What is Effective in Massage Therapy? Well, "It Depends…": a Qualitative Study of Experienced Orthopaedic Massage Therapists.

Background: Massage has been used as a treatment for musculoskeletal pain throughout history and across cultures, and yet most meta-analyses have only shown weak support for the efficacy of massage. There is a recognised need for more research in foundational questions including: how massage treatments are constructed; what therapists actually do within a treatment, including their clinical reasoning; and what role therapists play in determining the effectiveness of a massage treatment.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore what experienced orthopaedic massage therapists consider to be the aspects of their work that contribute to effectiveness.

The Murray-Darling Medical Schools Network Research Collaboration: protocol for a longitudinal, multi-university program of work to explore the effect of rurally based medical school programs in the Murray-Darling region.

Introduction: There is now strong evidence to support the positive impact of place-based medical education on the recruitment and retention of the rural health workforce in Australia. Much of this work, however, has been undertaken in the context of 'extended rural clinical placement' - students undertaking part of their medical degree in a rural location. Until recently, there were only a few places in Australia in which students could undertake the entirety of their medical degree in a rural area.

Successful Ageing with COPD: Physical and Psychosocial Adaption to Functional Decline.

There is considerable research regarding the adaption to functional decline associated with advanced (Stage IV) Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This research has, however, primarily focused on physical and interventional strategies to manage disease progression and symptom burden, as opposed to the psychosocial strategies. To address this paucity, the current research explored the psychosocial strategies people with Stage IV COPD use to maintain quality of life towards the end of life.

The reliability and utility of spirometry performed on people with asthma in community pharmacies.

Objective: To investigate the reliability and the utility of spirometry generated by community pharmacists participating in two large asthma intervention trials of 892 people.

Methods: The Pharmacy Asthma Care Program (PACP) and the Pharmacy Asthma Management Service (PAMS) involved up to four visits to the pharmacy over 6 months for counseling and goal setting. Pharmacists performed spirometry according to ATS/ERS guidelines to inform management.

Respiratory symptoms and illness in older Australians: the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study.

Objective: To measure the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among people aged 40 years or older in Australia.

Design, Setting And Participants: A cross-sectional study of people in the community aged ≥ 40 years, selected at random using electoral rolls, in six sites chosen to reflect the sociodemographic and geographic diversity of Australia, conducted between 2006 and 2010. Standardised questionnaires were administered by interview.