Development of a scale to measure shared problem-solving and decision-making in mental healthcare.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to create a measure of collaborative processes between healthcare team members, patients, and carers.

Methods: A shared decision-making scale was developed using a qualitative research derived model and refined using Rasch and factor analysis. The scale was used by staff in the hospital for four consecutive years (n = 152, 121, 119 and 121) and by two independent patients' and carers' samples (n = 223 and 236).

Creation of consensus recommendations for collaborative practice in the Malaysian psychiatric system: a modified Delphi study.

Background: There is strong evidence that collaborative practice in mental healthcare improves outcomes for patients. The concept of collaborative practice can include collaboration between healthcare workers of different professional backgrounds and collaboration with patients, families and communities. Most models of collaborative practice were developed in Western and high-income countries and are not easily translatable to settings which are culturally diverse and lower in resources.

Does an incremental approach to implementing programmatic assessment work? Reflections on the change process.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. In 2017, the School of Medicine (Fremantle) of the University of Notre Dame Australia began moving towards programmatic assessment.

Attitudes towards abortion in male and female adolescents with diverse sexual and pregnancy experiences: a cross-sectional study.

Unlabelled: Background Research focused on adolescents' attitudes towards abortion is limited, and validated scales are not routinely used. A greater understanding of adolescents' attitudes towards abortion could better inform the sexuality education strategies targeted at this age group.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was completed by 1470 adolescents (437 males, 1033 females) aged 12-19 years and living in Perth, Australia.

Barriers and enablers to collaboration in the mental health system in Sabah, Malaysia: towards a theory of collaboration.

Background: The systems that help people with mental disorders in Malaysia include hospitals, primary care, traditional and religious systems, schools and colleges, employers, families and other community members.

Aims: To better understand collaboration between and within these systems and create a theoretical framework for system development.

Method: A total of 26 focus groups and 27 individual interviews were undertaken with patients, carers, psychiatric hospital staff, primary care and district hospital staff, religious and traditional healers, community leaders, non-governmental organisation workers, and school and college counsellors.

Reactions to symptoms of mental disorder and help seeking in Sabah, Malaysia.

Background: A better understanding is needed about how people make decisions about help seeking.

Materials: Focus group and individual interviews with patients, carers, healthcare staff, religious authorities, traditional healers and community members.

Discussion: Four stages of help seeking were identified: (1) noticing symptoms and initial labelling, (2) collective decision-making, (3) spiritual diagnoses and treatment and (4) psychiatric diagnosis and treatment.

Introducing the individual Teamwork Observation and Feedback Tool (iTOFT): Development and description of a new interprofessional teamwork measure.

The individual Teamwork Observation and Feedback Tool (iTOFT) was devised by a consortium of seven universities in recognition of the need for a means of observing and giving feedback to individual learners undertaking an interprofessional teamwork task. It was developed through a literature review of the existing teamwork assessment tools, a discussion of accreditation standards for the health professions, Delphi consultation and field-testing with an emphasis on its feasibility and acceptability for formative assessment. There are two versions: the Basic tool is for use with students who have little clinical teamwork experience and lists 11 observable behaviours under two headings: 'shared decision making' and 'working in a team'.

Clinical Guidelines for Management of Bone Health in Rett Syndrome Based on Expert Consensus and Available Evidence.

Objectives: We developed clinical guidelines for the management of bone health in Rett syndrome through evidence review and the consensus of an expert panel of clinicians.

Methods: An initial guidelines draft was created which included statements based upon literature review and 11 open-ended questions where literature was lacking. The international expert panel reviewed the draft online using a 2-stage Delphi process to reach consensus agreement.

Longitudinal bone mineral content and density in Rett syndrome and their contributing factors.

Bone mass and density are low in females with Rett syndrome. This study used Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry to measure annual changes in z-scores for areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) in the lumbar spine and total body in an Australian Rett syndrome cohort at baseline and then after three to four years. Bone mineral apparent density (BMAD) was calculated in the lumbar spine.

Scale construction utilising the Rasch unidimensional measurement model: A measurement of adolescent attitudes towards abortion.

Background: Measurement scales seeking to quantify latent traits like attitudes, are often developed using traditional psychometric approaches. Application of the Rasch unidimensional measurement model may complement or replace these techniques, as the model can be used to construct scales and check their psychometric properties. If data fit the model, then a scale with invariant measurement properties, including interval-level scores, will have been developed.

Bone mineral content and density in Rett syndrome and their contributing factors.

This study used densitometry to investigate the areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) in an Australian Rett syndrome cohort and to assess how factors such as genotype, epilepsy, BMI, and mobility affect these parameters. The influence of lean tissue mass (LTM) and bone area (BA) on total body BMC (TBBMC) was also investigated. Participants, recruited from the Australian Rett Syndrome Database (ARSD), had TBBMC and lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) aBMD measured using Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry.

Guidelines for management of scoliosis in Rett syndrome patients based on expert consensus and clinical evidence.

Study Design: Modified Delphi technique.

Objective: To develop guidelines for the clinical management of scoliosis in Rett syndrome through evidence review and consensus expert panel opinion.

Summary Of Background Data: Rett syndrome is a rare disorder and clinical expertise is thus with small case series.

InterRett, a model for international data collection in a rare genetic disorder.

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a rare genetic disorder within the autistic spectrum. This study compared socio-demographic, clinical and genetic characteristics of the international database, InterRett, and the population based Australian Rett syndrome database (ARSD). It also explored the strengths and limitations of InterRett in comparison with other studies.

Parental experiences of scoliosis management in Rett syndrome.

Background: Scoliosis is the most common orthopaedic complication of Rett syndrome. Parents of affected individuals are vital partners in the clinical management of scoliosis and this study explored parental experiences of various aspects of different management options.

Methods: Publicly available Rettnet postings informed the development of an online questionnaire about scoliosis and its management in Rett syndrome.

Pregnancy and protection: perceptions, attitudes and experiences of Australian female adolescents.

Background And Purpose: Despite decades of research, development and evaluation of educational and promotional strategies to prevent teenage pregnancy, we have only a limited understanding of the strategies that are effective and why. This study sought to explore female teenagers' attitudes, perceptions and experiences of contraceptive use, and describe the influence of this on pregnancy risk.

Methods: A qualitative approach was used to explore the contraceptive behaviour in a purposive sample of sexually active Australian females aged 14-19 years.

Perceptions and experiences of first sexual intercourse in Australian adolescent females.

Purpose: To better understand the factors that influence the initiation of first intercourse among adolescent females and to explore the context in which this occurs.

Methods: A purposive sample of sexually active female teenagers aged between 14 and 19 years were recruited from sexual and reproductive health clinics across the Perth metropolitan area. Sixty-eight in-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted.

Health service use in Rett syndrome.

Rett syndrome is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder affecting girls, caused by mutations in the MECP2 gene. There are no population-based data on the extent and determinants of health service use in this disorder. The population-based registry, the Australian Rett Syndrome database, was the source of phenotype data.