Publications by authors named "Jennifer Smith-Merry"

Background: The hearing health sector is an example of a health sector that is experiencing a period of rapid innovation driven by digital technologies. These innovations will impact the types of interventions and services available to support the communication of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. This study explored the perceptions of informed participants on the topic of innovation and regulation within hearing healthcare in Australia and the United Kingdom (UK).

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Introduction: The unmet physical and mental health needs of school-aged children (5-18 years) in New South Wales (NSW), stemming from poor access and engagement with healthcare, can be addressed by school-based integrated care (SBIC) models.This research aims to understand why and how partnerships between the health and education sector, in SBIC models, are important in providing care for children, and to identify the facilitating factors and barriers for implementation.

Methods: A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis.

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Introduction: There have been increasing calls in the literature recommending training in integrated care (IC) for health and social care professionals. Although studies have focused on different stakeholders' perceptions of education and training, there is no consistent definition of the key competencies or approach to implementing these competencies among health and social care providers. This study used a modified Delphi consensus-building method with global panellists with experience in delivering and designing training in IC to ascertain which competencies are important in an international framework guiding workforce development in IC.

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Introduction: Kalgal Burnbona is a framework developed for applying school-based integrated care (SBIC) across Sydney Local Health District (SLHD).

Description: Kalgal Burnbona is an innovative and integrative framework developed to provide holistic, integrated, multidisciplinary child and family centred care to school-aged children from priority populations within SLHD, such as those belonging to the Aboriginal community. The expected outcomes include improved health, behavioural, education and social outcomes.

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Introduction: Behavioural and emotional disorders are a significant cause of morbidity for young people aged 10-19 years. School-based health care (SBHC) provides an innovative approach to addressing these issues within Australia.

Description: We describe an innovative and integrative SBHC model called Ngaramadhi Space (NS) based at a specialised behavioural school called Yudi Gunyi school (YGS) in metropolitan Sydney, Australia.

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Introduction: Patient involvement in care is a major component of high quality of care and is becoming recognized worldwide with many beneficial for improving patient outcomes. However, a little is known about patient involvement in the Middle East region and Saudi Arabia in particular.

Objectives: To evaluate patients' perceptions of their involvement during their interactions with healthcare providers in Saudi Arabia.

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Aim: Problematic externalising behaviours in adolescents are associated with high individual and societal burden. A school-based multidisciplinary health clinic, Ngaramadhi Space (NS), was developed at Yudi Gunyi School, a specialised behavioural school in Sydney, Australia, to improve access to holistic health-care and behavioural support. This evaluation aimed to describe the demographics, clinic attendance, health screening, recommendations made, and changes in Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores of students attending the clinic.

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Background: The need for patient centered care (PCC) and its subsequent implementation has gained policy maker attention worldwide. Despite the evidence showing the benefits and the challenges associated with practicing PCC in western countries there has been no comprehensive review of the literature on PCC practice in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region, yet there is good reason to think that the practices of PCC in these regions would be different.

Objectives: This paper summarizes the existing research on the practice of PCC in the MENA region and uses this analysis to consider the key elements of a PCC definition based on MENA cultural contexts.

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Childhood behavioural disorders (CBDs) are a common reason for referral to paediatric services and are associated with negative individual and societal outcomes. This article addresses how childhood became a distinct entity and how historical changes shaped its definition. Thereafter, the evolution of diagnostic criteria for CBD and associated limitations will be summarised.

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Employment is an important social determinant of health and wellbeing. People with disability experience labour market disadvantage and have low labour force participation rates, high unemployment rates, and poor work conditions. Environmental factors are crucial as facilitators of or barriers to participation for people with disability.

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Purpose: People with mental illness are a vulnerable and stigmatised group with poor health outcomes including greater premature mortality. This study aimed to investigate trends and rates of change in unintentional drug-related deaths for people with mental illness, describe types of medicines involved, and identify populations at risk in a cohort from New South Wales, Australia.

Methods: Features of unintentional drug-related deaths for people with mental illness between 2012 and 2016 were identified in a retrospective review of data from the National Coronial Information System.

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Introduction: Integrated care aims to improve access, quality and continuity of services for ageing populations and people experiencing chronic conditions. However, the health and social care workforce is ill equipped to address complex patient care needs due to working and training in silos. This paper describes the extent and nature of the evidence on workforce development in integrated care to inform future research, policy and practice.

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Background: For people with disabilities to live a good life, it is essential that funded research in health and social care addresses their interests, meets their needs, and fills gaps in our understanding of the impact that services, systems, and policies may have on them. Decisions about research funding should be based on an understanding of the research priorities of people with disabilities, their supporters and allies, disability researchers, service providers, and policy makers working in the field.

Objective: The aim of this protocol is to describe the research design and methods of a large-scale, disability research agenda-setting exercise conducted in 2021 in Australia.

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This paper uses secondary analysis to understand how COVID-19 shaped people's experiences with psychosocial support services in Australia. Data are drawn from questionnaires (n = 66) and semi-structured interviews (n = 62), conducted for a national service evaluation, with 121 people living with enduring mental health conditions and using psychosocial support services. Data relating to COVID-19 were inductively coded and analysed using constant comparative analysis.

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Objective: The aim of the study was to determine from patient-reported data the relationships between patients' experiences of adverse events (AEs), the disclosure of the events, and patients propensity for complaints or legal action.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered to 20,000 participants randomly chosen from the 45 and Up Study. The surveyed participants were older than 45 years and hospitalized in New South Wales, Australia, between January and June 2014.

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Issue Addressed: We currently know very little about the attitudes of young adult Australians from migrant backgrounds towards health service utilisation. This qualitative study aimed to explore their experiences of accessing health services and identify barriers and facilitators to health service utilisation.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with young people aged between 18-24 and living in Greater Western Sydney.

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Background: Over the past 2 decades, online forums for mental health support have emerged as an important tool for improving mental health and well-being. There has been important research that analyzes the content of forum posts, studies on how and why individuals engage with forums, and how extensively forums are used. However, we still lack insights into key questions on how they are experienced from the perspective of their users, especially those in rural and remote settings.

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Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the service and policy structures that impact open disclosure (OD) practices in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

Participants And Methods: An explorative study using semi-structured interviews was undertaken with 12 individuals closely involved in the implementation of OD in hospitals at policy or practice levels within the state of NSW, Australia. Interviews explored the service and policy structures surrounding OD and the perceived impact of these on the implementation of the OD policy.

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This study aims to provide a comprehensive systematic review of the literature relating to the representation of women within video games in consideration of adult female wellbeing. The research question of the study assessed whether the representation of women in video games leads to female self-objectification and negative body image in adult women. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) review method was used; comprising a thorough keyword database search, followed by literature screening and data extraction.

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Background: Transition from prison to community is a challenging time for all people who have been incarcerated. It is particularly challenging for those also living with serious and persistent mental illness. This study explored staff experiences and perspectives of what helped and hindered them in their work to support that transition.

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Background: The aim of this study was to better understand early-stage mental health recovery experiences of people living with severe and persistent mental illness and complex needs.

Methods: Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 13 people engaged in an Australian program specifically designed for people facing complex barriers to their recovery. Interview data were analysed thematically using constant comparative methods.

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