevalent amongst university students with detrimental impacts on individual students, universities and the wider community. There is an urgent need for proactive and preventative strategies to address the mental health crisis in the university population. This study evaluated the efficacy of a 13-week unit developed to directly educate university students about ways to improve and maintain well-being. Methods: Fifty-eight university students from five disciplines participated in a 13-week elective undergraduate unit “Well-Being Fundamentals for Success” as part of their degree. The Act Belong Commit mental health promotion campaign framework formed the basis of teaching materials. Outcome well-being measures were self-assessed at weeks 1, 6 and 12 using four scales: (1) Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS); (2) Perceived Stress Scale (PSS); (3) Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) and (4) Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). Post-unit group interviews (n = 11) were analysed for key themes. Results: Linear mixed models demonstrated a significant improvement in BRS over the semester; well-being (WEMBS) and mindful attention (MAAS) did increase but not significantly. There was a significant increase in stress (PSS) over the semester. Key themes that emerged from the group interviews were that (1) University life contributes to well-being; (2) University life contributes to stress; (3) The well-being unit helped students see and do things differently; (4) An overall endorsement of the unit. Conclusion: University students’ resilience increased over the semester following participation in a curriculum focused on well-being which featured a combination of theoretical content and experiential workshops. So what? Incorporating mental well-being curriculum into tertiary education is proactive preventive health strategy which may assist with the increasing prevalence of MHD in Australia