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The Perception of Year 11 Students in Catholic Secondary Schools Towards Christian Service-Learning
Get PDFThe purpose of this research was to firstly, explore the perceptions of Year 11 students in four Catholic secondary schools in Western Australia towards Christian Service-Learning (CSL), and secondly to assist improvement in the delivery of CSL programs through an understanding of the students’ perceptions. The study explored Year 11 student perceptions regarding their understandings of CSL, as well what they perceived to be the benefits, challenges, and impacts of participating in a CSL program. A key informant (KI) from each school provided contextual understanding about the CSL program within their school and how the program is delivered within the school. This research is the first study of student perceptions towards CSL in Catholic secondary schools in Western Australia.
The study’s literature review identified five areas of literature that formed the conceptual framework of the thesis. These five areas were experiential learning, Service-Learning (SL), benefits and positive impacts of Service-Learning, challenges associated with Service-Learning, and Christian Service-Learning. The epistemology underpinning this predominantly qualitative research was constructivism and the theoretical perspective was interpretivism, specifically symbolic interactionism. The methodological approach for this research was an instrumental case study entailing four Catholic secondary schools in Western Australia. The methods of data collection used in this research were a structured online questionnaire open to all Year 11 students from each school, focus group interviews with a group of Year 11 students from each school, document search, semi-structured interviews with a KI in each school, and a researcher reflection journal. The strategy for the analysis of the qualitative data in this research followed the process outlined by Miles et al. (2020). The quantitative responses from the structured online questionnaire were reported on by descriptive statistics and graphs.
The results of the study indicated that the Year 11 students had four key understandings of CSL. These understandings were related to the Christian aspect of CSL, the purpose of CSL, the differentiation between CSL and volunteering, and the compulsory nature of CSL. The study found that the Year 11 students perceived numerous benefits of CSL. These benefits were related to positive attributes such as the value of CSL, connection with others, the importance of reflection activities, personal enjoyment, and development of a positive attitude towards CSL. The students perceived benefits of CSL including personal development, development of values, leadership development, learning life lessons and skills, preparation for future careers, and civic responsibility. The study identified that the Year 11 students perceived several challenges to their participation in CSL. These challenges included negative perceptions towards the requirement of written reflection activities within the CSL program, the requirement of photography to demonstrate evidence of abilities, the minimum number of hours for the successful completion of the CSL program, and the use of incentives and awards in a CSL program. The students’ perceptions about challenges included the time required to complete CSL, individual circumstances, academic requirements of other courses, an understanding of the purpose of CSL, and liaising and connecting with service placement providers. The Year 11 students proposed seven suggestions for overcoming their perceived challenges associated with CSL to improve CSL programs. These suggestions included the importance of support from school staff; the need for support with transportation, alternative forms of reflection activities, undertaking of CSL during school time, incorporating CSL into the Religious Education (R.E) curriculum, the potential for connection between CSL and other learning areas, and flexibility with completion dates.
The study indicated that the Year 11 students perceived numerous positive impacts as a result of their participation in the CSL program. These positive impacts were personal growth, making a positive contribution, development of perspective, stepping out of one’s comfort zone, an increased awareness of social justice issues, and positive standing within the community. The student responses also revealed three factors which they believed influenced the impact of CSL. These impacts were the attitude of the individual, friendship and family influence, and preparation for CSL participation.
The semi-structured interview with the KIs provided contextual understanding about the delivery of the CSL program within their school. The KIs also shared their perceptions of CSL for the Year 11 students. These perceptions were related to positive and negative Year 11 student attitudes towards CSL. The KIs also shared their perceptions of impacting factors within the CSL program. These impacting factors of CSL were: making a difference through contributing to society; the inclusion of incentives and awards; parental involvement; and the importance of reflection activities within the CSL program. The KIs all noted that their CSL programs are impactful on the students
Hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer: Spiritual Formation in an Ecumenical World – Exploring the Practice of the Eastern Orthodox Jesus Prayer with the Evangelical Protestant Tradition
Get PDFThe question that forms the heart of this research is: “Can the Jesus Prayer establish roots to develop and flourish, and be accepted as a new, legitimate practice in Evangelicalism?” To begin answering, the practice will be explored within its Eastern Orthodox context focusing on the Jesus Prayers’ biblical roots, early development, and official acceptance within Orthodoxy. Then the Evangelical movement will be surveyed to gain an understanding of its identity from a sociological and theological perspective with special attention on its soteriological framework, customary spiritual disciplines, and general attitudes toward mysticism (defined as direct experience of God through apophatic, non-discursive contemplative practice). Finally, empirical research will be consulted to elucidate the mental, physical, and spiritual benefits of meditative practice, informing a discussion addressing special issues of concern for Evangelicals, including how the practice of the Jesus Prayer relates to ethics, daily life, Eastern religion, and communal engagement. The conclusion then draws the findings together and offers a proposed relational approach for conveying the practice to Evangelicals allowing for graded ports of entry accommodating a spectrum of understandings, attitudes, and openness. Overall the thesis will propose that the research question can provisionally be answered, “Yes, depending the type of Evangelical, and the method of practice on offer.
Material wealth or wealth of time and culture? Lessons from Australian Aboriginal economy for Catholic social teaching
No full textThis paper will explicate ways in which Aboriginal Australian economy can inform, augment, and vindicate Catholic social teaching and related scholarship on work, the use of technology, and leisure. Collaterally, Aboriginal Australian economy gives an example of what could happen if key parts of Catholic social teaching were to be implemented concretely. That is, we can argue that Aboriginal economy gives an indication of what a society would be like if it adopted these parts of Catholic social teaching
Trauma patient heterotopic ossification diagnosis is associated with increased hospital length of stay
No full textBackground: Traumatic heterotopic ossification (tHO) refers to the development of extra-skeletal bone in muscle and soft tissues following tissue insult secondary to surgery or trauma. This presents a persistent clinical concern associated with significant patient morbidity and expense to diagnose and treat. Traumatic HO is a substantial barrier to rehabilitation for trauma-injured patients. As such, the development of tHO after burn and other trauma is hypothesised to prolong inpatient length of stay (LOS) and thus increase health care costs.
Objective: To investigate the association between an inpatient tHO diagnosis and hospital LOS in trauma patients.
Methods: A retrospective audit of trauma patients over a 14-year period was completed using data from four WA hospitals. Burn and neurological trauma patients diagnosed with tHO as an inpatient (tHO+) and control subjects (tHO-), matched (1:3) by age, gender, and injury severity factors, were identified using medical diagnostic codes. Data relating to patient and injury-related determinants of LOS from tHO+ and tHO- subjects were analysed to model the association of tHO on total hospital length of stay.
Results: 188 identified patients were hospitalised due to traumatic injury; 47 patients with tHO following burn injury (n = 17), spinal cord injury (n = 13) and traumatic brain injury (n = 17), and 141 control patients. Those who developed tHO during hospitalisation had a significantly higher median LOS than matched trauma patients who did not develop tHO (142 days vs. 61 days). Multivariate regression analyses identified the following independent predictive factors of a prolonged hospital LOS: tHO diagnosis, mechanical ventilation hours, injury to the hip region and thigh area, other ossification disorder, pressure injury, admission to intensive care unit and deep vein thrombosis. Trauma patients diagnosed with tHO during their hospital admission stayed 1.6 times longer than trauma patients matched for injury severity without a tHO diagnosis (IRR 1.56, 95% CI 1.35–1.79, p\u3c0.001).
Conclusion: Traumatic heterotopic ossification is an independent explanatory factor for increased hospital LOS in patients following burns, spinal cord, and traumatic brain injury. Early diagnosis may assist in reducing the impact of tHO on acute hospital stay after trauma
Mental health risk assessments of patients, by nurses working in mental health settings: A qualitative study using cognitive continuum theory
No full textMental health risk-assessments are an important part of nursing in mental health settings, to protect patients or others from harm. Even so, nurses often have difficulty identifying patients posing a credible risk (either to self or others), so guidance is recommended. However, despite an extensive and growing body of risk-oriented literature, comparatively little expands upon contemporary knowledge of nurses and patient risk assessment. Therefore, it remains unclear how nurses understand risk and undertake their risk assessments. To address this knowledge gap in nurses\u27 decision-making processes, this study used the established Cognitive Continuum Theory as a novel means to explore the risk-assessment of patients by nurses working in mental health settings
Barriers to cardiac rehabilitation among patients diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases - a scoping review
No full textBackground: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a rising global burden. Preventative strategies such as cardiac rehabilitation (CR) have shown a marked reduction in disease burden. Despite this, CR is underutilized worldwide. This study aims to identify the barriers to CR among patients diagnosed with CVD. Methods: A scoping review of the literature was conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines. Four major databases, including CINAHL, PubMed, EBSCOhost, and Scopus, were used to obtain studies published between 2010 and 2023. Search terms such as “Cardiac rehab*”, “Barrier*”, “Cardiovascular”, “Disease”, and “diagnosis*” were utilized in order to obtain subject-specific studies relevant to the research question. Results: From the initial 2098 studies, only 14 were included in the final analysis, consisting of both qualitative and quantitative designs. The thematic analysis included “healthcare system-related factors”, “Socioeconomic factors”, and “individual characteristics”. Healthcare system-related factors were mostly related to the poor availability of CR programs, lack of proper referral strategies, inadequate knowledge of CR provider and inter-provider communication issues, and lack of alternative methods of CR delivery. The socioeconomic barriers were lack of education, longer distance to CR facilities, high cost of care, unemployment, and poor income status. The identified individual characteristics were female gender, older age, and comorbidities. Conclusions: Lack of resources, poor access, educational attainment, and high cost of care were some of the barriers to CR, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Health policymakers and healthcare providers should implement strategies incorporating the issues identified in this scoping review. Systematic reviews may be required to confirm these findings
Spatial transcriptomics reveals discrete tumour microenvironments and autocrine loops within ovarian cancer subclones
No full textHigh-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) is genetically unstable and characterised by the presence of subclones with distinct genotypes. Intratumoural heterogeneity is linked to recurrence, chemotherapy resistance, and poor prognosis. Here, we use spatial transcriptomics to identify HGSOC subclones and study their association with infiltrating cell populations. Visium spatial transcriptomics reveals multiple tumour subclones with different copy number alterations present within individual tumour sections. These subclones differentially express various ligands and receptors and are predicted to differentially associate with different stromal and immune cell populations. In one sample, CosMx single molecule imaging reveals subclones differentially associating with immune cell populations, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells. Cell-to-cell communication analysis identifies subclone-specific signalling to stromal and immune cells and multiple subclone-specific autocrine loops. Our study highlights the high degree of subclonal heterogeneity in HGSOC and suggests that subclone-specific ligand and receptor expression patterns likely modulate how HGSOC cells interact with their local microenvironment
Nutritional deficiency and ecological stress in the Middle to Final western Jomon
No full textDespite significant research, the direct and indirect causes of a population decline in the eponymous foragers of the Late Jō mon period (c. 4500–2300 BP) in Japan remains undetermined. Here, the authors examine the impact of nutritional stress, using scurvy as a case study, on Middle and a Late/Final Jō mon populations. While an increase in the prevalence of scurvy between the time periods is apparent, no associated change in age at death was observed. The authors argue that the Late Jō mon adapted their food-sharing practices in times of ecological stress, and they highlight the need to consider morbidity and mortality together in palaeopathological assessments and the growing evidence for a non-nutritional cause in the Late Jō mon population decline
Maternal and neonatal health outcomes for First Nations Australian women and children: A retrospective cohort study in a Western Sydney metropolitan tertiary referral centre
No full textAim: To analyse key pregnancy and birth outcomes for First Nations women and children at a Western Sydney metropolitan tertiary referral centre.
Methods: The birth and health-determining characteristics of 470 First Nations infants born at Nepean Hospital in 2018 and their mothers were included in a retrospective audit and compared with a contemporaneous control group of 470 infants and their mothers.
Results: Mothers of First Nations infants had significantly higher rates of socioeconomic disadvantage (P \u3c 0.001), psychosocial vulnerability (P \u3c 0.007), mental illness (P \u3c 0.001), teenage pregnancy (P \u3c 0.001), smoking (45.6% vs. 19.4%, P \u3c 0.001) and drug and alcohol use than control mothers (P \u3c 0.001, P \u3c 0.048). First Nations peoples did not have increased rates of maternal morbidity, nor any difference in rates of Caesarean section, resuscitation at birth, NICU admission, preterm birth or low birth weight in multivariable analysis. However, multivariable analysis demonstrated significant associations between low birth weight and maternal smoking (P \u3c 0.001), hypertension (P \u3c 0.01) and drug use (P \u3c 0.01).
Conclusions: Despite challenges facing First Nations mothers and infants, our study found no significant difference in maternal morbidity nor adverse birth outcomes for First Nations infants. The study occurred in the context of culturally specific, First Nations-led antenatal and infant services. Future studies should further investigate relationships between participation in these services and health outcomes. This could identify strengths and areas for improvement in current services, with the goal of further improving outcomes for First Nations peoples through targeted health services that address their psychosocial vulnerabilities and support women to make healthy choices during pregnancy
Why don\u27t women engage in muscle strength exercise? An integrative review
No full textIssue addressed: Women are \u27at-risk\u27 population for failing to meet muscle strengthening guidelines. Health benefits specific to this exercise mode include maintenance of muscle mass, which is associated with reduced risk of chronic disease and falls. Of significance is the progressive decline in muscle strength exercise participation in women aged 35-54 in Australia. This period is critical for maintaining muscle strength as it establishes foundations for older women\u27s engagement. This integrative review examined available evidence regarding factors influencing muscle strength exercise participation, specifically in women aged 35-54.
Methods: Seven databases were searched. Study inclusion criteria were: (1) peer reviewed, (2) English language, (3) sample populations of healthy female adults or general adult sample population differentiating females from males, (4) mean age between 35 and 54 years, (5) focused on muscle strength exercise and measured as the primary outcome factors of participation in muscle strength exercise.
Findings: Five of 1895 studies met inclusion criteria. Five key factors were associated with participation in muscle strength exercise of women aged 35-54 years: perceived time constraints; knowledge and education; modality and intensity; social support and behavioural strategies.
Conclusions: Focused education on strength exercise and guidelines, plus initiatives and strategies that suit the needs of this cohort, are necessary to achieve health and wellbeing benefits. Responsive approaches by health professionals to these women\u27s circumstances can potentially address current low participation levels. SO WHAT?: Creating conditions where health professionals respect a woman\u27s exercise preferences can positively impact these women\u27s musculoskeletal health into older age