Screening for Partner Violence Among Family Mediation Clients: Differentiating Types of Abuse.

Family mediation is mandated in Australia for couples in dispute over separation and parenting as a first step in dispute resolution, except where there is a history of intimate partner violence. However, validation of effective well-differentiated partner violence screening instruments suitable for mediation settings is at an early phase of development. This study contributes to calls for better violence screening instruments in the mediation context to detect a differentiated range of abusive behaviors by examining the reliability and validity of both established scales, and newly developed scales that measured intimate partner violence by partner and by self.

Building healthcare workers' confidence to work with same-sex parented families.

This article reports on a qualitative study of barriers and access to healthcare for same-sex attracted parents and their children. Focus groups were held with same-sex attracted parents to explore their experiences with healthcare providers and identify barriers and facilitators to access. Parents reported experiencing uncomfortable or anxiety-provoking encounters with healthcare workers who struggled to adopt inclusive or appropriate language to engage their family.

Comparison of an interactive CD-based and traditional instructor-led Basic Life Support skills training for nurses.

Background: Basic Life Support (BLS) is a life-saving and fundamental skill in resuscitation. However, studies have reported limitations in BLS training outcomes for both health professional and lay populations, and noted the resource and time-intensive nature of traditional training approaches.

Purpose: This exploratory study evaluated the effectiveness of an interactive CD-based BLS training programme that included unsupervised manikin practice compared with a traditional instructor-led BLS training programme involving demonstration and supervised practice.

Predictors of prescribed medication use for depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep problems in mid-aged Australian women.

Objective: The study examined prevalence of self-reported use of medication recommended or prescribed by a doctor for depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep problems; and modelled baseline factors that predicted use over 3 years for each condition.

Methods: Analyses were undertaken on the 2001 and 2004 surveys of mid-aged women in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Dependent variables were self-reported use in past 4 weeks of medications recommended or prescribed by a doctor for depression, anxiety, stress, or sleep problems in 2001 and 2004.

Efficacy of family mediation and the role of family violence: study protocol.

Background: Family law reforms in Australia require separated parents in dispute to attempt mandatory family dispute resolution (FDR) in community-based family services before court attendance. However, there are concerns about such services when clients present with a history of high conflict and family violence. This study protocol describes a longitudinal study of couples presenting for family mediation services.

Mortality and disability outcomes of self-reported elder abuse: a 12-year prospective investigation.

Objectives: To determine whether elder abuse can predict mortality and disability over the ensuing 12 years.

Design: Population-based prospective cohort study of women aged 70 to 75 in 1996; survival analysis.

Setting: Australia.

Developing psychotherapists' competence through clinical supervision: protocol for a qualitative study of supervisory dyads.

Background: Mental health professionals face unique demands and stressors in their work, resulting in high rates of burnout and distress. Clinical supervision is a widely adopted and valued mechanism of professional support, development, and accountability, despite the very limited evidence of specific impacts on therapist or client outcomes. The current study aims to address this by exploring how psychotherapists develop competence through clinical supervision and what impact this has on the supervisees' practice and their clients' outcomes.

Identifying the evidence-base for art-based practices and their potential benefit for mental health recovery: a critical review.

Purpose: Art-based practices show promise as a beneficial solution for mental health services because they are in line with the whole person recovery framework currently being adopted, and have high acceptability with consumers. Nevertheless, incorporation of art-based approaches into mental health services has been impeded by claims of an insufficient evidence-base and ongoing debates about the most suitable research practices. This article addresses this gap in the literature by critically reviewing current research on the benefits of art-based practices in mental health rehabilitation settings.

Managing difficulties in supervision: supervisors' perspectives.

Few studies have examined the practice wisdom of expert supervisors. This study addresses this gap by exploring how experienced supervisors manage difficulties in supervision in the context of the supervisory relationship. The supervisors were a purposive sample of 16 senior members of the profession with considerable expertise in supervision.

Short and long-term effectiveness of couple counselling: a study protocol.

Background: Healthy couple relationships are fundamental to a healthy society, whereas relationship breakdown and discord are linked to a wide range of negative health and wellbeing outcomes. Two types of relationship services (couple counselling and relationship education) have demonstrated efficacy in many controlled studies but evidence of the effectiveness of community-based relationship services has lagged behind. This study protocol describes an effectiveness evaluation of the two types of community-based relationship services.

Successful psychotherapy for psychogenic seizures in men.

This qualitative study examined factors contributing to the development and successful treatment of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES), in civilian men. In-depth interviews were conducted with therapist-client dyads comprising two male clients who had been successfully treated for PNES and their therapists. A theory-building case study approach provided evidence that those factors known to contribute to PNES and other somatoform symptoms in females and in males engaged in war also contributed to these symptoms in these two civilian males.

Utilization of personal therapy by psychotherapists: a practice-friendly review and a new study.

This article offers both a practice-friendly review of research on therapists' personal therapy and a new study of personal psychotherapy among 3,995 psychologists, counselors, social workers, psychiatrists, and nurses in 6 English-speaking countries. The prevalence of personal therapy as it relates to professional discipline, theoretical orientation, gender, and career level are studied. Findings showed that 87% of the overall sample embarked on personal therapy at least once: 94% of analytic/psychodynamic therapists, 91% of humanistic therapists, 73% of cognitive-behavioral therapists, 82% of the novice therapists to 89% of senior therapists.

The lived experience of art making as a companion to the mental health recovery process.

Purpose: Art making is a common activity provided for consumers in mental health psychosocial rehabilitation services, yet there is little evidence available which examines its role in the recovery process. The current study inquires into mental health consumers' lived experiences of art making within psychosocial rehabilitation services and their views on how art making supports mental health recovery.

Method: This research used qualitative in-depth interviews to explore the role of art making in the mental health recovery journey.

Understanding resilience in same-sex parented families: the work, love, play study.

Background: While families headed by same-sex couples have achieved greater public visibility in recent years, there are still many challenges for these families in dealing with legal and community contexts that are not supportive of same-sex relationships. The Work, Love, Play study is a large longitudinal study of same-sex parents. It aims to investigate many facets of family life among this sample and examine how they change over time.

Permission to speak: therapists' understandings of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures and their treatment.

Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), somatoform symptoms that diminish quality of life, can be difficult to treat. A previously proposed conceptualization of PNES is further developed using grounded theory methodology to explore the understandings of therapists who successfully treated clients with PNES. Participants conceptualized PNES as nonverbal communication behaviors that usually evolved in traumatic, interpersonal systems in which verbal expression of affect was proscribed and nonverbal communication of affect was prescribed.

Conceptualization and treatment of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures.

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) frequently present co-morbidly with a range of somatic and psychiatric conditions. This review discusses the relationship between PNES, a number of co-morbid psychiatric symptoms, early attachment trauma, and disruption of neurological development. We suggest that it may be clinically useful to understand PNES with reference to three patterns of co-morbidity and trauma history.

Inadequate cervical cancer screening among mid-aged Australian women who have experienced partner violence.

Objectives: Partner violence is linked to cervical cancer and other gynaecological conditions. However, results of current research into associations between partner violence and cervical cancer screening have been inconclusive. Therefore, the current research investigates the association between partner violence and inadequate cervical cancer screening.

Australian women seeking counseling have higher use of health services.

Purpose: Despite a high prevalence of psychological distress and poor mental health in the Australian community, use of counseling services is very low. There has been only limited research examining the profile of those who do access counseling services, mainly in terms of demographic and health behavior variables. To extend our understanding of those who currently access counseling services, this study aimed to examine the broader pattern of health service utilization by women who consulted counselors, psychologists, or social workers in the past year compared with those who did not among a population-based sample of middle-aged Australian women, and to determine whether health service utilization was independently associated with use of counseling services, controlling for other known predictors.

History of domestic violence and physical health in midlife.

The association between domestic violence and physical health in middle-aged Australian women is investigated via a cross-sectional survey of 14,100 women (45 to 50 years old) who responded to the first Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health survey. After adjustment for demographic and health behavior characteristics and menopause status in multivariate analyses, various physical conditions (allergies or breathing problems, pain or fatigue, bowel problems, vaginal discharge, eyesight and hearing problems, low iron, asthma, bronchitis or emphysema, cervical cancer) were associated with domestic violence. The results highlight the link between health and domestic violence in middle-aged women and underscore the need for health professionals to take a full social history from women presenting with physical symptoms.

Psychological health in midlife among women who have ever lived with a violent partner or spouse.

This study examines the psychological health correlates of domestic violence in a large random sample of mid-aged Australian women (N = 11,310, age 47 to 52 years). Logistic regressions were used to investigate the associations between domestic violence and depression, anxiety, and psychological wellbeing, after adjusting for demographic variables (marital status, income management, area). Results indicate increased odds of having experienced domestic violence for those who had: ever experienced a diagnosis of depression, anxiety, or an "other" psychiatric disorder; recent symptoms of depression and anxiety; used psychoactive medication for depression or anxiety in the 4 weeks prior to the survey; and who reported current depression.

A qualitative process evaluation of an oral health promotion program for older migrant adults.

Issues Addressed: Qualitative process evaluation of a community-based health promotion program conducted to improve the use of oral health services, oral health knowledge, attitudes, and practices of older Greek and Italian adults living in Melbourne, Australia.

Method: Fifteen focus groups were conducted with a sample of program participants (n=151) aged 55 and over, drawn from nine Italian and six Greek ethnic clubs. The focus groups sought participants' views about all aspects of the oral health promotion program and delivery, including the use of educational seminars; the preparation of simple language printed material known as the ORHIS (Oral Health Information Seminars/Sheets); and the distribution and demonstration of oral care products relevant to each individual seminar.

Correlates of sexually transmitted infections in young Australian women.

The study examined correlates of three common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among Australian women. The sample comprised 9582 women aged 22--27 years who took part in the second postal survey in 2000, of the young cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.Self-reported rates of diagnosis in past four years were: chlamydia 1.

A randomised controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of a nurse-provided intervention for hospitalised smokers.

Objective: Does the provision of a nurse-based intervention lead to smoking cessation in hospital patients?

Methods: At tertiary teaching hospital in Newcastle, Australia, 4,779 eligible (aged 18-80, admitted for at least 24 hours, and able to provide informed consent) and consenting (73.4%) in-patients were recruited into a larger cross-sectional survey. 1,422 (29.

Factors associated with self-reported use of dental health services among older Greek and Italian immigrants.

The authors discuss utilization of dental health services by older Greek and Italian immigrants in Melbourne, Australia. Their study involved 374 Greek and 360 Italian adults who completed a questionnaire and received an oral examination. Nearly 41% of Greek and 45% of Italian respondents had used dental services in the previous year.