"Do-it-yourself": Vaccine rejection and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

In this article, we elucidate a symbiotic relationship between complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and rejection of, or hesitancy towards, vaccination. In Fremantle, Western Australia, and Adelaide, South Australia, we conducted in-depth interviews from September 2013-December 2015 with 29 parents who had refused or delayed some or all of their children's vaccines. Our qualitative analysis found that for many, their do-it-yourself ethic and personal agency was enhanced by self-directed CAM use, alongside (sometimes informal) CAM practitioner instruction.

Understanding the perceived logic of care by vaccine-hesitant and vaccine-refusing parents: A qualitative study in Australia.

In terms of public health, childhood vaccination programs have benefits that far outweigh risks. However, some parents decide not to vaccinate their children. This paper explores the ways in which such parents talked about the perceived risks and benefits incurred by vaccinating (or not vaccinating) their children.

'Waiting for' and 'waiting in' public and private hospitals: a qualitative study of patient trust in South Australia.

Background: Waiting times for hospital appointments, treatment and/or surgery have become a major political and health service problem, leading to national maximum waiting times and policies to reduce waiting times. Quantitative studies have documented waiting times for various types of surgery and longer waiting times in public vs private hospitals. However, very little qualitative research has explored patient experiences of waiting, how this compares between public and private hospitals, and the implications for trust in hospitals and healthcare professionals.

Vaccine Rejecting Parents' Engagement With Expert Systems That Inform Vaccination Programs.

In attempting to provide protection to individuals and communities, childhood immunization has benefits that far outweigh disease risks. However, some parents decide not to immunize their children with some or all vaccines for reasons including lack of trust in governments, health professionals, and vaccine manufacturers. This article employs a theoretical analysis of trust and distrust to explore how twenty-seven parents with a history of vaccine rejection in two Australian cities view the expert systems central to vaccination policy and practice.

A qualitative study of patient (dis)trust in public and private hospitals: the importance of choice and pragmatic acceptance for trust considerations in South Australia.

Background: This paper explores the nature and reasoning for (dis)trust in Australian public and private hospitals. Patient trust increases uptake of, engagement with and optimal outcomes from healthcare services and is therefore central to health practice, policy and planning.

Methods: A qualitative study in South Australia, including 36 in-depth interviews (18 from public and 18 from private hospitals).

Disaster preparedness and response: challenges for Australian public health nurses - a literature review.

To date, Australia has not had to respond to a nationwide catastrophic event. However, over the past decade, heat waves, bushfires, cyclones, and floods have significantly challenged Australia's disaster preparedness and the surge capacity of local and regional health systems. Given that disaster events are predicted to increase in impact and frequency, the health workforce needs to be prepared for and able to respond effectively to a disaster.

Interrater reliability of injury coding in the Queensland Trauma Registry.

Background: The capacity to accurately code injury event details and use the Abbreviated Injury Scale and Injury Severity Score to group injuries according to severity, underpins the audit and review activities of the trauma registries throughout the world. In the interests of transparency and benchmarking between registries, we aimed to assess the interrater reliability of coding in the Queensland Trauma Registry.

Methods: One hundred and twenty injury cases were randomly selected from the Queensland Trauma Registry database, stratified by hospital, severity and the coder who originally coded the chart.