Displaced and diffused: fashioning in the refugee experience

Locations of fashion in refugee experiences are explored through this article to further an understanding of identity and consciousness when seeking refuge across borders

A Method For Cleavage Fracture Testing Of Hardwood Laminated Veneer Lumber

Blackbutt (Eucalyptus Pilularis) is a common plantation hardwood in New South Wales which is highly regarded for its strength and durability but is difficult to laminate. A method was developed to test Blackbutt Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) glue-lines for mode I fracture toughness - comparisons were made to similar work in the USA and Australia. The cleavage test method is demonstrated to be more suitable for assessing LVL bond quality than the currently-used Australian Standard chisel test. The test shows that Blackbutt veneer is capable of being glued for application as a durable structural material

Knowing what you need to know about needs assessment

This paper reviews the scientific literature on needs assessment of individuals living in the community. Providing an overview of the field with a focus on capturing useful information for planning health interventions in the community, this paper will highlight: The current policy context that underpins the importance of needs assessment in health care; Key papers and basic theoretical concepts that can guide a coherent approach to community care needs assessment, including Bradshaw, 1972 and Stevens & Gabbay, 1991; The development of semi-structured interviews in mental health as a focus for designing new tools - with the Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN) being the most well known; How to deal with the organisational issues involved with the assessment of unmet need in the community; The current evidence base for developing a national approach to needs assessment; And a brief look at the latest self-reported needs assessment instruments

Measuring patient satisfaction with urinary incontinence treatment

Background: A number of patient satisfaction measures were trialed in a cross-sectional survey of women who had treatment for urinary incontinence (N=187). The psychometric properties of these measures were examined and a short measure for patient satisfaction was developed. Methods: Participants completed a questionnaire comprising items covering incontinence status, treatment type and three generic patient satisfaction questionnaires: the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-18), the Consultation Satisfaction Questionnaire (Consult SQ), and the Patient Satisfaction Index (PSI). Donabedian\u27s model postulates that satisfaction is the patient\u27s judgment on the quality of care. The seven dimensions in this model provide the conceptual framework against which the measures were reviewed. Results: The instruments were examined by their descriptive systems, internal structures and responsiveness. The items from the instruments were examined through iterative Mokken and partial credit IRT analyses against Donabedian\u27s model. Seven items were selected which formed a Short Assessment of Patient Satisfaction (SAPS) scale. Its internal psychometric properties were excellent (α = 0.86) and it provided a patient satisfaction perspective that was most consistent with Donabedian\u27s model. In summary, the internal structures of the instruments suggested that all SAPS items were responsive, but some items on the other measures were insensitive. Also, all measures were shown to be unidimensional. Tests of response bias suggested that this was present in the CSQ-18 and the PSI. Redundancy was observed in the Consult SQ, CSQ-18 and PSI. Conclusions: This study has provided evidence that patient satisfaction can be assessed validly, reliably and sensitively using the much shorter SAPS instrument. This new short measure of patient satisfaction with treatment will be a useful tool for clinicians and evaluators as the population ages

Instrument Review - SF-12® Health Survey (Version 1.0) for use in Australia

The SF-12® Health Survey is a suitable measure for large group epidemiological studies (greater than n = 500) where information on the SF-36® Health Survey Summary Scores (PCS + MCS) is required

Instrument Review - SF-36® Health Survey (Version 1.0) for use in Australia

Summary: The SF-36 is a highly recommended measure with superior psychometric properties. It has been used extensively in Australia for both population health and clinical research

The use of proxy / informant reports for people with dementia

The progressive deterioration of cognitive and functional abilities in people with dementia presents a number of practical problems for the measurement of health outcomes using self-report health status instruments for people with cognitive impairment; the need for better survey design for older people using universal design principles; the time constraints involved with assessment; as well as test administration issues like test-taker in attention and compliance, or alternatively, test-taker burden and distress

Research program: incontinence measurement

Incontinence is a common health problem estimated to affect almost 4 million Australians. However, because of the personal nature of this problem, we know very little about the best way to measure patient symptoms and treatment outcomes. This research program attempts to redress this imbalance by applying psychometric methods to the assessment of this health condition and social phenomenon. In doing so we are also examining quality of life post-treatment, as well as patient satisfaction with the health services provided. The steps in this research program have involved systematically reviewing and evaluating instruments used internationally for the assessment of incontinence, and then field testing a number of these in an Australian community survey (N=3015). Following an examination of the psychometric properties of the items and scales two new instruments to assess incontinence were developed. These are the Revised Urinary Incontinence Scale and the Revised Faecal Incontinence Scale. The community survey data indicated that both measures have excellent psychometric properties and these measures are currently being trialled and further validated in clinical settings. A number of patient satisfaction measures (both generic and continence specific) were studied in a crosssectional survey of women who had treatment for urinary incontinence (N=184). The psychometric properties of these measures were examined as was their coverage of seven dimensions of patient satisfaction (Donabedian, 1988). The Short Assessment of Patient Satisfaction scale (SAPS; seven items) was developed from consideration of both the psychometric properties of the items and the best fit to the model of patient satisfaction