Regional Australian City Research Articles

ID Scanning, The Media and the Politics of Urban Surveillance in an Australian Regional City

Computerised ID scanning technologies have permeated many urban night-time economies in Australia, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. This paper documents how one media organisation’s overt and tacit approval of ID scanners helped to normalise this form of surveillance as a precondition of entry into ten licensed venues in the Australian city of Geelong. After outlining how processes of governance “from above” and “from below” interweave to generate distinct political and media reactions to the prevention of localised crime problems, a chronological reconstruction of media reports over a three-and-a half year period demonstrates how ID scanning became the centrepiece of a holistic reform strategy to combat alcohol-related violence in the Geelong nightclub precinct. Several discursive techniques helped to normalise this “technological fix”, while suppressing critical discussion of viable concerns over information privacy, data security and system networking. These included pairing reports of an initial “signal crime” with examples of “virtual victimhood” to depict a crisis of violence to validate a radical surveillance-based response and publishing anecdotal statements from key “primary definers” highlighting the success of this initiative in targeting a wider population of antisocial “others”. The implications of these reporting practices are discussed in light of the media’s central role in reforming the Geelong night-time economy and broader trends associated with using novel surveillance technologies to combat urban crime problems at the expense of alternative measures that protect individual liberty.

Empty shops in Australian regional towns as an index of rural wellbeing

The regional catchment area of an Australian regional university city provided the basis for an exploratory research project generating an index of wellbeing of rural towns. The project used the residential locations of first-year sociology students to investigate several dozen rural town communities each year in three successive years. This empirically established the number and proportion of empty shops across a sweep of rural towns. Common patterns and differences between towns in the proportion of empty shops provided points of reflection and analysis. Because the research had a pedagogical as well as an investigative purpose, a space was opened up to debate the adequacy of the index to measure the complex realities of rural wellbeing, balancing the project’s limitations with it value as a ‘proof of concept’. Other issues concerning the validity of empty shops as a measure of rural social health were examined.

'Perfect skin', the media and patients with skin disease: a qualitative study of patients with acne, psoriasis and atopic eczema

The relationship of skin disease with societal ideals of beauty, and the role of the media in this relationship, has not previously been researched. The overall objective of this study was to explore the psychological effects of skin disease. The theme of the ideal of perfect skin and the role of the media in generating this ideal arose via an inductive study methodology and was explored in the context of respondents' psychological morbidity. A qualitative study, 62 semi-structured interviews were conducted with respondents with acne, eczema or psoriasis recruited from both general practice and specialist dermatology practice in an Australian regional city. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis employing a process of constant comparison in which data collection and analysis were cumulative and concurrent. The themes of perfect skin, societal ideals and media influence emerged from this iterative process. Respondents identified a societal ideal of flawless skin, largely mediated by media portrayals of perfection. Failure to meet this ideal precipitated psychological morbidity in female, but not male, respondents. An appreciation of the pervasive pressures of society and media upon females with skin disease may inform management strategies, particularly psychological management strategies, in patients with skin disease.

Connecting to Community: What Do We Want in Our Special Education Graduates?

AbstractWith a commitment to establishing collaborative relationships with a local special education community, a consultation process was undertaken to ascertain what practising educators considered essential special education graduate characteristics. This consultation occurred against the backdrop of broad-scale university organisational restructure, faculty level program redesign, and the reported lack of an empirical basis for special education teacher attributes as distinct from general teacher education attributes. Special education professionals in a regional Australian city were invited to participate in two workshops to generate and analyse the qualities they considered essential for graduates of special education teacher preparation programs. The attributes identified by participants as essential were in agreement with many of those identified in the literature, yet behaviour support and resilience, which are typically subsumed within other categories in the literature, featured as stand-alone areas in this study. The processes and outcomes described in this article are discussed in relation to the potential value of special education teacher attributes for the field, and establishing a bridge across the perceived gap between the field and universities.

The centrality of service organizations and their leisure networks

This study examines a network of community groups and the civic, commercial, and educational organizations involved with amateur artists in a regional Australian city. Social network analysis using measures for density, centrality, centralization, and cliques revealed that the groups and the organizations formed several clusters around types of creative artists and that service organizations were the communication hubs in the network. Recommendations include improving community networks by weaving better linkages among groups and organizations and the undertaking of research into the multiple leisure networks that occur in local government areas.

Income, sense of community and subjective well-being: Combining economic and psychological variables

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of income and reference group income on well-being while controlling for a range of social psychological variables. A random sample of 1033 residents in a regional Australian city were surveyed by mail on a number of variables including subjective well-being, sense of community, attitudes toward their political officials, civic participation, perceptions of city life, and socio-demographics. Three general findings are reported. First, income had a significant influence on well-being, but individuals’ perceptions of their access to health services had a larger effect. Second, we found that the relationship between well-being and some of its determinants (e.g., health service perceptions) varied significantly between low and high levels of income at the household level and at the regional level. Finally, reference group income was not a significant predictor of well-being in any of the analyses we conducted. These results are discussed in light of the results from previous research in this area.

Bibliotherapy Use By Welfare Teams In Secondary Colleges

Bibliotherapy – the use of books to heal – is a concept that dates back to the time of the philosopher Aristotle who believed that literature had healing effects and that reading fiction was a way of purging illness. But how is bibliotherapy practiced now in secondary schools? This study investigates bibliotherapy use in a regional Australian city with adolescents who have chronic illness. It explores the responses of members of welfare teams (welfare co-ordinators, school nurses and teacher-librarians) within secondary schools to questions on how books are used with students experiencing issues. Findings indicate that although bibliotherapy practice is not a formal process within schools, its central phenomenon of a reader forming a relationship with a book and then changing in some significant way as a result is a concept that most participants understood and attempted to utilize with the students in their care.

Mixed Serious Leisure and Grassroots Organizational Capacity: A Study of Amateur Artist Groups in a Regional Australian City

This exploratory research used qualitative data from semi-structured interviews conducted with spokespeople from grassroots associations of artists who described their role, personal rewards and costs involved from fulfilling a leadership role within their group. By becoming leaders in their groups, they enjoyed community and individual benefits, accepted costs on their time and finances and persevered with demands based on their people skills. By combining the role of a participant and a helper, they became amateur-volunteers with mixed serious leisure careers. The findings identified facets of mixed serious leisure that met needs for leadership, and several successful groups were encouraged to blend amateur-volunteer careers for some members.

Exploring the Digital Divide in an Australian Regional City: a case study of Albury

The ‘digital divide’ is generally considered to be the gap between people who have access to information and communication technologies (ICT) and those who do not, and an issue of significant social justice. This paper presents findings from research that explored the digital divide within the regional city of Albury. The study focused on assessing whether there was a digital divide; identifying strategies to address any divide; and developing a methodology that could be used to explore the digital divide in other contexts. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and a telephone survey of city residents. Findings demonstrated that a digital divide existed in that there were differences in computer access in relation to income and different locations within the city, and for access to the Internet by age, education and income levels. Overall, the patterns indicated that those with lower education and income and the elderly reported lower levels of access to ICT. Drawing on the research findings we suggest some practical ways of addressing the digital divide that could be applied to other similar locations where a digital divide exists, such as providing technical support and training, improved access to and awareness of ICT services, and facilitating access to ICT services such as the provision of appropriate hardware and software for disadvantaged groups. Our view is that the mixed-method approach we employed provided helpful, reliable information at reasonable cost and could be considered by other researchers and local governments.

Teachers working in culturally diverse classrooms: implications for the development of professional standards and for teacher education

This paper reports the outcomes of a survey to investigate the level of cultural understanding and confidence for teachers working in culturally diverse classrooms. The survey was administered to teachers in primary and secondary schools in an Australian regional city. The aim of analysis was to determine the direction and strength of association of six demographic variables with measures of cultural awareness among teachers and confidence in supporting the learning of students. It found that teacher responses to working in culturally diverse classrooms varied according to levels of familiarity with the cultural groups concerned and with the level of schooling within which the teacher worked. The paper outlines the implications of these findings for the development of professional standards and for teacher education. It discusses how these findings contribute to further investigations into the extent to which teachers understand cultural diversity and their confidence as literacy instructors.

Network Density, Centrality, and Communication in a Serious Leisure Social World

Little is known about the network structures formed by grassroots associations and allied organisations involved in serious leisure social worlds. Generally, research into serious leisure has focused upon the individual, mainly in amateur sports, some hobbies, and a few career volunteer activities. This paper reports a structural view of a social world network of 49 social actors comprised of the grassroots associations and allied organisations expressly concerned with resident amateur artists in a regional Australian city. Relational data was collected from semi‐structured interviews and analysed using social network metrics in conjunction with the serious leisure perspective. Social network analysis showed an uneven distribution of power, influence, and prominence among the social actors and that the network structure relied upon links between grassroots associations and organisations. The network structure consisted of two modules of social actors clustered around particular categories of creative arts, and these modules were linked most frequently by several organisations acting as communication hubs and boundary spanners. In this serious leisure social world the grassroots associations were the insider social actors whereas several organisations were regular social actors. The paper demonstrates the application of social network analysis in leisure studies and provides tentative evidence of the benefits of this approach. Empirical benefits include ‘network weaving’ by sharing knowledge of the network structure with the grassroots associations, allied organisations, and the local government to improve communication and cooperation in the regional social world of creative arts. Theoretical benefits include developing a systemic approach for exploring and theorising the structures of social action forming the organisational basis of leisure.

A pilot study investigating of the nature of point‐of‐sale alcohol promotions in bottle shops in a large Australian regional city

The promotion of alcohol by retailers and media can contribute to a culture of excessive alcohol consumption, but the effect of non-advertising alcohol promotions has largely been neglected. This study sought to gather initial data on this important area. An observational study of alcohol point-of-sale promotions in the Wollongong CBD area, conducted in July-August 2005. We identified 17 different promotions in three categories: gift with purchase; competitions; and buy some, get some free. Given previous research demonstrating the relationship between increased alcohol consumption and both ownership of alcohol-related merchandise and reduced per unit price, it appears that point-of-sale promotions may have the potential to further increase alcohol consumption among young people. Only when the extent and impact of such promotions is demonstrated will we be in a position to effectively advocate for appropriate regulations to ensure young people are not exposed to marketing strategies that further increase their exposure to alcohol-related harms.

Media reports of heroin overdose spates: Public health messages, moral panics or risk advertisements?

This article reports on an investigation of the public health utility of media messages concerning spates (temporal clusters) of heroin-related overdose (HOD) from the perspective of some injecting drug users (IDUs). In-depth qualitative interviews were carried out with a convenience sample of 60 IDUs, in the setting of two Needle and Syringe Programs in an Australian regional city (Geelong) between April and May 2000. Very few interviewees reported that they had personally experienced a spate of overdoses. None of the interviewees reported communicating the existence of a killer batch to other IDUs. No interviewees reported having changed either their injecting practices or the amount of heroin they used following such a media alert. Indeed, a substantial minority of the interviewees reported seeking out these stronger batches and participant narratives illustrate that, for a substantial group of interviewees, the media reporting of a hypothetical ‘killer batch’ of heroin may have implications for their drug-seeking and health-related behaviour. It was found that the accuracy of information available to IDUs is mixed and that the flow of information within this social network was slow. Findings demonstrate that media reporting of killer batches of heroin has little value as a public health strategy and provide an example of how some activities that are proposed as public health measures may in fact have the opposite effect.

Prevalence of disruptive behaviour displayed by older people in community and residential respite care settings

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of disruptive behaviour displayed by older people in community and residential respite care settings. The specific objectives were to (i) obtain an estimate of the frequency of disruptive behaviour displayed by older people in the community setting before residential respite care; (ii) characterize older people being admitted for residential respite care; and (iii) obtain an estimate of the frequency of disruptive behaviour displayed by older people in residential respite care. A quantitative approach using a cross-sectional survey was employed in the community and in the residential aged care facilities. The older people (n = 100) had a mean age of 81.8 years (range 66-96 years). The older people were being admitted from their homes for booked respite care at residential aged care facilities in a regional Australian city. Home caregivers and nurses rated disruptive behaviour using the Dementia Behaviour Disturbance Scale (DBDS). Reliability data for the DBDS are provided. As expected, in both community and residential respite settings, older people with dementia (29%) scored significantly higher on the DBDS than people without dementia. In addition, DBDS scores were unexpectedly higher in the community setting than in the respite setting. These findings should be taken into consideration by primary health-care professionals when offering treatment options to the home caregivers and by staff in the residential aged care facilities that offer respite.

Implementation of oral health recommendations into two residential aged care facilities in a regional Australian city

Implementation of oral health recommendations into two residential aged care facilities in a regional Australian city

Implementation of oral health recommendations into two residential aged care facilities in a regional Australian city

Background Residents of aged care facilities usually have a large number of oral health problems. Residents who suffer from dementia are at particular risk. A systematic review of the best available evidence with regard to maintaining the oral health of older people with dementia in residential aged care facilities provided a number of recommendations. Objectives The aim of the implementation project was to introduce evidence-based oral hygiene practices for patients with dementia in two publicly funded residential aged care facilities and monitor for changes in nursing awareness, knowledge, documentation and practice to improve patient outcomes and ensure appropriate accreditation standards were met. An additional aim was to identify barriers and strategies to overcome barriers to implementation of evidence-based recommendations. Methods Two facilities, a 40-bed facility and a 71-bed facility in the health service district of the regional Australian city of Toowoomba, provided the setting. A quality improvement approach was taken, using a number of strategies from the National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines for implementation studies. The implementation involved a number of stages, including project development, interactive oral health education, oral audits of residents, changes to oral hygiene practice via care plans and critical reflection. Results The multidisciplinary approach to improving oral healthcare appeared to improve knowledge and awareness and move oral health practices in facilities closer to best practice. Specialised training in oral health was provided to a Clinical Nurse Consultant. Regular oral audits were introduced and facility staff were trained in the use of the oral audit tool. Care plans at one facility were of better quality and more comprehensive than before the intervention. Comments made during critical reflection suggested improvements in the oral health of residents, increased use of oral swabs and saliva substitutes, improved care of dentures and mention of the use of mouth props in resident care plans. There was also some evidence that changes brought about by the implementation are sustainable. Conclusion The majority of recommendations provided in the systematic review of oral healthcare for dementia patients were applicable to the applied context. The importance of day-to-day leaders was highlighted by the apparently varied outcomes across target facilities. The quality improvement approach would appear to have considerable advantages when applied to improving practice in residential aged care.

Intermedia collaboration for The Flood

The Flood is a music-theatre work produced by the Northern Rivers Performing Arts (NORPA) (Balodis, J. & Hannan, M. (2004). The flood. Unpublished manuscript. It combines traditional theatrical elements (in the form of a play script and songs) with experimental elements (soundscapes, experimental instruments, layered image projections, and installations). There is a moving stage that processes through the streets of Lismore (an Australian regional city famous for its floods) and five sites of performance and installation activities along the way. This article examines the collaborative process of creating The Flood. The genesis of the work is discussed and a number of the sonic intermedia segments of the work are analysed and theorised. The Flood involved an intensely interdisciplinary developmental period particularly amongst the core creative team of writer, composer and director. Other collaborative aspects of the projects with a strong interdisciplinary focus were the creation of the soundscapes, the mixing of experimental musical instruments with conventional ones and the creation of intermedia installations.

An Evaluation of a Telephone‐Based Postnatal Support Intervention for Infant Feeding in a Regional Australian Citya

Postnatal breastfeeding support in the form of home visits is difficult to accommodate in regional Australia, where hospitals often deal with harsh economic constraints in a context where they are required to provide services to geographically dispersed consumers. This study evaluated a predominantly telephone-based support service called the Infant Feeding Support Service. A prospective cohort design was used to compare data for 696 women giving birth in two regional hospitals (one public, one private) and participating in the support service between January and July 2003 with data from a cohort of 625 women who gave birth in those hospitals before the introduction of the support service. Each mother participating in the support service was assigned a lactation consultant. First contact occurred 48 hours after discharge, and approximately weekly thereafter for 4 weeks. Breastfeeding duration was measured at 3 months postpartum. For women from the private hospital, the support service improved exclusive breastfeeding duration to 4.5 weeks postpartum, but these improvements were not evident at 3 months postpartum. No effects were observed for mothers from the public hospital. Quantitative and qualitative data demonstrated high levels of client satisfaction with the support service. This small-scale, predominantly telephone-based intervention provided significant, although apparently context-sensitive, improvements to exclusive breastfeeding duration.

Pick-a-Skipper': an evaluation of a designated driver program to prevent alcohol-related injury in a regional Australian city

The ‘Community Mobilization for the Prevention of Alcohol-Related Injury' (COMPARI) project undertook a designated driver intervention for young adults, known as ‘Pick-a-Skipper', in the regional Western Australian city of Geraldton, which has a population of ~25 000. The first component of the program was a television advertising campaign encouraging people to ‘Pick-a-Skipper' if they were going out to drink. The second component of the program comprised a promotion targeting nightclub patrons. The drivers of two or more passengers were provided with free soft drink all night by the nightclub. The ‘Picka-Skipper' campaign succeeded in persuading a significant number of those young Geraldton drinkers, who were intending to drive to and from their location of drinking, to select non-drinking drivers as ‘Skippers' before they began consuming alcohol. It was also found that the mass media component was much more important in the success of the program than the on-site licensed premises component; that males were significantly less likely to select a ‘Skipper' and more likely to undertake high-risk-taking behaviour; that inaccurate knowledge about ‘Skippers' was also associated with high-risk-taking behaviour and accurate knowledge of the ‘Skipper' concept was associated with increased frequency of ‘Skipper' selection; and that passengers defined as ‘high-risk takers' are more likely to increase their consumption of alcohol if they have designated a driver. The study indicates that an extensive media campaign, providing positive images and utility knowledge on designating a non-drinking driver, can have a significant impact on drinking and driving behaviour in a local community.

At the interface of health and community care: developing linkages between aged care services in a rural context.

This paper explores issues concerning the development of linkages across the interface between acute and community aged care services in a small regional Australian city. It addresses a participatory action research project that took place over a 2 year period involving an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT). Aged Care Assessment Teams are multidisciplinary teams whose members mediate between hospitals and the aged care system in the community and have a key role in developing networks and linkages between various service providers in the field. In an age of economic rationalist-inspired reform agendas in health and community care, rural infrastructures have been compromised to such a degree that the role of rural ACAT in developing linkages between sectors has never been more important. This paper takes up this issue and addresses the project findings, which highlight a field characterised by ineffective linkages within and between the various sectors, a lack of understanding of the operation of the rural aged care system among nurses working in regional hospitals, and the efficacy of ACAT working collaboratively with nurses to create new and more effective linkages in aged care.