Diagnostic colonoscopy completion after abnormal fecal immunochemical testing and quality of tests used at 8 Federally Qualified Health Centers in Southern California: Opportunities for improving screening outcomes.

Background: The effectiveness of colorectal cancer screening with fecal immunochemical tests (FITs) of stool blood depends on high rates of colonoscopy follow-up for abnormal FITs and the use of high-quality tests. This study characterized colonoscopy referral and completion among patients with abnormal FITs and the types of FITs implemented in a sample of Southern California Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs).

Methods: FQHCs in San Diego, Imperial, and Los Angeles Counties were invited to define a cohort of ≥150 consecutive patients with abnormal FITs in 2015-2016 and to provide data on sex, insurance status, diagnostic colonoscopy referrals and completion within 6 months of abnormal FITs, and the types (brands) of FITs implemented.

Public health and natural hazards: new policies and preparedness initiatives developed from an Australian bushfire case study.

Objective: Public preparedness for natural hazard events is low. With worsening severe weather events due to climate change, public health policy and practices must evolve to more effectively engage communities. This study's findings identify and suggest new strategic public health policies to shift the practice of all-hazards preparedness into routine, everyday life.

Children in the 2015 South Indian floods: community members' views.

Little is known about children's experiences and involvement in disaster preparation and recovery, in particular in low- and middle-income countries. Eliciting community members' perspectives on the 2015 floods in Tamil Nadu, India, may generate useful insights for improving services in low-resource settings. This qualitative study aimed to understand how children in Chennai experienced the floods, as reported by the adults in their community, and to explore children's involvement in disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts as reported from the adults' perspective.

The application of a feedback-informed approach in psychological service with youth: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Research with adults has consistently demonstrated that the use of regular client feedback in psychological services can improve outcomes. However, there appear to be fewer studies with youth. The purpose of the current review was to explore/assess (1) current developments in research on the use of feedback-informed approaches in mental health interventions or services for youth 10-19years of age; (2) the efficacy of client feedback in youth treatment settings; and (3) consider future directions for research.

Expanding protection motivation theory: investigating an application to animal owners and emergency responders in bushfire emergencies.

Background: Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) was developed by Rogers in 1975, to describe how individuals are motivated to react in a self-protective way towards a perceived health threat. Rogers expected the use of PMT to diversify over time, which has proved true over four decades. The purpose of this paper is to explore how PMT can be used and expanded to inform and improve public safety strategies in natural hazards.

"Don't Just Do Something … Stand There!" Emergency Responders' Peri-Incident Perceptions of Animal Owners in Bushfire.

Introduction: Narrowing the awareness-preparedness gap in bushfires (wildfires) means that new strategies and tactics will be needed to improve human safety and survival in this increasingly frequent and severe globally significant natural hazard. One way to do this is to explore the peri-event experiences of novel demographic groups living and working in at-risk areas to determine how best to strengthen a collaborative, mutually beneficial interface with emergency responders. Thus, this study included participants from one novel demographic, animal owners, in combination with emergency responders.

Approaches to the Assessment of Children in the Context of Disasters.

Children exposed to disasters are a vulnerable population, making the assessment of children post-disaster an important issue. Utilizing a Multiple Gating Stepped Care framework, we highlight recent literature related to post-disaster assessment and intervention for children. In particular, we focus on screening, clinical evaluation, and feedback-informed service delivery.

Improving the Impact and Implementation of Disaster Education: Programs for Children Through Theory-Based Evaluation.

A main weakness in the evaluation of disaster education programs for children is evaluators' propensity to judge program effectiveness based on changes in children's knowledge. Few studies have articulated an explicit program theory of how children's education would achieve desired outcomes and impacts related to disaster risk reduction in households and communities. This article describes the advantages of constructing program theory models for the purpose of evaluating disaster education programs for children.

Impact of client feedback on clinical outcomes for young people using public mental health services: A pilot study.

This paper reports on research conducted in public health settings with young people who have serious mental health issues. An easy to use feedback system for clinicians providing psychotherapy was assessed against treatment as usual. Data were collected on four widely used outcome measures.

Disaster preparedness for children and families: a critical review.

Preparedness for disasters is universally low; children and families are particularly vulnerable groups. Against this backdrop, research on disaster preparedness for children and families is reviewed, with a focus on disaster preparedness and prevention education programs. Following definitions and theory/rationale, research is critically analyzed.

Interactive hazards education program for youth in a low SES community: a quasi-experimental pilot study.

A pilot study of an interactive hazards education program was carried out in Canberra (Australia), with direct input from youth participants. Effects were evaluated in relation to youths' interest in disasters, motivation to prepare, risk awareness, knowledge indicators, perceived preparedness levels, planning and practice for emergencies, and fear and anxiety indicators. Parents also provided ratings, including of actual home-based preparedness activities.

How do different occupational factors influence total, occupational, and leisure-time physical activity?

Background: A better understanding of how occupational indicators influence physical activity levels will aid the design of workplace interventions.

Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected from 1194 participants through a telephone interview in Queensland, Australia. The IPAQ-long was used to measure physical activity.

Associations between occupational indicators and total, work-based and leisure-time sitting: a cross-sectional study.

Background: A better understanding of how occupational indicators (e.g. job type, doing shift-work, hours worked, physical demand) influence sitting time will aid in the design of more effective health behaviour interventions.

Perioperative angioedema: background, diagnosis, and management.

Angioedema is a potentially life-threatening condition that may present at any point in the perioperative care of patients. It requires prompt recognition and diagnosis; the primary concern during acute attacks is airway management. The pathophysiology, various causes of angioedema, and treatment strategies according to underlying etiology are presented.

Combinations of social participation and trust, and association with health status-an Australian perspective.

A limited number of studies have examined the 'miniaturization of community' model which is based on belief that 'new' individualistic, and narrower forms of social participation, do not promote generalized trust in others. Little is known about miniaturization of community and self-reported health, physical health and psychological health in Australia. Data from a 2009 computer-assisted-telephone-interview survey was used to investigate generalized trust, social participation and health-related quality of life in a regional Australian population (n = 1273; mean age 51.

Salient beliefs about earthquake hazards and household preparedness.

Prior research has found little or no direct link between beliefs about earthquake risk and household preparedness. Furthermore, only limited work has been conducted on how people's beliefs influence the nature and number of preparedness measures adopted. To address this gap, 48 qualitative interviews were undertaken with residents in three urban locations in New Zealand subject to seismic risk.

Increased prevalence of chronic physical health disorders in Australians with diagnosed mental illness.

Objective: To compare chronic physical health disorder prevalence amongst Australian adults with and without mental illness.

Method: Total n=1,716 participants (58% female) with a mean age of 52 ± 13 years (range: 18 to 89 years) completed an online survey of Australian adults in 2010. Outcome measures including prevalence of chronic physical conditions and self-reported body mass index (BMI) in n=387 (23%) with a self-reported mental illness diagnosis were compared to respondents without mental illness.

Professional development perceptions and activities of psychiatrists and mental health nurses in New Zealand.

Aims: Psychiatrists (n=26) and mental health nurses (n=18) engaged in the practice of psychotherapy were surveyed regarding their perceptions and engagement in professional development activities.

Methods: Collaborative Research Network's (CRN) methodology was followed, and comparisons with CRN samples from Canada and the United States of America (USA) were undertaken.

Results: New Zealand psychiatrists reported perceived development across their careers, but their ratings were lower than those of nurses.

Dissemination and effectiveness of multisystemic treatment in New Zealand: a benchmarking study.

The transportability of Multisystemic Therapy (MST) for the treatment of juvenile offenders in a community-based context was examined in the current study. Results of this New Zealand study showed that significant pre- to posttreatment improvements occurred on most indicators of ultimate (i.e.

The effects of sports participation on young adolescents' emotional well-being.

This study examined the relationship between children's sports participation and emotional well-being including self-reported emotional and behavioral problems and multidimensional aspects of self-concept. Data were collected from 203 young adolescents using a multitrait-multimethod assessment methodology. Information was obtained using a sports questionnaire concerning participation in and perceptions of sporting activities.

Multisystemic treatment: a meta-analysis of outcome studies.

Multisystemic treatment (MST) is a family- and home-based therapeutic approach that has been found to be effective in treating antisocial youths and that has recently been applied to youths with serious emotional disturbances. In light of the increasing dissemination of MST, this review examines the effectiveness of MST by quantifying and summarizing the magnitude of effects (treatment outcomes) across all eligible MST outcome studies. Included in a meta-analysis were 7 primary outcome studies and 4 secondary studies involving a total of 708 participants.

Assessing compliance with homework assignments: review and recommendations for clinical practice.

Despite the emphasis of homework assignments in psychotherapy research and practice, methods to assess homework compliance have been relatively neglected. This article presents a brief review of 32 studies that described the assessment of homework compliance, and evaluated homework compliance in relation to treatment outcome. More than half of the studies relied on a single source of compliance data (n = 23), eight studies involved retrospective accounts, and only four studies used the same measure of homework compliance.

Hazards education for youth: a quasi-experimental investigation.

No experimental research has examined the hypothesized benefits of hazards education programs for youth in helping to increase community resilience. This preliminary study followed on from correlational studies and examined the role these programs play in helping increase child and family problem- and emotion-focused coping. Children (n= 219) were randomly assigned, based on classroom, to a condition.