Effects of community water fluoridation on child dental caries in remote Northern Territory, Australia: a difference-in-difference analysis.

Introduction: Community water fluoridation (CWF) is a cost-effective intervention to reduce dental caries at population level. This Australian study used a difference-in-difference (DiD) analysis to measure dental caries in children exposed to CWF in the Northern Territory (NT), Australia.

Methods: Oral health data obtained from the NT Department of Health contained 64 399 person-year observations from 2008 to 2020, totalling 24 546 children aged 1-17 years.

Identifying barriers and facilitators to primary care practitioners implementing health assessments for people with intellectual disability: a Theoretical Domains Framework-informed scoping review.

Introduction: People with intellectual disability experience poorer health outcomes compared with the general population, partly due to the difficulties of accessing preventive care in primary care settings. There is good evidence that structured annual health assessments can enhance quality of care for people with intellectual disability, and their use has become recommended policy in several high-income countries. However, uptake remains low.

Relationship between climate change and skin cancer and implications for prevention and management: a scoping review.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the published research on the relationship between climate change and skin cancer and the implications for prevention, management and further research.

Study Design: Scoping review.

Methods: This scoping review following JBI methodology reviewed English articles identified in searches of MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science and Scopus on 14 April 2023.

Producing knowledge together: a participatory approach to synthesising research across a large-scale collaboration in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

Background: Despite that stakeholder participation in evidence synthesis could result in more useful outcomes, there are few examples of processes that actively involve them in synthesis work. Techniques are needed that engage diverse stakeholders as equal partners in knowledge co-production. The aims of this paper are to describe an innovative participatory process of synthesising a large body of academic research products and compare the findings of the participatory process against two traditional approaches to synthesis: a rapid review and a structured review.

Costs and benefits of community water fluoridation in remote Aboriginal communities of the Northern Territory.

Objective: To undertake an economic evaluation of community water fluoridation (CWF) in remote communities of the Northern Territory (NT).

Design: Dental caries experiences were compared between CWF and non-CWF communities before and after intervention. Costs and benefits of CWF are ascertained from the health sector perspective using water quality, accounting, oral health, dental care and hospitalisation datasets.

Volunteering as prosocial behaviour by medical students following a flooding disaster and impacts on their mental health: A mixed-methods study.

Background: Volunteering is a form of prosocial behaviour that has a been recognised as having positive benefits for medical students. However, there is a lack of research on what influences students to volunteer during and after weather-related disasters. Our study (1) explores factors related to medical students' willingness and readiness to volunteer, and (2) describes mental health impacts of the flood events on students.

Patterns of collaboration and knowledge generated by an Australian rural research centre over 20 years: a co-authorship network analysis.

Background: People living in rural areas have poorer health than their urban counterparts. Although rural health research centres have been promoted as vehicles for improving rural health by contributing evidence to address rural health disadvantage and building research capacity, their characteristics and evolution are poorly understood. Collaboration is known to have an important positive influence on research outputs and research quality.

Impacts of Climate Change on Health and Health Services in Northern New South Wales, Australia: A Rapid Review.

Climate change is exposing populations to increasing temperatures and extreme weather events in many parts of Australia. To prepare for climate challenges, there is a growing need for Local Health Districts (LHDs) to identify potential health impacts in their region and strengthen the capacity of the health system to respond accordingly. This rapid review summarised existing evidence and research gaps on the impact of climate change on health and health services in Northern New South Wales (NSW)-a 'hotspot' for climate disaster declarations.

Climate-Related Natural Disasters: Reflections on an Agenda for Rural Health Research.

The increasing frequency and severity of climate-related disasters will exacerbate the health inequities that already exist between people living in rural communities and those living in urban areas. There is a need to improve understanding of the differences in the impacts on and needs of rural communities, in order that policy, adaptation, mitigation, response and recovery efforts meet the needs of those who are most affected by flooding and who have the fewest resources to mitigate the impact and adapt to the increased flood risk. This paper is a reflection by a rural-based academic on the significance and experience of community-based flood-related research, with a discussion of the challenges and opportunities for research on rural health and climate change.

Supporting reorientation of health services in Indigenous Australian communities: the health promotion systems assessment tool.

Few tools and mechanisms exist to assist the reorientation of health services, especially in the Indigenous Australian health context; where improving health status and life expectancy is a priority. We developed a health promotion systems assessment tool (HPSAT) to provide health services with the information and support they need to drive health system change. Tool development occurred using a participatory, iterative approach that included a literature review, expert input by Indigenous and non-Indigenous stakeholders and annual group workshops in four Indigenous Australian primary health care (PHC) services.

VOICE-Validating Outcomes by Including Consumer Experience: A Study Protocol to Develop a Patient Reported Experience Measure for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Accessing Primary Health Care.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' (hereafter respectfully referred to as Indigenous Australians) experiences of health care are shaped by historical, social and cultural factors, with cultural security critical to effective care provision and engagement between services and community. Positive patient experiences are associated with better health outcomes. Consequently, it is an accreditation requirement that primary health care (PHC) services must formally gather and respond to patient feedback.

Access to general practice for people with intellectual disability in Australia: a systematic scoping review.

Background: People with intellectual disability experience inadequate access to general practice and poorer health outcomes than the general population. While some access barriers have been identified for this population, these studies have often used narrow definitions of access, which may not encompass the multiple dimensions that influence access to general practice. To address this gap, we conducted a scoping review to identify factors impacting access to general practice for people with intellectual disability in Australia, using a holistic framework of access conceptualised by Levesque and colleagues.

Network evaluation of an innovation platform in continuous quality improvement in Australian Indigenous primary healthcare.

Background: From 2014 to 2019, the Centre for Research Excellence in Integrated Quality Improvement (CRE-IQI) was evaluated as an innovation platform focusing on continuous quality improvement in Indigenous Australian primary healthcare. Although social network analysis (SNA) is a recognized method for evaluating the functioning, collaboration and effectiveness of innovation platforms, applied research is limited. This study applies SNA to evaluate the CRE-IQI's functioning as an innovation platform.

Exposure to risk and experiences of river flooding for people with disability and carers in rural Australia: a cross-sectional survey.

Objectives: In this paper, we explore the exposure to risk and experiences of people with disability and carers during a flooding event and the subsequent mental health impacts.

Design: A cross-sectional survey between September and November 2017. Binary logistic regression models were used to investigate associations between the mental health of people with disability and carers and their exposure to the flood.

Insurance Issues as Secondary Stressors Following Flooding in Rural Australia-A Mixed Methods Study.

Flood events can be dramatic and traumatic. People exposed to floods are liable to suffer from a variety of adverse mental health outcomes. The adverse effects of stressors during the recovery process (secondary stressors) can sometimes be just as severe as the initial trauma.

Methodological pluralism for better evaluations of complex interventions: lessons from evaluating an innovation platform in Australia.

Complex interventions, such as innovation platforms, pose challenges for evaluators. A variety of methodological approaches are often required to build a more complete and comprehensive understanding of how complex interventions work. In this paper, we outline and critically appraise a methodologically pluralist evaluation of an innovation platform to strengthen primary care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients' cancer care pathways in Queensland: Insights from health professionals.

Objective: To identify points for improvements within the health system where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer patients may experience a lack of continuity in their cancer care. The optimal care pathway for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with cancer (OCP) framework was utilised as a tool in this work.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with health professionals at the primary health care (PHC) and hospital setting.

Utility of the AHRQ Learning Collaboratives Taxonomy for Analyzing Innovations from an Australian Collaborative.

Background: Despite the proliferation of learning collaborations such as innovation platforms, the factors contributing to their success or failure are rarely documented. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality learning collaboratives taxonomy provides a framework for understanding how such collaborations work in different settings according to four primary elements: innovation, communication, time, and social systems. This study applied the taxonomy to assess an innovation platform and the utility of applying the taxonomy.