Community-Wellbeing-Indicators.pdf

This paper outlines key research and initiatives around community wellbeing indicators, and includes a community wellbeing indicators survey template that can be adapted for use by local governments nationally to measure, analyse and assess the progress of community wellbeing

Community wellbeing indicators: measures for local government

New research from the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG) at the University of Technology, Sydney, will assist councils across Australia take a consistent approach to measuring the wellbeing of their communities. The research, ‘Community Wellbeing Indicators: Measures for Local Government’, was conducted in partnership with the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) to support a Community Wellbeing Indicators Survey template. The tool can be adapted for use by local governments nationally to measure, analyse and assess the progress of community wellbeing. Background LGAQ launched the Community Wellbeing Indicators Project in March 2011 . The Project was aimed at supporting councils in developing ways to better :   understand and measure local community wellbeing build a consistent statistics base improve community planning strengthen citizen involvement in planning.   LGAQ undertook a community wellbeing indicator pilot survey in 2011 to trial a limited set of wellbeing indicators based on community perceptions, and to demonstrate the value of such an approach to local government. The five pilot councils were Sunshine Coast, Gladstone, Isaac and Longreach , where a telephone survey was conducted, plus Wujal Wujal, an indigenous community where a small group of community members responded to the questionnaire in a forum group. Attachment D provides the research report from th e pilot survey. This current research project, jointly sponsored by LGAQ and ACELG, builds on national work undertaken in developing community wellbeing indicators and contributes to the enhanced capacity of Queensland councils to plan for, measure and report on the wellbeing of their communities. In particular, this research aims to further develop the community wellbeing indicators survey approach used in the pilot project to provide a resource for councils to measure, analyse and assess the level of community wellbeing in a local government area. A key objective of this research is to formulate a valid set of indicators which:   provide a general indication of community wellbeing in a particular local government area can be benchmarked against results in other council areas.   The project does not seek to identify every possible measure of community wellbeing. Instead, the project aims to develop a practical community survey tool that can be used to assess and monitor community wellbeing within the framework of local community objectives and the context of local government roles and responsibilities

The Impact of Arteriovenous Fistulae on the Myocardium: The Impact of Creation and Ligation in the Transplant Era

Cardiac hypertrophy is a relatively common complication seen in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end‐stage renal disease (ESRD). Moreover, cardiac hypertrophy is even more frequently seen in patients with ESRD who have an arteriovenous (AV) access. There has been substantial evidence pertaining to the effects of AV access creation on the heart structure and function. Similarly, there is increasing evidence on the effects of AV access closure, flow reduction, transplantation, and immunosuppressive medication on both endpoints. In this review, we present the evidence available in the literature on these topics and open the dialog for further research in this interesting field

Early origins of heart disease: low birth weight and the role of the insulin-like growth factor system in cardiac hypertrophy

Epidemiological studies indicate that poor growth before birth is associated with left ventricular hypertrophy and an increased risk of death from heart disease later in life. In fetal life, the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system has been implicated in physiological growth of the heart, whereas in postnatal life IGFs can be involved in both physiological and pathological cardiac hypertrophy. A reduction in substrate supply in fetal life, resulting in chronic hypoxaemia and intrauterine growth restriction, results in increased cardiac IGF-1R, IGF-2 and IGF-2R gene expression; and there is also evidence for a role of the IGF-2 receptor in the ensuing cardiac hypertrophy. The persistent high level of cardiac IGF-2R gene expression from fetal to postnatal life may be due to epigenetic changes in key cardiac hypertrophy regulatory pathways.Kimberley CW Wang, Kimberley J Botting, Monalisa Padhee, Song Zhang, I Caroline McMillen, Catherine M Suter, Doug A Brooks and Janna L Morriso