Australian Association Research Articles

Improving the Pharmacists' Response to Public Health Emergencies-Documentary Research on Online Resources Provided by National Pharmacists' Associations.

Objectives: Given the expanding role of pharmacists during COVID-19 pandemic, we aimed to investigate the approach of professional associations to supporting their practice and to find ways to improve their response to public health emergencies. Methods: We conducted documentary research on websites of seven national pharmacists’ associations, submitted the findings to a comparative thematic analysis, and made proposals of specific good practices. Results: Many great resources were provided by pharmacists’ associations in Australia, France, Spain, and the US. The similarities include scientific information on COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines, legal issues, and wellbeing management. The main differences were in developing medication management programs, supporting hospital pharmacists, helping families, or advocating for an equitable vaccination. In Finland, Hungary and Romania, the focus was on updating emerging information. Considering the need for better managing public health emergencies at organizational level, we suggested good practices regarding training and communication. Conclusion: Professional associations should develop preparedness and response plans for public health emergencies. Practical training and effective communication could improve the resilience of pharmacists and patients during pandemics, which could save lives.

Abstracts from the Proceedings of the 34th Biennial Conference of the Australian Association of Animal Sciences

Abstracts from the Proceedings of the 34th Biennial Conference of the Australian Association of Animal Sciences

Abstracts from the Proceedings of the 34th Biennial Conference of the Australian Association of Animal Sciences

Abstracts from the Proceedings of the 34th Biennial Conference of the Australian Association of Animal Sciences

Complementary medicine in psychology practice: an analysis of Australian psychology guidelines and a comparison with other psychology associations from English speaking countries

BackgroundPsychologists, and their clients, are engaging with complementary medicine (CM). Increasing evidence for CM approaches, such as improved nutrition and St John’s wort, has led to their inclusion in the Royal Australian New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for mood disorders. This research aims to determine in what ways, and to what extent, Australian psychology regulatory bodies and associations consider CM relevant to psychology practice. Specifically, how these regulatory bodies and professional association’s ethical and practice guidelines engage with CM.MethodsDocuments from Australian regulatory bodies and professional associations, that relate to the governance or guidance of psychologists’ clinical practice, were systematically searched for key terms relating to CM.ResultsThere were no direct references to CM in the 58 ethical and practice guidelines reviewed. There was also no reference to the relevance of CM to ethnocultural groups, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditional healing practices.ConclusionWhile other mental health care disciplines are working toward integrating CM, the discipline of psychology in Australia is not currently engaged in such developments. Given the exponential rise of CM use amongst those with mental health problems, psychology associations should consider developing resources and guidelines to assist psychologists in navigating CM in relation to clinical practice to help minimise risks, such as patient safety associated with concurrent CM use.

Concurrent 15. Presentation for: Guidance document: Incident Management Teams – Knowledge requirements for responding to marine oil spills

Presented on Wednesday 18 May: Session 15 The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Authority undertakes the assessment of environmental plans and oil pollution emergency plans for petroleum activities in Australian Commonwealth waters. In 2019, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association’s Oil Spill Preparedness and Response Working Group (OSPRWG) developed a work program to address identified Incident Management Team (IMT) training issues, with an aim to develop industry good practice guidance in relation to IMT skills, competencies and oil spill training. The OSPRWG has now produced a guidance document on IMT oil spill training, that was developed in collaboration with the Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre and peer reviewed by Oil Spill Response Limited. The guideline should facilitate a greater and more coordinated mutual aid IMT oil spill capability within the Australian offshore petroleum industry. To access the presentation click the link on the right. To read the full paper click here

The song remains the same: Media regulation a decade after the Finkelstein inquiry

This commentary draws on a keynote panel held (virtually) at the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia’s (JEERA) annual conference, hosted by the University of Canberra between 30 November and 3 December 2021. The panel comprised four people who had been involved in the last major attempt to reform media regulation in Australia, in 2011–12: Ray Finkelstein, who was appointed by the federal Labor government to inquire into the media and media regulation; Matthew Ricketson, then professor of journalism at the University of Canberra, who was appointed to assist Finkelstein; political scientist Rodney Tiffen who acted as a consultant to the inquiry, and Emma Dawson, who was the media policy adviser in the office of the Communications minister, Stephen Conroy. The government, which had already set up the Convergence Review, took the recommendations of both inquiries and introduced a package of bills to parliament in early 2013 that was strongly opposed by both the Liberal Party and the media industry. Most of the bills were withdrawn. The commentary summarizes the discussion and asks whether media regulation has improved in the intervening decade and if not, why not.

Marketing of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages on Instagram and Compliance With Regulations Limiting Advertising to Children and Adolescents

ObjectivesTo analyze the content of Sugar Sweetened Beverage (SSB) brands’ Instagram posts regarding marketing and engagement techniques used in 2020 and compliance with regulations governing advertising to children and adolescents. MethodsStudy design was a content analysis of posts from 15 SSB brand accounts on Instagram, categorized as carbonated soft drinks, coffee/tea, and sports/energy drinks. User engagement was evaluated by comparing median likes, comments, video views per post, and other features such as games and sweepstakes. Compliance with regulations for advertising to children and adolescents was assessed using the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) Advertising Code. The AANA code was transformed into 17 categorical variables and compiled into a compliance score of 0–17. Continuous variables reflecting engagement with users as well as compliance were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis Tests. Chi Square and Fisher’s Exact Tests were used to calculate differences in use of engagement across SSB categories. ResultsA total of 794 posts were analyzed, representing about 25% of all posts made by the 15 SSB brands’ Instagram accounts in 2020. Sports and energy posts were less likely to feature the beverage (27.5%, P < 0.001) and more likely to be videos (58.9%, P < 0.01). Sports and energy posts engaged more by tagging other accounts (83.4%, P < 0.001) and using hashtags (80.8%, P < 0.001). Coffee and tea were most compliant with AANA regulations (mean score 0.85, P < 0.05) while sports and energy posts were least compliant (mean score 1.11, P < 0.05). ConclusionsThis content analysis found posts made by sports/energy drink brands used more engagement features than other SSB categories. Across all three SSB categories, Instagram posts were compliant with the AANA regulatory code regarding advertising and marketing to children. Further research looking at how social media influences consumption is warranted. Funding SourcesNone.

Should social work become a registered profession? An examination of the views of 15 Australian social workers

AbstractIn contrast to most Western jurisdictions, social work in Australia is not currently a registered profession. However, in late 2021, the South Australian Parliament passed a Bill to register social workers in that state. This follows a long‐standing but previously unsuccessful campaign by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) to attain social work registration at a national level. Yet, to date, there has been no empirical research on the views of social workers—whether members or the AASW or not—concerning the merits of registration. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study of the views of 15 social workers regarding registration. The findings suggest that the profession holds diverse views concerning the potential benefits or harms emanating from registration. Some conclusions are drawn regarding priorities for future research including particularly the impact of registration on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social workers and service users.

Guidance document: Incident Management Teams – Knowledge requirements for responding to marine oil spills

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Authority undertakes the assessment of environmental plans and oil pollution emergency plans for petroleum activities in Australian Commonwealth waters. In 2019, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association’s Oil Spill Preparedness and Response Working Group (OSPRWG) developed a work program to address identified Incident Management Team (IMT) training issues, with an aim to develop industry good practice guidance in relation to IMT skills, competencies and oil spill training. The OSPRWG has now produced a guidance document on IMT oil spill training, that was developed in collaboration with the Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre and peer reviewed by Oil Spill Response Limited. The guideline should facilitate a greater and more coordinated mutual aid IMT oil spill capability within the Australian offshore petroleum industry.

Antibody Receptor Signaling from Spinal Cord Astrocytes Promotes Neuropathic Pain

Injury to somatosensory nerves can lead to mechanical allodynia, in which normally innocuous touch is perceived as painful. Inflammatory signaling arising from spinal cord glial cells are thought to promote allodynia, but it is unclear what mechanisms control glial activation after injury. Here we demonstrate that Fc gamma receptor IIa (FcγRIIa), an immune receptor for immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies, is expressed by astrocytes in the spinal cord and contributes to the development of mechanical allodynia after neuropathic injury. Neuropathic pain in male and female rats was induced by chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve. Paw withdrawal to innocuous touch was measured by von Frey filaments and paintbrush assay. Intrathecal injections of IgG immune complex (IgG-IC) were used to activate spinal FcγRs. Viral-mediated CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing was used to disrupt Fcgr2a expression in Gfap+ spinal astrocytes in vivo. Gene and protein expression were measured by in situ hybridization, qRT-PCR, and immunohistochemistry. For in vitro experiments, astrocytes were purified by immunopanning and treated with IgG-IC. Activating FcγRs by spinal administration of IgG-IC produces mechanical allodynia. Fcgr2a RNA expression increases specifically in ipsilateral spinal dorsal horn after CCI, and FcγRIIa protein co-localizes primarily with GFAP+ astrocytes. Genetic disruption of Fcgr2a in Gfap+ spinal astrocytes attenuates mechanical allodynia after CCI. Astrocytes respond to IgG-IC by increasing production of pro-inflammatory mediators, including TNF and IL-1β, which are known to influence nociceptor activity. These data suggest FcγRIIa on spinal astrocytes may be activated following peripheral nerve injury and directly contribute to injury-induced tactile pain. These findings expand our understanding of how neuroimmune signaling from glia contribute to the development of mechanical allodynia and suggest that reducing autoantibody IgG signaling at glial FcγRs could be a novel therapeutic target to alleviate suffering from neuropathic pain. Grant support from U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command grants W81XWH-19-1-0160 and W81XWH-16-1-0717 (PMG) Rita Allen Foundation Award in Pain (PMG) University of Texas System Rising STARs Award (PMG) University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center start-up funds (PMG) American Australian Association Sir Keith Murdoch Fellowship (MJL).

Diet in the management of non-dialysis dependent chronic kidney disease: perceptions and practices of health professionals

BackgroundTherapeutic strategies, including dietary intervention, to target non-dialysis dependent Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) progression have been at the forefront of recent renal research. Nephrologists and other renal health professionals are key stakeholders in the dietary management of patients with non-dialysis dependent CKD and referrals to dietetic services. The aims of this study were to explore (i) health professional perceptions regarding the role of diet in managing non-dialysis dependent CKD, and (ii) health professional practices regarding the provision of dietary advice and referrals to dietetic services.MethodsA 31-item online survey was emailed to members of professional renal networks and associations in Australia and New Zealand. Data was analysed descriptively. Categorical variables were assessed to determine associations between referral frequency, demographic variables, health professional role (non-dietetic versus dietetic) and perceptions of the role of diet.ResultsOverall, 189 health professionals completed the survey. Nephrologists (42%), renal nurses (29%) and renal dietitians (24%) were the most common respondents. Non-dietetic health professionals rated the importance of diet in the management of non-dialysis dependent CKD significantly lower than renal dietitians (73% versus 98% ranked as very-extremely important, p = 0.002). Fifty percent of non-dietetic health professionals referred patients to renal dietetic services never or 0–25% of the time. Reasons for not referring included perceptions there is a lack of evidence that diet reduces CKD progression, perceptions that patients will not adhere to dietary recommendations, and a desire to reduce visit burden for patients. Barriers to accessing dietetic services were perceived to be significant and include lengthy wait times and inadequate dietetic staffing.ConclusionInconsistencies exist between non-dietetic health professionals and dietitians regarding the importance of diet in non-dialysis dependent CKD. Referral practices appear to be influenced by beliefs about the evidence base and perceptions regarding the ability of dietitians to meet referral demand. Raising awareness for non-dietetic health professionals working in nephrology regarding the evidence on diet and CKD progression is needed. An improved understanding of this evidence base may improve knowledge and referral patterns. Further, an increase in renal dietetic staffing is recommended to enhance patient access to services.

Assessment of the relationship between community services and taxpayers’ willingness to pay residential property tax in Lagos metropolis

Property tax which is considered a suitable local source of revenue is facing serious threats as a result of the present state of Nigeria community services. This study therefore assessed the condition of community services in Lagos metropolis with the view to determining taxpayers’ willingness to pay (WTP) residential property tax. Primary data was used for the study. The data were sourced through the use of questionnaire administered to the users of the residential properties that have been assessed for rating purposes in the study area. 4026, questionnaires were administered to Residential property owners. While 2181(54.17%), were returned and analysed. The community service condition index (CSI), an index number that indicates the current condition of the services measured in relation to its ideal ‘Perfect’ condition, adopted from Australian Association of Higher Education facilities officers (2010) was used to rate the community service condition in the study area. The result revealed that there is direct relationship between improvement in the condition of community services and taxpayers’ willingness to pay residential property tax. The study concludes that Lagos state government has the potential to generate the largest share of its revenue from property tax, if judiciously spend the revenue for the provision and upgrading of the existing community services in the study area. The study therefore recommends that Lagos state government should declare state of emergency in the provision of community services, this will improve rental value of residential properties in the area, thus increases taxpayers’ willingness to pay residential property tax.

Exploring health professionals’ perceptions of how their own diet influences their self-efficacy in providing nutrition care

Objective Supporting health professionals’ dietary behaviours is important to their own health and may influence the quality of care they provide. Understanding health professionals’ perceptions on the experiences which have shaped their views on nutrition is important to inform interventions. Design A cross-sectional qualitative design utilised in depth interviews via telephone or videoconference. Health professionals with direct interaction with patients were recruited through the media channels of Australian national health professional associations. A semi-structured interview guide was used. Interview data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis. Twenty-two health professionals participated in the study including dietitians. Results Three themes emerged from the data: (1) Life experiences influence health professionals’ feelings of self-efficacy in providing nutrition care. (2) Learning through observation and role modelling occurred continually and shaped health professionals’ attitudes and beliefs on nutrition care. (3) Social interactions influenced self-efficacy through social persuasion and social pressure. The social environment played a role in both facilitating and/or hindering adoption of a dietary behaviour in their own lives. Conclusions Health professionals perceive their personal dietary experiences strongly influence their self-efficacy to provide nutrition care. Strategies which enable health professionals to improve their diets could lead to improvements in nutrition care. Creating socially supportive environments in the workplace warrant investigation to support health professionals to eat well and provide nutrition care to patients.

Hard to reach or don’t want to reach? Understanding the significance of trust and respectful relationships in “countering violent extremism”

Contemporary research shows that programs developed specifically to counter violent extremism (CVE) in Muslim communities can worsen the underlying issues linked to offending. This can be destructive to the young individuals those programs target and undermine social cohesion. An impediment to CVE programs is that Muslim youth are often reluctant to participate in them. Through four years of ethnographic research with Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah Association of Australia (ASWJ), a so-called ‘hard-to-reach’ Salafi Muslim organization, this paper helps build greater awareness of factors leading to poor responsivity in CVE programs. I propose alternative approaches to CVE that begin by focusing on trust and relationship-building to better understand how to support communities dealing with youth at-risk of offending.

ANZCA 2021 President’s welcoming address

ABSTRACT This article is based on the President’s Welcoming Address delivered on Wednesday 7 July 2021 at the 26th Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association, which was held virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ex‐Services Human Rights Association of Australia, the Vietnam War, and the Remaking of the Anzac Tradition

The Ex‐Services Human Rights Association of Australia (ESHRAA) emerged in 1966, supporting conscientious objectors to national service and opposing the Vietnam War. Unlike the cornucopia of similarly focussed groups, ESHRAA members publicly identified as ex‐service people, a privileged category of citizens in Australia with particular purchase on public debate. In this article, I locate ESHRAA within the long tradition of Australian opposition to conscription and national service, describe how the expulsion of its leading personality from the Returned and Services League in mid‐1967 contributed to perceptions of that organisation as increasingly outdated, and finally argue that it sought to refashion the hallowed Anzac tradition from the veneration of brave soldiers to equally valiant resisters. In so doing, I unearth an under‐examined protest organisation during the Vietnam War, challenge the notion of a monolithic ex‐services community, and complicate emerging scholarly understandings of how Anzac was re‐invented in the late twentieth century.

Assessing the quality of cardiac rehabilitation programs by measuring adherence to the Australian quality indicators

BackgroundEvery year, over 65,000 Australians experience an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and around one-third occur in people with prior coronary heart disease. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) aims to prevent a repeat ACS by supporting patients’ return to an active and fulfilling lifestyle. CR programs are efficacious, but audits of clinical practice show variability of program delivery, which may compromise patient outcomes. Core components, quality indicators and accreditation of programs have been introduced internationally to increase program standardisation. With Australian quality indicators (QIs) for cardiac rehabilitation recently introduced, we aimed to conduct a survey in one state of Australia to assess the extent to which programs adhere to the measurement of QIs comparing country, metropolitan, telephone and face to face programs.MethodsA cross- sectional survey design with face validity testing was used to formulate questions to evaluate cardiac rehabilitation program and personnel characteristics and QI adherence. Between October 2020- December 2021, 23 cardiac rehabilitation programs across country and metropolitan areas were invited to participate. Quality improvement was defined as adherence to the Australian Quality Indicators, and we developed an objective score to calculate program performance categorised by quartiles. Significance of CR completion and time to enrolment between program type (telephone versus face to face) and location (country versus metropolitan were compared using Pearson’s Chi-square and Mann–Whitney U tests.ResultsAmong the 23 CR programs, 15 were country and 8 metropolitan-based and 22 were face to face and 1 telephone-based. Median wait time from discharge was 27.0 days, (interquartile range 19.3–46.0) across all programs and country completions of enrolled were 76.9% versus metropolitan 56.5%, p < 0.001 and telephone versus face to face 92.9% versus 59.6% p < 0.001. Pre-program QI adherence was higher than post program for depression, medication adherence, health-related quality of life and comprehensive re-assessment. Seventy four percent of programs were ranked at a medium level of performance (mean score: 11.4/16, SD ± 0.79).ConclusionsA survey of 23 cardiac rehabilitation programs, showed variability in adherence to measurement of the Australian Cardiovascular and Rehabilitation Association and Australian Heart Foundation Cardiac Rehabilitation Quality Indicators.Trial registrationAustralia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR), ACTRN12621000222842, registered 03/03/2021.

Funding received from breastmilk substitute manufacturers and policy positions of national maternity care provider associations: an online cross-sectional review

ObjectivesMaternity care providers play an essential role in supporting women to breast feed. It is critical that their professional associations limit influence from breastmilk substitute (BMS) manufacturers. Aims of this...

Monitoring complaints about food marketing to children under the Australian industry Codes 2015–20: a qualitative analysis

ObjectiveTo analyse the case reports of complaints regarding food marketing to children over six years and compare Australian marketing Codes to best practice recommendations. MethodsCase reports on complaints about food marketing to children under the five industry Codes – the Responsible Children's Marketing Initiative, the Quick Service Restaurant Initiative and the Australian Association of National Advertisers Code of Ethics, Code of Advertising and Marketing to Children and Food and Beverages Code – were qualitatively analysed. Reports on the Ad Standards website in the food/beverage groceries and food/beverage venues categories from 2015‐2020 were investigated. The most common clauses from the Codes were identified and quotes from reports used to illustrate the determinations. Codes were compared with World Cancer Research Fund recommendations on policy to protect children. ResultsOnly 14 of 119 complaints resulted in a reported breach of industry Codes. The most common reason for dismissing complaints involved clauses requiring advertisements to be ‘primarily’ directed to children. The Codes did not align with best practice recommendations. ConclusionsComplaints by the public show concern for food advertising to children but the Australian industry Codes fall short of addressing those concerns. Implications for public healthGovernment regulation is required to protect children from unhealthy food marketing.

A Call to Develop Standards for Those Delivering ‘Research Practice’ Training

The nature of the research endeavour is changing rapidly and requires a wide set of skills beyond the research focus. The delivery of aspects of researcher training ‘beyond the bench’ is met by different sections of an institution, including the research office, the media office and the library. In Australia researcher training in open access, research data management and other aspects of open science is primarily offered by librarians. But what training do librarians receive in scholarly communication within their librarianship degrees? For a degree to be offered in librarianship and information science, it must be accredited by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), with a curriculum that is based on ALIA’s lists of skills and attributes. However, these lists do not contain any reference to key open research terms and are almost mutually exclusive with core competencies in scholarly communication as identified by the North American Serials Interest Group and an international Joint Task Force. Over the past decade teaching by academics in universities has been professionalised with courses and qualifications. Those responsible for researcher training within universities and the material that is being offered should also meet an agreed accreditation. This paper is arguing that there is a clear need to develop parallel standards around ‘research practice’ training for PhD students and Early Career Researchers, and those delivering this training should be able to demonstrate their skills against these standards. Models to begin developing accreditation standards are starting to emerge, with the recent launch of the Centre for Academic Research Quality and Improvement in the UK. There are multiple organisations, both grassroots and long-established that would be able to contribute to this project.