Weathering uncertainty traditional knowledge for climate change assessment and adaptation

This UNESCO report looks into the damaging effects of climate change on Indigenous cultures.When considering climate change, indigenous peoples and marginalized populations warrant particular attention. Impacts on their territories and communities are anticipated to be both early and severe due to their location in vulnerable environments, including small islands, high-altitude zones, desert margins and the circumpolar Arctic. Indeed, climate change poses a direct threat to many indigenous societies due to their continuing reliance upon resource-based livelihoods. Heightened exposure to negative impacts, however, is not the only reason for specific attention and concern. As many indigenous societies are socially and culturally distinct from mainstream society, decisions, policies and actions undertaken by the majority, even if well-intended, may prove inadequate, ill-adapted, and even inappropriate. There is therefore a need to understand the specific vulnerabilities, concerns, adaptation capacities and longer-term aspirations of indigenous peoples and marginalized communities throughout the world. Indigenous and traditional knowledge contribute to this broader understanding

Pictures of time beneath : science, landscape, heritage and the uses of the deep past in Australia, 1830-2003

This thesis explores ideas about the deep past in Australia in the context of contemporary notions of geological heritage, cultural property, cultural identity and antiquity. Moving between disciplines, localities, stories and timescales it examines the complexities of changing intellectual agenda. But it does not pretend to present a complete history of the earth sciences in Australia. Rather it brings together an array of related themes, places, and stories, that knit into a narrative about the construction and interpretation of signs of age in Australian landscapes. Taking as its starting point the discovery by European settlers in 1830 of the Wellington Caves megafaunal fossils, which first suggested a long chronology for Australian vertebrate fauna, this work considers 'ordinary time' and 'deep time', geological heritage, the appropriation and celebration of deep time by settler Australians, and the naturalisation of narrative and sequence in geological writing. The body of the thesis involves discussion of three landscapes which have been celebrated for the deep pasts revealed in their sediments, landforms and material remains: Hallett Cove and Lake Callabonna in South Australia and the Willandra Lakes in New South Wales. Each of these is regarded as more or less canonical in the respective histories of Australian geology, vertebrate palaeontology and archaeology, but each is also a living historical and geological site where people have lived, interacted with and interpreted the shape of the country for upwards of forty thousand years.In 2010, material in this thesis was reworked and published as Pictures of time beneath: science, heritage and the uses of the deep past (CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria): http://www.publish.csiro.au/pid/6342.htm

A collaborative process for developing a weight management toolkit for general practitioners in Australia—an intervention development study using the Knowledge To Action framework

BACKGROUND: Obesity is commonly seen in the Australian general practice population; however, few resources are specifically targeted at GPs working with these patients. The National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia) guideline for managing patients who are overweight and obese supports the involvement of a regular health professional. As 85 % of the population visit a GP annually, resources to support GPs working with this patient population are needed. This study describes the collaborative process used to develop an obesity management programme based on current Australian guidelines for GPs and their patients to be used in primary care. The Knowledge To Action framework was applied to develop a weight management toolkit for GPs based on current Australian guidelines. This draft was then reviewed by clinical GPs, GP registrars, consumer representatives and allied health professionals using focus groups and interviews. The participants gave feedback on the content, layout and acceptability of the documents. The feedback from the stakeholder groups was evaluated, and changes were incorporated into the final documents. A graphic designer was contracted to assist with the layout to improve useability and attractiveness of the documents. RESULTS: A total of 38 participants gave feedback on the draft weight management programme, and the research team amalgamated their responses to further improve the documents. The general response from GPs and consumer representatives was positive with most conveying their wish to try the programme themselves. CONCLUSIONS: “The Change Program” is a practical tool for Australian GPs to use with their patients who are overweight or obese. It was developed in collaboration with GPs, allied health professionals and consumer stakeholders based on current Australian guidelines. It is currently being piloted in five general practices.This work was funded by a research grant from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners/Independent Practitioner Network Pty Ltd Research Grant

Resourcefulness, Desperation, Shame, Gratitude and Powerlessness : Common Themes Emerging from A Study of Food Bank Use in Northeast Scotland

Acknowledgements This study received funding support from the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services (RESAS), Theme 7 ‘Healthy Safe Diets’ Research Programmed. The authors would also like to thank and acknowledge the invaluable support and time given by Fiona Rae and Dave Simmers, the Community Food Initiative North East food bank volunteers and study participants. The authors would also like to thank Professor Elizabeth Dowler and Dr Lucia d’Ambruoso, and the anonymous peer reviewers for their helpful comments during the preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in indigenous kindergarten children: A cross sectional population based study

Background This study investigated the prevalence of overweight and obese Indigenous kindergarten children in the Australian Capital Territory. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on data collected as part of the Kindergarten Health Check, a c

The Change Program: A pilot implementation trial of a general practitioner-delivered weight management program in primary care

This pilot study aims to evaluate the feasibility of a GP-delivered weight management program for overweight and obese adults in primary care. The project team will receive both qualitative and quantitative feedback from participating GPs and their patients regarding the usefulness, practicality and implementation of the program that has been developed.The research reported in this paper is a project of the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute which is supported by a grant from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing under the Primary Health Care Research Evaluation and Development Strategy

SEXUAL ABUSE OF DOCTORS BY DOCTORS PROFESSIONALISM COMPLEXITY AND THE POTENTIAL FOR HEALING

Contemporary attitudes to sexual abuse are changing. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the response of the Australian Defence Force to allegations of sexual abuse in the military and the work of the Australian Human Rights Commission around sexual harassment in the workplace all indicate a shift in community values. They also represent a shift in our understanding of the nature and scope of professionalism. As each respected institution has its professional failures exposed, it becomes obvious that no group is immune. Existing codes of professional conduct have not protected colleagues or clients from toxic behaviour

Use of measures of socioeconomic deprivation in planning primary health care workforce and defining health care need in Australia

Australia is in the midst of significant health reform, of which equity and access and the role of primary health care is of priority. Current measures to address workforce maldistribution are determined geographically. This fails to recognise the diversity of need and inequity within areas. Nationally and internationally there is growing expertise in and evidence of the power of geographical information systems (GIS) in primary health care policy development, service delivery and evaluation. This study sought to examine whether measures of remoteness areas adequately reveal high need populations, measured against socioeconomic disadvantage and physician to population ratios using GIS methodology. Australia is in the midst of significant health reform, of which equity and access and the role of primary health care is of priority. Current measures to address workforce maldistribution are determined geographically. This fails to recognise the diversity of need and inequity within areas. Nationally and internationally there is growing expertise in and evidence of the power of geographical information systems (GIS) in primary health care policy development, service delivery and evaluation. This study sought to examine whether measures of remoteness areas adequately reveal high need populations, measured against socioeconomic disadvantage and physician to population ratios using GIS methodology.The research reported in this paper is a project of the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute which is supported by a grant from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing under the Primary Health Care Research Evaluation and Development Strategy