Engaging educated islands: an examination of the collaborative process of creating the 2009 Venice Biennale art education resource for Australian school students

This paper describes the process of creating an electronic national art education resource based on the 2009 Venice Biennale for K-12 students throughout Australia. Australian artists have been consistently represented for over thirty years at the Venice Biennale with the support of the Australia Council, the Australian Government's premier art and advisory body. The collaborative process of creating the national art education resource is based on Community Cultural Development (CCD) practices advocated by the Australia Council. This process has brought together a range of people from the field of art education under the CCD guiding principles of: self-determination, sustainability, access, diversity and cultural democracy. This paper will describe the journey of three researchers involved in the process of creating the resource and how they experienced and engaged with the guiding principles of community cultural development. In addition it will examine the aims of this resource in providing young people with electronic access to a diverse range of Australian artists and their practices and in the process creating a site for critical and reflective engagement concerning a range of contemporary issues such as increased awareness of environmental issues

Cross-Generational Relationships in Kenya: Couples' Motivations, Risk Perception for STIs/HIV and Condom Use

Objectives: To understand women's and men's motivations for entering into cross-generational relationships and to examine how their risk perception for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) affects sexual decision-making and condom use.Methods: A total of eight focus groups were conducted with women aged 15 -- 19 and 28 indepth interviews were carried out with men aged 30 years and older in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Meru. Participants discussed motivations for entering into non-marital, crossgenerational relationships, perceived risks, relationship dynamics, and circumstances under which older men and younger women meet. Data analysis highlighted common and divergent themes on cross-generational relationships and the risks associated with them. Results: According to study participants, Kenyan men who pursue younger women do not fit a "sugar daddy" stereotype; rather they come from a variety of social and professional backgrounds. Young women actively seek partners who are willing to spend money on them whereas men look for partners who are well mannered, need money and have certain physical attributes. Women's primary incentive for engaging in cross-generational relationships is financial and material gain while men seek younger partners for sexual gratification. Pressure from peers to fit in and some family members to secure financial assistance from older partners can compel women to engage in cross-generational relationships. Although some peer groups support and encourage such relationships, other groups, especially wives, same-aged boyfriends and parents, disapprove of them. As a result, cross-generational couples are often preoccupied by the threat of discovery. Risk perception for STIs/HIV is low and couples rarely use condoms.Conclusions: Most cross-generational couples underestimate their risk for infection from STIs/ HIV. Young women believe that older men are low-risk partners because they are less likely to be promiscuous and more likely to remain faithful to younger partners and wives. Men believe that young partners are innocent and sexually inexperienced. Material gain, emotional factors, sexual gratification, and recognition from peers override the risk for STIs and HIV infection. Condom use is low and young women's ability to negotiate use is compromised by age disparities and economic dependence. Study findings suggest several programmatic strategies for targeting young women and older men. Behavior change communication campaigns should educate women and men about the increased risk of STIs/HIV associated with cross-generational relationships. Programs should also promote safer sexual practices, such as consistent condom use, within relationships. Campaigns could employ positive role models to encourage young women to seek safer alternatives to cross-generational relationships and decrease peer pressure among men to pursue such relationships. Long-term interventions include improving young women's access to educational and career opportunities, and working with communities to determine the best approach for changing social norms and the acceptability of cross-generational relationships

Clinical Observation Reflections from Students in an Interdisciplinary Palliative Care Course

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into how a brief clinical observation encounter contributed to students’ experiences in an interdisciplinary palliative care course. This course was required of all graduate nursing students and was available as an elective for medical and other healthcare professions students at a healthcare sciences university. The students were required to spend approximately 8 to 12 hours attending interdisciplinary team meetings or accompanying a team on rounds and patient visits. The students’ summary narratives of their observation experience were analyzed in this qualitative study that focused on six categories of feedback: (1) patients’ and families’ reactions, (2) communication issues with patients and families, (3) how the palliative care team speaks with the patient and family, (4) communication within the interdisciplinary team, (5) students’ reflections, and (6) students’ suffering. This study demonstrated that a clinical observation activity can be a valuable introduction to palliative care principles for healthcare students in an interdisciplinary course. Students benefited from gaining insight into family/practitioner communications regarding difficult issues, interdisciplinary roles and cooperation, and application of palliative care principles to clinical practice. Further research is required to identify appropriate interventions to deal with student distress resulting from such early career clinical encounters

Building Advocacy Capacity: Where Grantees Started

Describes the baseline levels of core advocacy capacities of groups participating in Consumer Voices for Coverage, a twelve-state initiative to build consumer organizations' network and advocacy capacity. Discusses lessons learned and recommendations

Stakeholder attitudes as a resistance toward long-range management of a threatened landscape: A case study of aggregate use in the township of North Dumfries (Ontario)

The Township of North Dumfries is located in the rapidly expanding Municipality of Waterloo. This Township is in close proximity to Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Hamilton, and is halfway between London and Toronto, with the primary east-west Highway 401 running through the Township. It is an unique area in that it is characterized by an abundance of prime agricultural lands, Environmentally Sensitive Policy Areas, and wetlands. In addition, the Township is underlain with a large quantity of good quality glacially derived aggregate materials. Land use conflicts have increased as a result of aggregate developers’ pressures on the resources of this Township to obtain licences for sand and gravel pits. Area residents and environmentalists are protesting the expansion of this industry any further. They are deeply concerned about the degradation of unique ecosystems, and effects to their quality of life. Little consideration is being given to the long term effects of extensive extraction on the regional landscape of this Township. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate stakeholder attitudes toward the aggregate industry, including factors that influence the move toward proactive long term landscape planning and design, within the limits of a community based landscape. In this regard, the objectives were threefold: i) to investigate the existing role, dimension and impact of the aggregate industry; ii) to investigate the attitudes of aggregate producers, Township councillors, in addition to residents who live within different proximities of an aggregate site; and iii) to gain an appreciation of the wishes of the rural community concerning the Township’s future landscape design Research methods included the use of historical records, on-site visits, interviews and questionnaires with the aggregate developers, members of the Township Council and Township residents. Additional methods included analysis of existing geological and surficial maps, air photos and Township records. It was found that each of the interviewed groups felt strongly about the aggregate industry in the Township of North Dumfries. The aggregate producers were certain part of the solution to the conflicting attitudes between the public and the industry is the need for education, illustrating to the public the importance of the aggregate industry. The Township councilors felt they were in a difficult position. The aggregate industry brings revenue and jobs to the community, concern is raised among residents as to the number and operation of aggregate sites in the Township. Interviewed residents of the Township expressed their concern toward the effects that the number of aggregate sites were having socially and environmentally

Creating a Family-Centered Plan: Family Negotiation in Child Welfare

In this article, the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings for child welfare negotiations, assessment strategies useful in preparing for such negotiations, and practice implications for child protective service workers involved in the process are explored. Particular emphasis is given to the benefits of employing negotiation techniques in child welfare matters. The opportunities to use negotiation strategies are numerous in the child welfare arena. They range from formal mediation of an adoption plan, to family group conferencing of a placement issue, to negotiating a visitation and access plan with a parent. Common to all of these situations is the recognition that families have a better chance of success and potential for a better outcome when they are part of the planning and when they are empowered in the process