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Factors influencing renovation decision-making in aged care providers – an investigative study
No full textSuper sprint triathlon performance progression in young state and national standard Australian triathletes
Get PDFAdolescent sports performance is multifaceted. Investigation of the performance trajectory of young state- and national-standard triathletes may provide valuable information on athlete development. A total of 412 Super Sprint triathlon results were modelled using linear mixed effects to generate performance trajectories as athletes aged with athlete and competition as random effects. Velocity trajectories were estimated for full race, swim, cycle and run segments. Estimated 13-year-old full-race velocity is 5.97 (95% CI: 5.57, 6.37) m·s−1 for males and 5.66 (95% CI: 5.31, 6.01) m·s−1 for females. Swim, cycle and run velocities are 1.11 (95% CI: 1.08, 1.14); 8.50 (95% CI: 7.97, 9.01); and 4.47 (95% CI: 4.37, 4.57) m·s−1 for males and 1.10 (95% CI: 1.08, 1.13); 8.03 (95% CI: 7.58, 8.50); and 4.11 (95% CI: 3.94, 4.27) m·s−1 for females. Yearly improvements in full-race and cycling reduce with age for males and females, due to the negative quadratic trend which is not present for both sexes swimming and for males running. Females did not show a statistically significant improvement with age in the run segment. Our results support previous research on adolescent swimming while providing new insights for cycling and female running.</p
What do clinicians perceive as the effective implementation strategies for TREAT journal clubs?: A qualitative study
No full textBackground: Journal clubs have long been recognised as a potential tool for supporting evidence-based practice skills and culture, however they can be challenging to implement and sustain in clinical settings. While the TREAT journal club format was developed to address some of these challenges; it is unclear which strategies are most helpful in supporting ongoing sustainability. To further this enquiry, the aim of this study was to identify clinician's perspectives of the most effective implementation strategies for supporting sustainable TREAT journal club attendance, culture and satisfaction.Methods:Clinicians, clinician-facilitators, and research mentors were recruited from six allied health journal clubs who participated in the TREAT journal club format within a single hospital and health service. Participants were invited to attend focus groups at 10 months and 16-months following participation in their journal club. Focus group questions explored which strategies participants felt were most effective during implementation of the journal club, what outcomes they led to and what if any contextual factors influenced these outcomes. Data analysis involved an inductive and deductive approach and the formation of context- mechanism-outcome configurations drawing from elements of a realist evaluation.Results: Eighteen focus groups were conducted separately with 47 clinician participants, 12 clinician-facilitators, and 6 research mentors. Strategies reported to be the most effective related to clinical relevance and application of the topic, group participation (i.e., group prioritisation of topics, group discussion), consistency, structure (i.e., protected time, structured appraisal tool, timetabling) and mentoring. These were further synthesised within 11 context-mechanism-outcome configurations which identified contexts that influenced outcomes. For example, clinicians reported smaller and single profession journal clubs enhanced outcomes relating to attendance, culture and practice changes when implementing the strategy of discussing the article's application to practice.Conclusion:Clinicians report several strategies which may enhance journal club attendance and satisfaction, EBP culture, and knowledge and skills of clinicians when implementing a TREAT journal club for up to 16-months. Findings emphasise the importance of journal club topics being identified and prioritised by clinicians as a group to maximise relevance and clinician buy-in. Strategies discussed may be useful for services to consider when implementing journal clubs, taking into consideration specific contexts
Faculty Development for Leadership and Management
No full textMcKimm, J., Forrest, K., Ramani, S. (2025). Faculty Development for Leadership and Management. In: Steinert, Y. (eds) Faculty Development in the Health Professions. Innovation and Change in Professional Education, vol 11. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-9372-3_
Christianity as coping mechanisms for migrants with mental health challenges in Australia: social work implications
Get PDFChristian religion may be a powerful resource that can serve as a coping mechanism to resolve challenges and provide comfort to African migrants confronted with mental health challenges. We aimed to explore the coping strategies among African migrants in Australia. We undertook semi-structured interviews online with 11 participants with African backgrounds, comprising six mental health clinicians and five migrant service users living in Australia for at least the past 12 months. Literature exploring religious coping mechanisms, social support and acculturation was drawn on. The interviews were undertaken online via Teams, WhatsApp call, and zoom with participants whom we recruited through community groups utilising purposive sampling across towns and cities in Australia. We recorded and transcribed the interviews using a thematic analysis as the principal data analysis approach. Social workers have a critical role to play to support African migrants to establish religious social capital and family bonds, which are crucial in supporting integration.</p
Assessment of knee ossification timings: Development and validation of an ordinal scoring protocol for age estimation using medical imaging
Get PDFObjectivesAssessing skeletal maturity using epiphyseal and morphological features with modern, reliable evaluation protocols is crucial for human identification efforts and paediatric growth monitoring. This study aims to develop and validate a scoring system for knee skeletal development on post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquired from Australian and New Mexican children.Materials & MethodsA protocol for the skeletal knee was developed on 30 PMCT and 30 T2-weighted MRI scans of subadults aged eight- to- 22 years. DICOM image stacks from a Brisbane children’s hospital and the New Mexico Decedent Image Database (NMDID) underwent multiplanar reconstruction and anatomical alignment. The protocol comprised a three- to- six stage scoring process at four epiphyseal fusion and seven maturity indicator sites. Three observers of varying experience levels assessed the images across three days, with reliability quantified using an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).ResultsThe protocol demonstrated high reliability and consistency, with excellent intraobserver agreement for CT (ICC = 0.985 (95 % CI: 0.93-1.00)) and MRI (ICC = 0.979 (95 % CI: 0.85-1.00)). Mean inter-observer reliability measures were good for CT (ICC = 0.886 (95 % CI: 0.75-0.95)) and MRI (ICC = 0.852 (95 % CI: 0.68-0.95)). The tibial tubercle demonstrated the most variability and long-bone epiphyseal union the leastConclusionsThis research presents a highly reproducible method for assessing skeletal development of the knee in subadults, aligned with modern imaging standards. The methodology will have application in forensic human identification, age confirmation and clinical growth assessmen
The certainty of the evidence on plant vs meat predominant dietary patterns and depression: An umbrella review
No full textContext: Diets rich in plant foods are associated with reduced risk of depressive symptoms. However, studies report greater depressive symptomology in those who follow a plant-predominant dietary pattern. Meta-analyses and systematic reviews of plant and meat-predominant diets and depression highlight conflicting results. Objectives: This umbrella review applied A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR2) to explore the state of evidence on plant and meat-predominant dietary patterns and depression. Data Sources: Six databases were searched from inception to Jan 2025 CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection, Scopus and Web of Science. Data Extraction: Data were extracted by two independent researchers using Covidence software. Data Analysis: The search revealed 104 studies, nine met inclusion criteria. Data were synthesised narratively grouped by plant-predominant dietary patterns and meat-predominant dietary patterns. Conclusions: Five papers reported associations between plant and meat-predominant dietary patterns and depression, four reported plant-predominant dietary patterns increased depression, and five found conflicting or no associations. Similar systematic search terms, overlap of primary studies and short timeframes between reviews raises concerns about the validity and scientific contribution of repeated systematic review on this topic. We highlight the need for greater awareness of methodological issues, including high reliance on observational studies, high levels of heterogeneity, imprecision of measurement tools, and lack of measurement of dietary adherence and composition
CONSORT 2025 statement: Updated guideline for reporting randomised trials
Get PDFBACKGROUND: Well designed and properly executed randomised trials are considered the most reliable evidence on the benefits of healthcare interventions. However, there is overwhelming evidence that the quality of reporting is not optimal. The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement was designed to improve the quality of reporting and provides a minimum set of items to be included in a report of a randomised trial. CONSORT was first published in 1996, then updated in 2001 and 2010. Here, we present the updated CONSORT 2025 statement, which aims to account for recent methodological advancements and feedback from end users.METHODS: We conducted a scoping review of the literature and developed a project-specific database of empirical and theoretical evidence related to CONSORT, to generate a list of potential changes to the checklist. The list was enriched with recommendations provided by the lead authors of existing CONSORT extensions (Harms, Outcomes, Non-pharmacological Treatment), other related reporting guidelines (TIDieR) and recommendations from other sources (e.g., personal communications). The list of potential changes to the checklist was assessed in a large, international, online, three-round Delphi survey involving 317 participants and discussed at a two-day online expert consensus meeting of 30 invited international experts.RESULTS: We have made substantive changes to the CONSORT checklist. We added seven new checklist items, revised three items, deleted one item, and integrated several items from key CONSORT extensions. We also restructured the CONSORT checklist, with a new section on open science. The CONSORT 2025 statement consists of a 30-item checklist of essential items that should be included when reporting the results of a randomised trial and a diagram for documenting the flow of participants through the trial. To facilitate implementation of CONSORT 2025, we have also developed an expanded version of the CONSORT 2025 checklist, with bullet points eliciting critical elements of each item.CONCLUSIONS: Authors, editors, reviewers, and other potential users should use CONSORT 2025 when writing and evaluating manuscripts of randomised trials to ensure that trial reports are clear and transparent.</p
Emotional Responses to Music: The Essential Inclusion of Emotion Adaptability and Situational Context
No full textThe link between music and emotion, as articulated from a cognitive perspective, assumes that music carries expressive cues that convey or induce emotional responses in listeners. Studies following this paradigm often investigate how responses converge or diverge among individuals, social groups, and cultures. However, results vary from one study to another, with few satisfactory explanations as to why. We contend that emotional responses to music are adaptable, arising from a conscious and subconscious continuous processing of the overarching situational context and its interaction with psychophysical, cultural, and personal variables. By integrating theory and data from multiple domains, we present the Framework for Adaptable Musical Emotions (FAME), which explains emotional responses to music through the mechanism of emotion adaptability on a continuum of evolutionary to fleeting time frames. FAME represents an advance on models of music and emotion that primarily focus on decoding emotional signals from the sounded music. FAME provides the first basis for predictions of emotional adaptability and situational context and may explain previously observed variability in emotional responses to music, guiding future research, and novel understandings.</p
Acute Achilles Tendon Rupture While Flipping a Car: A Case Report
No full textAchilles tendon ruptures are a relatively common, debilitating injury of the ankle (1). They typically occur in men ages 30 to 40 during sporting events and are often the result of a sudden dorsiflexion of a plantar-flexed foot. Known risk factors for rupture include “weekend warrior” athletes who are not consistently physically active, use of fluoroquinolone antibiotics, and anabolic steroid use (2). There is controversy in optimal treatment (3–6) and the decision to offer surgical treatment will be based on patient characteristics and the preference of the treating surgeon