Arriving and departing, but never quite leaving: Kimberley research narratives over times, persons and places

The vast Kimberley has been the focus of extensive multi-disciplinary, multi-sited research projects, such as those inspired through ecological, arts, linguistic, heritage, health, historical, and native title inquiry. Indigenous and non-Indigenous persons who live in the Kimberley, visit from time to time, or undertake the research never to return, have done a great deal of this work. Via reflexive attention to arriving, departing but never quite leaving the Kimberley, and in-depth consideration of the cultural, ethical, theoretical and practical need for place-based, human-inspired interactions over time and space, this paper explores what it means to be both ‘in’ and ‘out’ of place, and the sometimes invisible value of return

[It\u27s] more than just medicine : The value and sustainability of mandatory, non-clinical, short-term rural placements in a Western Australian medical school

Introduction: In 2005, the University of Notre Dame School of Medicine (Western Australia) established a mandatory, non-clinical rural and remote (hereafter termed rural) health placement program delivered in 2 weeks over 2 years, largely resourced by voluntary human capital. Our study investigated whether the program: (1) encouraged medical graduates to seek rural employment; (2) enhanced their ability to meet rural people’s health needs; and (3) was sustainable. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study collected data using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with graduates and placement hosts. Data were transcribed, coded and analysed using Framework Analysis to identify key themes. Results: Twenty-eight medical graduates and 15 community hosts participated. The program validated pre-existing interest in, or positively influenced graduates’ attitudes towards, rural practice, and enabled empathy and responsiveness when caring for rural patients in urban, as well as rural, health services. Placement hosts unanimously supported the program and contributed social capital, to ensure its sustainability. Discussion: The program influenced a broad spectrum of students over 15 years and reflects a socially-accountable approach to medical education. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the sustainability and value of mandatory short-term community-based placements in improving medical graduates’ responsiveness to the health needs of rural Australians

Réflexions sur l'extraction de motifs rares

National audienceLes études en fouille de données se sont surtout intéressées jusqu'à présent à l'extraction de motifs fréquents et à la génération de règles d'association à partir des motifs fréquents. L'algorithme le plus célèbre ayant permis d'atteindre ces objectifs est Apriori, qui a été suivi par toute une famille d'algorithmes mis au point par la suite et possédant tous la caractéristique d'extraire l'ensemble des motifs fréquents ou un sous-ensemble de ces motifs (motifs fermés fréquents, motifs fréquents maximaux, générateurs minimaux). Dans cet article, nous posons le problème de la recherche des motifs rares ou non fréquents, qui se trouvent dans le complémentaire de l'ensemble des motifs fréquents. Ce type de motif n'a jamais vraiment fait l'objet d'une étude systématique, malgré l'intérêt et la demande existant dans certains domaines d'application. Ainsi, en biologie ou en médecine, il peut se révéler très important pour un praticien de repérer des symptômes non habituels ou des effets indésirables exceptionnels se déclarant chez un patient pour une pathologie ou un traitement donnés

Vers l'extraction de motifs rares

National audienceUn certain nombre de travaux en fouille de données se sont intéressés à l'extraction de motifs et à la génération de règles d'association à partir de ces motifs. Cependant, ces travaux se sont jusqu'à présent, centrés sur la notion de motifs fréquents. Le premier algorithme à avoir permis l'extraction de tous les motifs fréquents est Apriori mais d'autres ont été mis au point par la suite, certains n'extrayant que des sous-ensembles de ces motifs (motifs fermés fréquents, motifs fréquents maximaux, générateurs minimaux). Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons aux motifs rares qui peuvent également véhiculer des informations importantes. Les motifs rares correspondent au complémentaire des motifs fréquents. A notre connaissance, ces motifs n'ont pas encore été étudiés, malgré l'intérêt que certains domaines pourraient tirer de ce genre de modèle. C'est en particulier le cas de la médecine, où par exemple, il est important pour un praticien de repérer les symptômes non usuels ou les effets indésirables exceptionnels qui peuvent se déclarer chez un patient pour une pathologie ou un traitement donné

Kimberley Transitions, Collaborating to Care for Our Common Home: Beginnings...

This scoping paper is a preliminary introduction to the aspirations, interrelated literature and research involved in development of the Kimberley Transitions Project. Our focus is on Western Australia’s Kimberley region, a landscape of immense natural and cultural significance. Along with the rest of Australia, and indeed the world in which we all live, the Kimberley is on the verge of major climate, political, social and economic change. The direction of changes being proposed by governments and industry are regularly criticised, both globally and locally, by individuals and organisations concerned about damage to its rich biodiversity and cultural integrity. With the aim of collaboratively generating Kimberley-based responses grounded in local knowledges, a mix of disciplines and emerging international theories, scholars and relevant groups have come together to form a Kimberley-wide practical and shared research agenda. One of the key influences behind the project is an international transitions movement which aims to generate collaborative change incorporating a process of transition. Locally identified issues using local knowledges and capacity are central to its evolution. A conceptual and theoretical framing known as ‘transitions discourse’ is also emerging internationally and nationally, one that foregrounds diverse epistemologies and challenges mainstream economics and associated ideologies, such as neoliberalism. Via the Kimberley Transitions project, Kimberley-based researchers and collaborators aim to support and further document social, cultural and economic change inspired by the transitions movement and informed by transition discourses. It has the Kimberley landscape and people at its heart; a transformative approach featuring cultural healing, intellectual rigour and an ethos aimed at enduring, practical and interconnected sustainable outcomes.https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/nulungu_research/1001/thumbnail.jp

Environmental change: prospects for conservation and agriculture in a southwest Australia biodiversity hotspot

Accelerating environmental change is perhaps the greatest challenge for natural resource management; successful strategies need to be effective for decades to come. Our objective is to identify opportunities that new environmental conditions may provide for conservation, restoration, and resource use in a globally recognized biodiversity hotspot in southwestern Australia. We describe a variety of changes to key taxonomic groups and system-scale characteristics as a consequence of environmental change (climate and land use), and outline strategies for conserving and restoring important ecological and agricultural characteristics. Opportunities for conservation and economic adaptation are substantial because of gradients in rainfall, temperature, and land use, extensive areas of remnant native vegetation, the ability to reduce and ameliorate areas affected by secondary salinization, and the existence of large national parks and an extensive network of nature reserves. Opportunities presented by the predicted environmental changes encompass agricultural as well as natural ecosystems. These may include expansion of aquaculture, transformation of agricultural systems to adapt to drier autumns and winters, and potential increases in spring and summer rain, carbon-offset plantings, and improving the network of conservation reserves. A central management dilemma is whether restoration/preservation efforts should have a commercial or biodiversity focus, and how they could be integrated. Although the grand challenge is conserving, protecting, restoring, and managing for a future environment, one that balances economic, social, and environmental values, the ultimate goal is to establish a regional culture that values the unique regional environment and balances the utilization of natural resources against protecting remaining natural ecosystems

Aboriginal Australia and natural justice. by Sandy Toussaint

`Natural Justice' implies, rather than assures, equality for all before the law. Such fundamental inequality found, and continues to find, intense and tragic expression in high levels of incarceration and deaths in custody

To be a person: Death in Custody. by Sandy Toussaint

Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Provided by MICAH, Canberra

‘Even if we get one back here, it’s worth it…’: Evaluation of an Australian remote area health placement program

Introduction: In 2006 the Kimberley Remote Area Health Placement Program (hereinafter the ‘Program’) was established at the University of Notre Dame’s School of Medicine (Fremantle campus, Western Australia). The Program was developed as one of the strategies to achieve the School of Medicine’s mission to graduate knowledgeable, skilful, dutiful and ethical doctors who will want to work in Australian areas of unmet need. The Program aims to immerse medical students in non-clinical settings to provide them with opportunities to learn life skills required for remote area living, and to introduce them to the myriad of socio-cultural, geographic, climatic and economic factors that impact on the health and wellbeing of remote area residents. To meet these objectives, the School organizes for students to live with, and do useful non-clinical work for, a host community or organization for up to one week. In 2008 the Program was evaluated to explore and assess its immediate and potential future benefits and limitations as perceived by Kimberley residents. This paper reports on the evaluation’s findings via Kimberley-based narratives and raises some issues that are essential to training and retaining a ‘bloody good doctor…’ in a remote Australian setting. Methods: Using a mix of qualitative, ethnographic methods, the Program was evaluated by an independent researcher during four weeks of field research in late 2008. The methods included a survey, structured and unstructured interviewing and participant observation to elicit data. Thirty-three formal interviews of at least one hour’s duration were conducted. Data were also collected via 15 informal discussions. Both formal and conservational interactions occurred in a range of town-based and more remote settings. Results: The majority of persons consulted generally highlighted the Program’s benefits. The reasons for this positive evaluation varied, but a common thread was that exposure to the Kimberley introduced the students to local life, a quality that had the potential to result in a medical student returning as a qualified doctor. The Program was seen as beneficial because it provided a structured, constructive means for prospective doctors to appreciate the assets rather than the deficits of remote area living. Another positive implication was that the Program equipped future doctors (regardless of their eventual work location) to treat a person from the ‘bush’. It also encouraged students to think and act cross-culturally. An important immediate benefit was that the Program offered human resource support to the host organization at a busy time of the year. In only three of the 33 formal interviews was a negative or ambivalent attitude toward the Program expressed. However, a common concern was the brevity of time students served with their host organization. Conclusions: The data collected revealed that Kimberley people believed that the Program held strong potential for the successful recruitment of doctors prepared to make a long-term commitment to the region. Never far from their minds, conversations and activities was the idea that the effort they put into accommodating, supporting and guiding the students was worth it because ‘If only one good doctor comes from the Program, then that’s a good thing. A good doctor would have a great impact – the implications are immeasurable…’