Learning to swim: an exploration of negative prior aquatic experiences among children

Learning to swim via a structured program is an important skill to develop aquatic competencies and prevent drowning. Fear of water can produce phobic behaviors counterproductive to the learning process.No research examines the influence of negative aquatic experiences on learning to swim. This study explored the influence of children’s negative prior aquatic experiences (NPAE) on learn-to-swim achievement via swim school data. Children’s enrolment records (5–12years) in the Australian Capital Territory were analyzed via demographics, level achieved and NPAE. NPAE was recorded as yes/no, with free text thematically coded to 16 categories. Of 14,012 records analyzed (51% female; 64% aged 6–8years), 535 (4%) reported a NPAE at enrolment. Males, children with a medical condition andattending public schools were significantlymore likely (p=0.001) to report a NPAE. Children reporting a NPAE achieved a lower average skill level at each year of age. The largest proportion (19%) of NPAE reported related to swimming lessons. NPAE have a detrimental influence on aquatic skill achievement. We recommend increased adult supervision to reduce likelihood of an NPAE occurring, while alsoencouraging swim instructorsto consider NPAE when teaching swimming and develop procedures to ensure a NPAE does not occur during instruction

How and why the presence of social category diversity dictates procedures during mediation.

Through a multiple case study of the perceptions' of four mediators, this dissertation addresses how and why social category diversity dictates mediation procedures. The researcher delves into the world of governmental, non-governmental and military environments to provide viewpoints that capture a diverse audience. This literature review covers areas such as: group dynamics, self and social identification, diversity, conflict, alternate dispute resolution, discrimination, mediation, affirmative action and equal employment opportunity (EEO).The researcher discovered that three out of four mediators felt that social category diversity did not affect the mediation process. She found that gender diversity had the greatest impact on the mediation process. The study also adds richness to the current theory by bringing to life and giving a face to the mediators behind the scenes.Despite increasing efforts to address diversity, it remains a topic of discussion in most workgroups. Diversity has been considered a double-edged sword creating conflict in some cases, but mediating it in others. It is what Oprah Winfrey defines as "hard to wrap your brain around." Diversity can be surface level or non-surface level, but either can create the greatest conflict or mediate the most volatile environment

Persuasive Technology: Designing Mobile Health Triggers to Impact Health Behavior

Persuasive technology is an interactive computer technology designed to alter people’s attitudes or behaviors. Behavior change in mHealth solutions is often promoted through the use of specific messages called triggers. Fogg, in his work, identified three types of triggers: sparks, facilitators and signals. Each trigger is believed to have a different intent. Sparks provide motivation, facilitators support achievement of a goal, and signals provide simple reminders. While these triggers are theoretically distinct, specifications of the message development are absent in the literature. Here, we describe the challenges in implementing the different types of triggers into comparable but distinct messages. We describe the iterative development used to operationalize trigger messages into reliably distinct categories

Influential Article Review – Transgenerational Distinctions at Work

This paper examines the contrast in generational workforce. We present insights from a highly influential paper. Here are the highlights from this paper: Many sources from the popular press as well as the academic literature have postulated that there exist meaningful generational differences between individuals in today’s workforce. Better understanding of these generational differences of colleagues can lead to better recruitment, retention, succession management, communication, employee engagement and conflict resolution (Dencker, Joshi & Martocchio, 2008). The purpose of this conceptual paper is to review the literature on generational differences by discussing the importance of generational differences, theoretical implications, the cohorts in the current workforce, and to offer hypotheses that will retest the predicted stereotypes of the different generational cohorts. For our overseas readers, we then present the insights from this paper in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and German

Child injury prevention: it is time to address the determinants of health

Injuries, although almost entirely preventable, accounted for more than 4.4 million deaths and resulted in over 520 million cases of nonfatal injury-related harm globally in 2017 [1]. Road traffic injuries, falls and drowning are leading injury mechanisms [2–4]. However, some population groups are more vulnerable to being injured than others. This Special Issue sought to unpack this concept by exploring the determinants of health and their impact on child injuries

Improving pool fencing legislation in Queensland, Australia: attitudes and impact on child drowning fatalities

Four-sided, non-climbable pool fencing is an effective strategy for preventing children from drowning in home swimming pools. In 2009, the Queensland Government introduced legislation to improve the effectiveness of pool fencing. This study explores community attitudes towards the effectiveness of these legislative changes and examines child (<5 years) drowning deaths in pools. Data from the 2011 Queensland Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) Social Survey include results from questions related to pool ownership and pool fencing legislation. Fatal child drowning cases between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2015 were sourced from coronial data. Of the 1263 respondents, 26/100 households had a pool. A total of 58% believed tightening legislation would be effective in reducing child drowning deaths. Pool owners were more likely to doubt the effectiveness of legislation (p < 0.001) when compared to non-pool owners. Perceptions of effectiveness did not differ by presence of children under the age of five. There were 46 children who drowned in Queensland home pools (7.8/100,000 pools with children residing in the residence/annum) between 2005 and 2015. While pool owners were less likely to think that tightening the legislation would be effective, the number of children drowning in home swimming pools declined over the study period. Drowning prevention agencies have more work to do to ensure that the most vulnerable (young children in houses with swimming pools) are protected

Exploring the impact of remoteness and socio-economic status on child and adolescent injury-related mortality in Australia

Injuries are a leading cause of harm for children. This study explores the impact of determinants of health on children (0–19 years) injury-related mortality (namely remoteness and socio-economic disadvantage, calculated using the index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD)). Cause of death data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics were sourced for children in Australia between 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2017. Fifteen injury categories (ICD-10-AM external cause codes) were used. Burden and trends by injury mechanism were explored. A total of 5153 children died; with road traffic incidents (3.39 per 100,000 population), intentional self-harm (2.46) and drowning (0.72) being the leading mechanisms. Female fatality rates in very remote areas (8.73) were nine times higher than in major cities (Relative Risk [RR] = 8.73; 95% Confidence Interval [95% CI]: 4.23–18.00). Fatality rates increased with remoteness; very remote areas recording an injury-related fatality rated six times (RR = 5.84; 95 %CI: 3.76–9.12) that of major city residents. Accidental poisoning and intentional self-harm fatalities were more likely in high IRSAD areas, while road traffic fatalities were more likely in low and mid socio-economic areas (X2 = 69.1; p < 0.001). People residing in regional and remote areas and from low socio-economic backgrounds already face significant health and lifestyle challenges associated with disadvantage. It is time to invest in injury prevention interventions for these populations, as well as upstream policy strategies to minimize any further preventable loss of life

Exploring the burden of fatal drowning and data characteristics in three high income countries: Australia, Canada and New Zealand

Background: Drowning is a leading and preventable cause of death that has suffered an attention deficit. Improving drowning data in countries would assist the understanding of the full extent and circumstances of drowning, to target interventions and evaluate their effectiveness. The World Health Organization identifies data collection as a key strategy underpinning effective interventions. This study compares unintentional fatal drowning data collection, management and comparison using the databases of Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Methods: Cases of fatal unintentional drowning between 1-January-2005 and 31-December-2014 were extracted. Cases were combined into a single dataset and univariate and chi square analysis (p < 0.01) were undertaken. Location and activity variables were mapped and combined. Variables consistently collected across the three countries were compared to the ILCOR Drowning Data Guideline. The authors also recommend variables for a minimum core dataset. Results: Of 55 total variables, 19 were consistent and 13 could be compared across the three databases. When mapped against the ILCOR Drowning Data Guideline, six variables were consistently collected by all countries, with five compared within this study. The authors recommend a minimum core dataset of 11 variables including age, sex, location, activity, date of incident, and alcohol and drug involvement). There were 8176 drowning deaths (Australia 34.1%, Canada 55.9%, New Zealand 9.9%). All countries achieved reductions in crude drowning rates (Australia - 10.2%, Canada - 20.4%, New Zealand - 24.7%). Location and activity prior to drowning differed significantly across the three countries. Beaches (X2 = 1151.0;p < 0.001) and ocean/harbour locations (X2 = 300.5;p < 0.001) were common in Australia and New Zealand, while lakes/ponds (X2 = 826.5;p < 0.001) and bathtubs (X2 = 27.7;p < 0.001) were common drowning locations in Canada. Boating prior to drowning was common in Canada (X2 = 66.3;p < 0.001). Conclusions: The comparison of data across the three countries was complex. Work was required to merge categories within the 20% of variables collected that were comparable, thus reducing the fidelity of data available. Data sources, collection and coding varied by country, with the widest diversity seen in location and activity variables. This study highlights the need for universally agreed and consistently applied categories and definitions to allow for global comparisons and proposes a core minimum dataset

Measuring Australian Children’s Water Safety Knowledge: The National Water Safety Quiz

Water safety knowledge levels of Australian children are poorly understood. Royal Life Saving developed an online National Water Safety Quiz (NWSQ) as an interactive means of determining water safety knowledge amongst Australian primary school children (ages 5 to 12 years). Over a period of 8 months, a total of 4,215 children participated in the NWSQ. The NWSQ identified areas of water safety where knowledge was poor including the topics of CPR, swimming, and river safety. Children achieved a better result as they aged. Females out-performed males overall and specifically from ages 10-12 years. Children from independent schools performed better. This research is the first of its kind to measure water safety knowledge at a population level for primary school children, using an online web-based tool. Understanding children’s water safety knowledge is important as it enables the tailoring, delivery and evaluation of programs which help to reduce the burden of drowning

A Pilot Acceptability Evaluation of Mommind: A Digital Health Intervention for Peripartum Depression Prevention and Management Focused on Health Disparities

Health disparities cause significant strain on the wellbeing of individuals and society. In this study, we focus on the health disparities present in the condition of Peripartum Depression (PPD), a significant public health issue. While PPD can be managed through therapy and medication, many women do not receive adequate PPD treatment due to issues of social stigma and limited access to healthcare resources. Digital health technologies can offer practical tools for PPD management. However, current solutions do not integrate behavior theory and are rarely responsive to the transient information needs stemming from women\u27s unique sociodemographic, clinical and psychosocial profiles. We describe a pilot acceptability evaluation of MomMind, a health-disparities focused digital health intervention for the prevention and management of PPD. A crucial MomMind advantage is its basis on behavior change theory and patient engagement as enabled by the Digilego digital health framework. Following an internal usability evaluation, MomMind was evaluated by patients through cross-sectional acceptability surveys, pre-and-post PPD health literacy surveys, and interviews. Survey respondents included n = 30 peripartum women, of whom n = 16 (53.3%) were Hispanic and n = 17 (56.7%) of low-income. Survey results show that 96.6% of participants (n = 29) approved and welcomed MomMind, and 90% (n = 27) found MomMind to be an appealing intervention. Additionally, significant improvements (p\u3c = 0.05) were observed in participants\u27 PPD health literacy, specifically their ability to recognize PPD symptoms and knowledge of how to seek PPD information. Interview main themes include MomMind\u27s straightforward design and influence of others (family members, providers) on use of technology. Results suggest that enhancement of a digital health framework with health literacy theory can support production of digital health solutions acceptable to vulnerable populations. This study incorporates existing theories from different disciplines into a unified approach for mitigating health disparities, and produced a novel solution for promotion of health in a vulnerable population