Palmerston North Legal Entities Project: A feasibility study completed by Katheryn Margaret Pascoe as part of a 3rd year Bachelor of Social Work placement at the Palmerston North City Council.

The Legal Entities Project was completed as part of a 12 week Bachelor of Social Work 3rd year placement through the collaboration of Massey University and the Palmerston North City Council Community Services team. The project was focused on exploring what the legal needs of local Incorporated Societies and Charitable Trusts providing social services in Palmerston North are, to then recommend a service to meet the needs of the sector. [First paragraph of Executive Summary

A situation analysis of street children in Harare, Zimbabwe

The problem of children on the streets of Harare has been increasing over the last five years. The majority of these children appear to be of school-going age. Who are these children? Where do they live? Why are they not attending school? This study is an attempt to provide answers for these questions, to evaluate current policy and programmes for street children and to promote appropriate and effective policy measures. A convenience sample of two hundred and eight children, who fulfilled the definition of street child used in the study, were interviewed using a questionnaire and focus group discussions. A number of children's homes, a probation centre and a remand home were visited and personnel from non-governmental organisations working with street children were interviewed. The study found that the majority of children were male (89%), and the age distribution ranged from six to seventeen years. The mean time period spent on the street was 18,4 months. The most common reason for leaving home was that the family was unable to support the child. Most of the children slept in a nearby squatter settlement or at the city railway station. The most popular income generating activity was guarding motor vehicles. Five of the children were attending alternative education programmes and one third had never attended school. The most common medical conditions were acute respiratory infections, diarrhoeal disease and skin rashes. Some of the children had suffered physical (12) and /or sexual (10) abuse while on the street. Substance abuse, notably glue sniffing, was widespread with 78% of the children admitting to this activity. A general attitude of hopelessness prevailed among the children and few could envisage brighter prospects for the future. Short term measures to improve the children's lives on the street must be taken, but the long-term solution requires a broad attack on poverty in order to eradicate the root problems that force children onto the streets. Recommendation were aimed at the major role players in the lives of street children - the Government, the Department of Social Welfare, the Zimbabwe Republic Police and Non-Governmental Organisations

Differences in psychosocial distress among rural and metropolitan health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective The Australian COVID-19 Frontline Healthcare Workers study examined the prevalence and severity of mental health symptoms during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This substudy examined the differences in psychological well-being between rural and metropolitan health care workers (HCWs). Design A nationwide survey conducted between August and October 2020. Setting and Participants Australian HCWs were recruited through multiple strategies. Main outcome measures Demographics, mental health outcomes (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] and burnout). Results Complete responses were included from 7846 participants, with 1473 (18.8%) in regional or remote (‘rural’) areas and 81.2% in metropolitan areas. Rural participants were older, more likely to work in allied health, nursing or in health administration, and had worked longer in their profession than metropolitan participants. Levels of resilience were similar (p = 0.132), but there was significantly higher prevalence of pre-COVID-19 pandemic mental illness in the rural workforce (p < 0.001). There were high levels of current mental health issues: moderate–severe PTSD (rural 38.0%; metropolitan 41.0% p = 0.031); high depersonalisation (rural 18.1%; metropolitan 20.7% p = 0.047); and high emotional exhaustion (rural 46.5%; metropolitan 43.3% p = 0.002). Among rural participants, mental health symptoms were associated with younger age, worry about being blamed if they contracted COVID-19, fear of transmitting COVID-19 to their family, experiencing worsening relationships and working in primary care or allied health. Conclusion Despite having low COVID-19 case numbers in rural Australian health services compared with metropolitan counterparts over the course of 2020, there were widespread mental health impacts on the workforce. Rural health services need specific and flexible training, education, work policies and practices that support psychological well-being now in preparedness for ongoing or future crises

Do cognitive aids reduce error rates in resuscitation team performance? : trial of emergency medicine protocols in simulation training (TEMPIST) in Australia

Background: Resuscitation of patients with time-critical and life-threatening illness represents a cognitive challenge for emergency room (ER) clinicians. We designed a cognitive aid, the Emergency Protocols Handbook, to simplify clinical management and team processes. Resuscitation guidelines were reformatted into simple, single step-bystep pathways. This Australian randomised controlled trial tested the effectiveness of this cognitive aid in a simulated ER environment by observing team error rates when current resuscitation guidelines were followed, with and without the handbook. Methods: Resuscitation teams were randomised to manage two scenarios with the handbook and two without in a high-fidelity simulation centre. Each scenario was video-recorded. The primary outcome measure was error rates (the number of errors made out of 15 key tasks per scenario). Key tasks varied by scenario. Each team completed four scenarios and was measured on 60 key tasks. Participants were surveyed regarding their perception of the usefulness of the handbook. Results: Twenty-one groups performed 84 ER crisis simulations. The unadjusted error rate in the handbook group was 18.8% (121/645) versus 38.9% (239/615) in the non-handbook group. There was a statistically significant reduction of 54.0% (95% CI 49.9–57.9) in the estimated percentage error rate when the handbook was available across all scenarios 17.9% (95% CI 14.4–22.0%) versus 38.9% (95% CI 34.2–43.9%). Almost all (97%) participants said they would want to use this cognitive aid during a real medical crisis situation. Conclusion: This trial showed that by following the step-by-step, linear pathways in the handbook, clinicians more than halved their teams’ rate of error, across four simulated medical crises. The handbook improves team performance and enables healthcare teams to reduce clinical error rates and thus reduce harm for patients