Increasing the uptake of advance care directives through staff education and one-on-one support for people facing end-of-life.

Background: An advance care plan outlines a patient's wishes regarding medical treatment or goals of care in the case that they become unable to communicate or to make decisions. An advance care directive (ACD) is an advance care plan that has been formally recorded and has legal status. Despite ACDs playing an important role in person-centred end-of-life care, an earlier retrospective medical records audit demonstrated that only 11% (58/531) of people who died due to a terminal illness had an ACD.

A cross-sectional study assessing concordance with advance care directives in a rural health district.

Objective: To measure compliance with Advance Care Directives (ACDs) for decedents in a rural setting.

Design: Observational, cross-sectional medical records audit comparing requests in ACDs with actual outcomes.

Setting: Rural Australian coastal district.

Practice pathways, education, and regulation influencing nurse practitioners' decision to provide primary care: a rapid scoping review.

Background/objective: Initially established to improve access to healthcare, particularly for primary care, the full potential of the nurse practitioner role is yet to be realised in most countries. Despite this, most countries are working to meet an ageing population's increasing healthcare needs and reduce healthcare costs and access disparities. Achieving these outcomes requires reform at multiple levels, including nurse practitioner practice pathways, education and regulation, and identifying the barriers and facilitators to optimising their primary care role.

General practitioners' perspectives on the management of refugee health: a qualitative study.

Objective: To explore general practitioners' (GPs) perceptions of the challenges and facilitators to managing refugee healthcare needs in regional Australia.

Setting: A regional community in Australia involved in the resettlement of refugees.

Participants: Nine GPs from five practices in the region.

Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder: a randomised controlled trial and outcomes in routine care.

Background: Despite its potential scalability, little is known about the outcomes of internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy (iCBT) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when it is provided with minimal guidance from a clinician.

Aim: To evaluate the outcomes of minimally guided iCBT for PTSD in a randomised control trial (RCT, Study 1) and in an open trial in routine community care (Study 2).

Method: A RCT compared the iCBT course (=21) to a waitlist control (WLC, =19) among participants diagnosed with PTSD.

Q Fever awareness and risk profiles among agricultural show attendees.

Objective: To assess awareness and risk of Q fever among agricultural show attendees.

Setting: University of New England's Farm of the Future Pavilion, 2019, Sydney Royal Agricultural Show.

Participants: Participants were ≥18 years, fluent in English, Australian residents, and gave their informed consent.

COVID-19 related differences in the uptake and effects of internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy for symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: The impacts of COVID-19 for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may be considerable. Online cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT) programmes provide scalable access to psychological interventions, although the effectiveness of iCBT for OCD during COVID-19 has not been evaluated.

Aim: This study investigated the uptake and effectiveness of iCBT for OCD (both self- and clinician-guided courses) during the first 8 months of the pandemic in Australia (March to October 2020) and compared outcomes with the previous year.

The effectiveness of internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for health anxiety in routine care.

Introduction: Randomised controlled trials have shown that internet-delivered cognitive behavioural treatment (iCBT) is an effective treatment for health anxiety, but the effectiveness of these programs in routine care has not been investigated. This study examined the effectiveness of iCBT for health anxiety symptoms in routine care settings in the community.

Methods: Using an open-trial design, we investigated adherence to, and effectiveness of a 6-lesson iCBT program for health anxiety symptoms amongst individuals (n = 391, mean age 41 years, 64% female) who enrolled in the program either self-guided (n = 312) or under the supervision of community clinicians (general practitioners, psychologists and other allied health professionals) (n = 79).

Reboot Online: A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing an Online Multidisciplinary Pain Management Program with Usual Care for Chronic Pain.

Objective: Chronic pain is a prevalent and burdensome condition. Reboot Online was developed to address treatment barriers traditionally associated with accessing face-to-face chronic pain management programs. It is a comprehensive multidisciplinary online treatment program, based on an existing and effective face-to-face multidisciplinary pain program (the Reboot program).

Comparing Scores From Full Length, Short Form, and Adaptive Tests of the Social Interaction Anxiety and Social Phobia Scales.

The current study developed and examined the performance of a computerized adaptive version of the Social Interaction Anxiety and Social Phobia Scales (SIAS/SPS) and compared results with a previously developed static short form (SIAS-6/SPS-6) in terms of measurement precision, concordance with the full forms, and sensitivity to treatment. Among an online sample of Australian adults, there were relatively minor differences in the performance of the adaptive tests and static short forms when compared with the full scales. Moreover, both adaptive and static short forms generated similar effect sizes across treatment in a clinical sample.

Maintain Your Brain: Protocol of a 3-Year Randomized Controlled Trial of a Personalized Multi-Modal Digital Health Intervention to Prevent Cognitive Decline Among Community Dwelling 55 to 77 Year Olds.

Background: Maintain Your Brain (MYB) is a randomized controlled trial of an online multi-modal lifestyle intervention targeting modifiable dementia risk factors with its primary aim being to reduce cognitive decline in an older age cohort.

Methods: MYB aims to recruit 8,500 non-demented community dwelling 55 to 77 year olds from the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study in New South Wales, Australia. Participants will be screened for risk factors related to four modules that comprise the MYB intervention: physical activity, nutrition, mental health, and cognitive training.

Item Response Theory Analysis of the Big Five Questionnaire for Children-Short Form (BFC-SF): A Self-Report Measure of Personality in Children Aged 11-12 Years.

Prior investigations indicate that the five core personality dimensions (the "Big Five") are measurable by middle childhood. The aim of this research was to examine the psychometric properties of a short-form self-report measure of the Big Five personality dimensions in children that would be suitable for administration online in large population-based studies. Twenty-five questionnaire items in English, derived from the 65-item Big Five Questionnaire for Children in Italian (Barbaranelli, Caprara, Rabasca, & Pastorelli, 2003), were completed online by 27,415 Australian children in Year 6 (mean age 11.

A randomized controlled trial of 'MUMentum Pregnancy': Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy program for antenatal anxiety and depression.

Background: Anxiety and depression are common during pregnancy and associated with adverse outcomes for the mother and infant if left untreated. Despite the need to improve treatment accessibility and uptake in this population, no studies have investigated internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT) for antenatal anxiety and depression. In a randomised controlled trial, we examined the efficacy and acceptability of a brief, unguided iCBT intervention - the MUMentum Pregnancy program - in pregnant women with anxiety and/or depression.

The effectiveness of unguided internet cognitive behavioural therapy for mixed anxiety and depression.

Clinician-guided internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) is an effective treatment for depression and anxiety disorders. However, few studies have examined the effectiveness of completely unguided iCBT. The current research investigated adherence to, and the effects of two brief unguided iCBT programs on depression and anxiety symptom severity, and psychological distress.

Maladaptive Behaviours Associated with Generalized Anxiety Disorder: An Item Response Theory Analysis.

Background: Cognitive models of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) suggest that maladaptive behaviours may contribute to the maintenance of the disorder; however, little research has concentrated on identifying and measuring these behaviours. To address this gap, the Worry Behaviors Inventory (WBI) was developed and has been evaluated within a classical test theory (CTT) approach.

Aims: As CTT is limited in several important respects, this study examined the psychometric properties of the WBI using an Item Response Theory approach.

Reducing behavioral avoidance with internet-delivered cognitive behavior therapy for generalized anxiety disorder.

Recent research has sought to identify maladaptive behaviors that are associated with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Although maladaptive behaviors may contribute to the maintenance of the disorder, little is known about how these behaviors change during the course of cognitive behavior therapy and whether such changes relate to treatment outcomes. This study examined changes in maladaptive behaviors, symptoms of GAD and depression, and disability across internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (iCBT) for GAD in two large clinical samples (N = 206 and 298).

Treating late-life depression: Comparing the effects of internet-delivered cognitive behavior therapy across the adult lifespan.

Background: The burden attributable to late-life depression is set to increase with the ageing population. The size of the workforce trained to deliver psychogeriatric medicine is limited. Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) is an efficacious and scalable treatment option for depression.

Integrating iCBT for generalized anxiety disorder into routine clinical care: Treatment effects across the adult lifespan.

The burden attributable to late-life Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is set to increase alongside the ageing population. Yet, the psychogeriatric workforce is limited in size and few studies have focused on the treatment of GAD among older patients. Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) could be integrated into existing infrastructure and scale the psychogeriatric workforce, if shown to be effective across the adult lifespan.

DSM-5 illness anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorder: Comorbidity, correlates, and overlap with DSM-IV hypochondriasis.

Objective: To investigate the reliability, validity and utility of DSM-5 illness anxiety disorder (IAD) and somatic symptom disorder (SSD), and explore their overlap with DSM-IV Hypochondriasis in a health anxious sample.

Methods: Treatment-seeking patients with health anxiety (N=118) completed structured diagnostic interviews to assess DSM-IV Hypochondriasis, DSM-5 IAD, SSD, and comorbid mental disorders, and completed self-report measures of health anxiety, comorbid symptoms, cognitions and behaviours, and service utilization.

Results: IAD and SSD were more reliable diagnoses than Hypochondriasis (kappa estimates: IAD: 0.

Psychometric Properties of the Worry Behaviors Inventory: Replication and Extension in a Large Clinical and Community Sample.

Background: The use of maladaptive behaviors by individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is theoretically important and clinically meaningful. However, little is known about the specificity of avoidant behaviors to GAD and how these behaviors can be reliably assessed.

Aims: This study replicated and extended the psychometric evaluation of the Worry Behaviors Inventory (WBI), a brief self-report measure of avoidant behaviors associated with GAD.

The Worry Behaviors Inventory: Assessing the behavioral avoidance associated with generalized anxiety disorder.

Background: Understanding behavioral avoidance associated with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) has implications for the classification, theoretical conceptualization, and clinical management of the disorder. This study describes the development and preliminary psychometric evaluation of a self-report measure of avoidant behaviors associated with GAD: the Worry Behaviors Inventory (WBI).

Methods: The WBI was administered to treatment-seeking patients (N=1201).

Computerised cognitive behaviour therapy for major depression: a reply to the REEACT trial.

Computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (CCBT) has been shown to be an efficacious treatment for depression. A recent meta-analysis of 9 studies showed a large mean effect size superiority over control group (effect size=0.86, number needed to treat=2), good adherence (69%) and benefits were evident at follow-up at a median of 26 weeks.