Rural nursing and allied health placements during the latter stage of the COVID-19 public health emergency: A national study.

Objective: To explore changes to rural nursing and allied health placements during the latter stage of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Setting: Regional, rural and remote Australia.

Participants: Nursing and allied health students with a scheduled University Department of Rural Health (UDRH) facilitated rural placement between 1 January 2022 and 31 October 2022.

Association of 24-h movement behaviors during Covid-19 pandemic with spinal musculoskeletal disorders in undergraduate students: a cross-sectional study.

Background And Aims: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are an important health problem, and the Covid-19 pandemic affected several lifestyle and health aspects worldwide, including moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), sedentary behavior (SB) and sleep time, which compose the 24-h movement guidelines (24-hMG). It is unclear whether meeting 24-hMG during pandemic have been associated with MSD in adult population and this study aimed to analyze the association of meeting 24-hMG with spinal MSD in undergraduate students during Covid-19 pandemic.

Methods: A sample of 71 undergraduate students were assessed (24.

Integrated solutions for sustainable fall prevention in primary care: a pragmatic hybrid-type 2 mixed methods implementation and effectiveness study.

Unlabelled: The iSOLVE implementation project established and evaluated integrated processes and pathways, including a decision-making tool and educational interventions for general medical practitioners (GPs) and the upskilling of allied health professionals (AHPs). The study used a mixed-methods (parallel) design comprising surveys, qualitative methodologies, and an embedded cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT). Sampling was conducted within a Primary Health Network (PHN) geographic area in Sydney, Australia.

Measuring Indigenous food security-A case for Indigenous designed tools.

Food insecurity disproportionately impacts Indigenous peoples, leading to significant health disparities. Indigenous peoples globally share a deep and interconnected relationship to their lands, waterways and seas that ensures optimum health, and cultural, spiritual, social and emotional wellbeing. However, food security definitions and assessment frameworks in research and policy predominantly stem from capitalist and colonial food system values.

Older rural women's pre-visit planning and involvement in South Australian general practices: A candidacy theory perspective.

Objective: To explain older rural women's participation in clinical decision-making with GPs and explore factors associated with their pre-visit planning and involvement in treatment processes.

Methods: A sequential, theory-driven mixed-method study was conducted. Women aged 65 years or above who had visited a GP three months prior were recruited from five rural towns in South Australia through the local Rotary Club.

Longitudinal associations between fruit and vegetable intakes and depressive symptoms in middle-aged and older adults from four international twin cohorts.

Beneficial associations between higher fruit and vegetable intakes and risk of depression appear to exist but few studies have focused on adults aged 45 + years and the potential that associations are due to residual confounding has not been tested. This longitudinal study of twins (n = 3483, age 45-90 years) from Australia, Denmark, Sweden and USA, assessed the associations between baseline fruit/vegetable intake and depressive symptoms over 5-11 years using linear mixed effects models. Intakes from food frequency questionnaires were trichotomized.

Effectiveness of strategies for implementing guideline-concordant care in low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Background: International low back pain guidelines recommend providing education/advice to patients, discouraging routine imaging use, and encouraging judicious prescribing of analgesics. However, practice variation occurs and the effectiveness of implementation strategies to promote guideline-concordant care is unclear. This review aims to comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness of implementation strategies to promote guideline-concordant care for low back pain.

Virtual Healthcare for Older Adults With Preventable Chronic Conditions: A Meta-synthesis of Quality Aspects.

Our study employed a six-step meta-synthesis approach to understand quality aspects of virtual healthcare trajectories and identify effective strategies for older adults with preventable chronic conditions across the world. Review of twenty-one articles revealed four key themes: functionality of virtual healthcare, equity in service delivery, satisfaction with care, and cost-effectiveness. Despite the challenges posed by technological and clinical complexities, virtual healthcare initiatives have significantly improved accessibility and availability of health services, thereby reducing disparities.

Shaping competencies for culturally safe practice among medical students.

Background: Limited evidence exists around authentic activities that can positively influence students' knowledge of and appreciation for the First Nations peoples' culture, impacts of colonisation and other determinants of health. A renewed Indigenous Health curriculum provided us with an opportunity to implement a cultural immersion for medical students to enhance their cultural awareness and competency.

Approach: Our approach towards the design and evaluation of cultural immersion was guided by three key frameworks-a strengths-based approach towards curriculum design, Indigenous ways of knowing and being and immersions as transformative pedagogy.

Evaluation of the Interdisciplinary Care Home-bAsed Reablement Program (I-CHARP) for People Living With Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in Care Homes.

Background: Major knowledge and practice gaps exist in aged care home services to support independence of older people with dementia. This research evaluates an adaptation of a community-based rehabilitation model for care homes, namely Interdisciplinary Care Home-bAsed Reablement Program (I-CHARP), by examining whether (and, if so, how) I-CHARP produces its intended effects and how this programme can be practicably implemented, sustained and scaled up across care homes in Australia.

Methods: I-CHARP is a 4-month bio-behavioural-environmental rehabilitation model of care, integrated in care home services, supported through the deployment of an implementation strategy, the Research Enabled Aged Care Homes (REACH) network.

Does sedentary behaviour cause spinal pain in children and adolescents? A systematic review with meta-analysis.

Objective: To evaluate whether sedentary behaviour is a risk or prognostic factor for spinal pain in children and adolescents. Specifically, to estimate the (1) direction and strength of the association; (2) risk of spinal pain onset and (3) effect on spinal pain prognosis.

Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis.

Conference on 'nutrition and wellbeing in Oceania'.

Oceania is currently facing a substantial challenge: to provide sustainable and ethical food systems that support nutrition and health across land and water. The Nutrition Society of Australia and the Nutrition Society of New Zealand held a joint 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting on 'Nutrition and Wellbeing in Oceania' attended by 408 delegates. This was a timely conference focussing on nutrition challenges across the Pacific, emphasising the importance of nutrition across land and water, education settings, women's health and gut health.

Perspectives of work readiness among Australian health students trained during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: To explore perspectives of work readiness, including readiness to work rurally, among health students trained in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Participants were allied health, medicine, and nursing students in the later years of their degree (third, fourth or final year of an undergraduate entry to practice degree, or second year of postgraduate entry to practice degree), where training is clinically immersive. These students had completed a University Department of Rural Health facilitated rural and remote placement between January 2021 and October 2022.

Community events to increase uptake of Indigenous-specific health assessments: a scoping review.

Introduction: Innovative, culturally safe strategies are required to address the disproportionate level of poorer health outcomes for Indigenous people in Australia compared to non-Indigenous populations. An emerging body of evidence supports the efficacy of Indigenous-specific health assessments, or health checks, despite poor uptake since their introduction in Australia. This poor uptake is attributed to a range of system, patient and provider barriers.

Enablers and Barriers of Research Engagement Among Clinician Researchers: Nursing, Allied Health and Medical Professionals.

Background: In response to the increasing involvement of nursing, allied health and medical professionals in research within clinical service roles, understanding the varying research capacities across public health institutions and professions is crucial. This study aims to explore the lived experiences of conducting research among nursing, allied health and medical health professionals within a tertiary public hospital setting in New South Wales (NSW). The focus is on identifying barriers and enablers to research engagement.

Process evaluation of a randomised controlled trial intervention designed to improve rehabilitation services for Aboriginal Australians after brain injury: the Healing Right Way Trial.

Background: Healing Right Way (HRW) aimed to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal Australians with stroke or traumatic brain injury by facilitating system-level access to culturally secure rehabilitation services. Using a stepped-wedge randomised controlled trial (RCT) design (ACTRN12618000139279, 30/01/2018), a two-pronged intervention was introduced in four rural and four urban hospitals, comprising 1.Cultural security training (CST) for staff and 2.

Are we joining the One Health dots? A scoping review of research on the one health effects of extreme weather events in eastern Australia.

Extreme weather events such as floods, bushfires, cyclones, and drought, are projected to increase in eastern Australia. Understanding how these events influence the combined, sustainable well-being of humans, animals, and ecosystems - that is One Health - will enable development of transdisciplinary and ultimately more effective interventions. A scoping review was conducted to explore the research associated with the effects of extreme weather events in eastern Australia using a One Health lens, specifically identifying the type of extreme weather events studied, the research conducted in the context of One Health, and gaps to inform improved One Health implementation.

Reflecting on the quality of a methodologically pluralist evaluation of a large-scale Indigenous health research collaboration in Australia.

Background: Indigenous communities worldwide lead calls for all evaluations of research, programmes and policies affecting their communities to reflect the values, priorities and perspectives of the Indigenous peoples and communities involved. Tools, such as the Quality Appraisal Tool (QAT), are available to assess research quality through an Indigenous cultural lens. Good evaluation requires that evaluation efforts be evaluated.