Measuring the impact of steroid therapy on health-related quality of life in patients with rheumatic diseases: international development of a glucocorticoid treatment-specific patient-reported outcome measure.

Objectives: Glucocorticoids (GCs) ('steroids') are used to treat rheumatic diseases but adverse effects are common. We aimed to explore the impact of GC therapy on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), to inform the development of a treatment-specific patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) for use in clinical trials and practice.

Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with patients from the UK, USA and Australia, treated for a rheumatic condition with GCs in the last 2 years.

Is the Counterweight Program a feasible and acceptable option for structured weight management delivered by practice nurses in Australia? A mixed-methods study.

Nurse-led weight management programs, like the Counterweight Program in the United Kingdom, may offer a way for Australian general practices to provide weight management support to adults who are overweight or obese. During Counterweight, nurses provide patients with six fortnightly education sessions and three follow-up sessions to support weight maintenance. This study examined the feasibility, acceptability and perceived value of the Counterweight Program in the Australian primary care setting using a mixed-methods approach.

A population analysis of self-management and health-related quality of life for chronic musculoskeletal conditions.

Background: There is growing policy emphasis on self-management as an essential component of musculoskeletal chronic care models. Underpinning this drive is the assumption that with correct 'informational' framing people will better manage their condition's progression and thereby maintain quality of life.

Objective: To assess associations between self-management behaviours and health-related quality of life for people with chronic musculoskeletal conditions.

Education to improve cancer care in rural South Australia.

Introduction: Cancer management follows the overall trend of rural health disparities, with higher incidence rates of preventable cancers and lower survival rates in rural Australia. Cancer prevention and management has been identified as a priority area and Cancer Australia has funded a variety of innovations throughout Australia. The Rural Chemotherapy Mentoring Program (RCMP) forms part of this drive to improve access to chemotherapy for rural based cancer sufferers in South Australia (SA).

Rural children's perceptions of child farm safety printed communication strategies.

Introduction: Child farm safety has been identified as a key public health concern in Australia. To date, communication strategies for child farm safety have primarily targeted rural based adults as custodians of children, and because the greatest proportion of deaths occur in pre-school children. However, emerging international literature acknowledges the importance of understanding the perceptions and practices of children and adolescents as active agents for identifying and preventing hazard risks and accidents.