Early closing of hotels: Impacts on alcohol consumption, drunkenness, liver disease and injury mortality.

Introduction: Early (six o'clock) closing of hotels was introduced in 1916 in Australia to curb heavy drinking. It lasted between 21 and 51 years in four Australian states. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of early closing on alcohol consumption, liver disease mortality rates, drunkenness and various forms of injury.

Evaluation of a Housing First programme for people from the public mental health sector with severe and persistent mental illnesses and precarious housing: Housing, health and service use outcomes.

Aims And Context: This paper reports the evaluation of the Doorway program (2015-18) in Melbourne, Australia. Doorway extends the original Housing First (HF) model in providing housing support to people with precarious housing at-risk of homelessness with Serious and Persistent Mental Illnesses (SPMIs) receiving care within Victoria's public mental health system. Doorway participants source and choose properties through the open rental market, and receive rental subsidies, assistance, advocacy and brokerage support through their Housing and Recovery Worker (HRW).

Vision impairment and refractive errors in refugees presenting to community optometry clinics in Victoria, Australia.

Background: There is a paucity of data relating to refugee eye health in Australia. This study aimed at investigating the spectrum of vision impairment and other ocular conditions in refugees utilising the Victorian Eyecare Service operated by the Australian College of Optometry.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of electronic clinical records of 518 individuals (adults and children) recognised as refugees by the Australian College of Optometry and treated between January 2013 and May 2014 were identified.

Evaluation of an integrated housing and recovery model for people with severe and persistent mental illnesses: the Doorway program.

Objective The Doorway program is a 3-year pilot integrated housing and recovery support program aimed at people with a severe and persistent mental illness who are 'at risk' or actually homeless. Participants source and choose properties through the open rental market, with appropriate rental subsidy and brokerage support. This arrangement is highly innovative, differing from widely favoured arrangements internationally involving congregate and scattered-site housing owned or managed by the support program.

Risk of death or hospital admission among community-dwelling older adults living with dementia in Australia.

Background: Older people living with dementia prefer to stay at home to receive support. But they are at high risk of death and/or hospital admissions. This study primarily aimed to determine risk factors for time to death or hospital admission (combined) in a sample of community-dwelling older people living with dementia in Australia.

Case managed community aged care: what is the evidence for effects on service use and costs?

Objective: To evaluate the effects of case management in community aged care (CMCAC) interventions on service use and costs.

Method: Five databases were searched from inception to 2011 July to include randomized control trials and comparative observational English studies. Results were summarized by using the best-evidence synthesis approach.

Media reports on dementia: quality and type of messages in Australian media.

Aim: To analyse changes in the quantity and quality of media reporting about dementia in Australian media between two time periods.

Methods: A media retrieval service collected all news items related to dementia. Quality ratings based on previously developed criteria were made for a stratified random sample of items - 1129 items for 2000/2001 and 1606 for 2006/2007.

Helping smokers with depression to quit smoking: collaborative care with Quitline.

Objectives: To report smokers' evaluations and uptake of Quitline-doctor comanagement of smoking cessation and depression, a key component of the Victorian Quitline's tailored call-back service for smokers with a history of depression and to explore its relationship to quitting success.

Design, Participants And Setting: Prospective study followed Quitline clients disclosing doctor-diagnosed depression (n = 227). Measures were taken at baseline (following initial Quitline call), posttreatment (2 months) and 6 months from recruitment (77% and 70% response rates, respectively).

A user assessment of a smaller hospital surveillance program.

Forty-five infection control nurses responded to a survey that assessed a smaller hospital (<100 acute care beds) surveillance program. Most respondents (96.6%) agreed that participation in the program was useful.

MRSA infections in smaller hospitals, Victoria, Australia.

Background: Infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) cause significant morbidity, mortality, and associated costs.

Methods: Trained infection control (IC) nurses in 84 smaller (<100 acute beds) hospitals during a 20-month period collected data on MRSA infections.

Results: The aggregate rate for all MRSA infections confirmed by the Victorian Hospital Acquired Infection Surveillance System Coordinating Centre IC nurse was 1.

Implementation of a pilot surveillance program for smaller acute care hospitals.

Background: An infection control (IC) surveillance program for smaller (<100 acute beds) hospitals was piloted for 18 weeks in 14 hospitals. The aim of the pilot stage was to test a theoretical program in the context in which it was to be implemented.

Method: An evaluation framework was developed, outlining the program's intended activities for data collection, management, analysis, reporting, and use.

Quality of data reported to a smaller-hospital pilot surveillance program.

This data quality study assessed the accuracy of data collected as part of a pilot smaller-hospital surveillance program for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection and bloodstream infection (BSI). For reported MRSA infection, estimated values were as follows: sensitivity, 40%; specificity, 99.9%; and positive predictive value, 33.

Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis in smaller hospitals.

Background: In 2004, The Victorian Hospital Acquired Infection Surveillance System Coordinating Centre established a smaller hospital (<100 beds) surveillance programme that included an optional 'surgical antibiotic prophylaxis' (SAP) module. Appropriate SAP is believed to be one of the most effective strategies to reduce surgical site infections after certain surgical procedures.

Methods: Trained infection control nurses in the participating hospitals were asked to collect SAP data for the first 50 consecutive procedures that could be classified into 1 of 12 surgical groups.