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The workplace is an important setting for improving population psychological health. This study aimed to identify priority industries and populations in Australia with highest adverse effects of psychological distress. The study included 5834 workers aged 18 to 64 years who participated in the 2020 to 2021 National Health Survey. Logistic regressio...

Introduction Industry-based intermediaries (including trade associations, peak bodies, professional associations, and unions), play a key role in improving occupational health and safety standards. While action from these groups to improve mental health has accelerated, these activities have not been systematically collated or evaluated. We aim to...

Introduction Truck driving is one of the most common male occupations worldwide. Drivers endure long working hours, isolation, separation from family, compromised sleep, and face rigid regulatory requirements. Studies have documented the work factors contributing to poor health outcomes, however these have not been explored in the Australian contex...

Background: High exit rates, stalling entry rates, population ageing, and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic have placed significant strain on the world's nursing workforce. Both developed and developing countries face similar predicaments. Evidence-based programmes to support older nurses in the workplace are urgently needed to ensure the sust...

At a time where there are ageing populations, global shortages of skilled labour, and migration pathways impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, retaining older workers presents as a vital strategic initiative for organizations globally. This study examines the role of Human Resource Practices (HRPs), which are oriented towards accommodating the needs o...

As the global population ages there is an imperative to enhance labour participation of older workers in ways that support good physical and psychological health. However, there is limited guidance for organisations on how to do this effectively. This systematic review examined literature identified through four databases and a targeted web-search,...

The study addressed an important knowledge gap in the literature by co-designing a model for OHS management systems inclusive of workers who work-from-home, with a focus on psychosocial risks. This qualitative research study utilised a series of co-design focus groups involving Australian regulators, health and safety managers and practitioners, se...

Background: Australians living in rural and remote areas are at elevated risk of mental health problems and must overcome barriers to help seeking, such as poor access, stigma, and entrenched stoicism. e-Mental health services circumvent such barriers using technology, and text-based services are particularly well suited to clients concerned with p...

Background: The negative health consequences of truck driving are well documented. However, despite the distinct occupational challenges between long- and short-haul driving, limited research has been conducted on how the health profile of these drivers differ. The aims of this study were to characterise the physical and mental health of Australia...

The simulated patient method is becoming an increasingly popular observational method to measure practice behavior in pharmacy practice and health services research. The simulated patient method involves sending a trained individual (simulated patient among other names), who is indistinguishable from a regular consumer, into a healthcare setting wi...

BACKGROUND Australians living in rural and remote areas are at elevated risk of mental health problems, and must overcome barriers to help-seeking, such as poor access, stigma and entrenched stoicism. E-mental health services circumvent such barriers using technology, and text-based services are particularly well suited to clients concerned with pr...

Background: Australians living in rural and remote areas are at elevated risk of mental health problems and must overcome barriers to help seeking, such as poor access, stigma, and entrenched stoicism. e-Mental health services circumvent such barriers using technology, and text-based services are particularly well suited to clients concerned with...

The simulated patient method is becoming increasingly popular in health services research to observe the behaviour of healthcare practitioners in a naturalistic setting. This method involves sending a trained individual (simulated patient among other names), who is indistinguishable from a regular consumer, into a healthcare setting with a standard...

Background People living in rural and remote areas have poorer access to mental health services than those living in cities. They are also less likely to seek help because of self-stigma and entrenched stoic beliefs about help seeking as a sign of weakness. E-mental health services can span great distances to reach those in need and offer a degree...

BACKGROUND People living in rural and remote areas have poorer access to mental health services than those living in cities. They also are less likely to seek help because of self-stigma and entrenched stoic beliefs about help-seeking as a sign of weakness. OBJECTIVE E-mental health services have the potential to circumvent these barriers using te...

Retention of sex offenders to the completion of treatment is critical to program adherence to risk need responsivity (RNR) principles; however, it is also important to consider the potential interaction between attrition and treatment outcomes such as reoffending. The first aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of changes to treatment del...

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a well-known scientifically tested method of affecting behavior change in humans. In MI, interventionists are instructed not to directly provide clients with advice to change as it is often ineffective. Instead, they are trained to direct the client’s cognition towards modifying the target behavior. The delivery of...

Objectives To determine whether repeated mystery shopping visits with feedback improve pharmacy performance over nine visits and to determine what factors predict an appropriate outcome. Design Prospective, parallel, repeated intervention, repeated measures mystery shopping (pseudopatient) design. Setting Thirty-six community pharmacies in metrop...

Background Offenders often have a relative lack of marketable skills and limited history of work experience. Correctional services across jurisdictions have attempted to remedy this by providing vocational training and work experience in custody through correctional industries. The goal is to provide offenders with a means to develop work ethic whi...

Full-text link (read-only) available from Springer without subscription: http://rdcu.be/tYrW. Background Pharmacists can play a key role in managing ailments through their primary roles of supplying over-the-counter (non-prescription) medicines and advice-giving. It must be ensured that pharmacy staff practise in an evidence-based, guideline-compli...

BACKGROUND: Self-care, and hence self-medication, is becoming an increasingly popular practice worldwide. Community pharmacies are an important destination for those seeking non-prescription medicines, and pharmacists and their staff are in a prime position to facilitate appropriate and safe self-medication. PURPOSE: To determine what modifications...

Introduction: Pharmacies are increasingly becominghealth destinations for ailments due to the push towardspatient self-care. It must be ensured that pharmacy staffpractise in an evidence-based, guideline-compliant man-ner. To achieve this, mystery shopping can be used asan intervention to assess and train pharmacy staff. Theobjective of this study...

Background: The number of medicines available without a prescription has increased in Brazil as elsewhere. The Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency recently passed a resolution emphasizing the role of Brazilian pharmacists in promoting rational use of medicines. However, evidence that Brazilian pharmacists monitor the use of non-prescript...

Objective: To explore the use of simulated-patient methods in community pharmacy for non-prescription medicines. Methods: The databases IPA (International Pharmaceutical Abstracts), EMBASE and MEDLINE were searched for articles published between 1990 and 2010 outlining studies using simulated-patient methods. Key findings: Thirty studies from...

A review of the literature relating to the use of virtual patients in teaching pharmaceutical care to pharmacy students was conducted. Only 7 articles met the inclusion criteria for the review and 4 of the studies were conducted in North America. Few articles identified by the review used virtual patient technology that was true-to-life and/or vali...

Community pharmacy staff play a crucial role in the management of common childhood ailments. Simulated patient studies have not yet explored the management of children's cough/cold and fever, nor have many previous studies used simulated patient methods with focus on self-assessment as a training tool to shape future counselling behaviour. To asses...

Analgesic products can produce serious side effects. Because potent analgesics are not under medical surveillance but are available to the public without a medical prescription, any attempt to influence consumer behaviour in relation to these products must be via interventions at pharmacist level. The Australian government is now pressuring the pha...

Context — Some studies that have used “pseudo-patron” methods have provided the basis for criticism of pharmacists' performance and have stigmatised these methods in pharmacy research. Objective — To test and refine the use of pseudo-patron methodology, with feedback to practitioners, as a means of implementing behaviour change. Method — In the stu...

As Internet accessibility and use increase dramatically, more and more people are turning to it for sexual purposes. This growing use of the Internet for sexual purposes indicates that the proportion of Internet sexual offences also will continue to rise dramatically. This article examines the impact of Internet problematic behaviours on the potent...

The common judicial practice of restricting Internet sex offenders’ access to the Internet for the length of their sentence gives rise to an interesting paradox. On the one hand, studies show there is a strong correlation between prevalence of behaviours and increased access to the activity, in which case such restrictions would reduce the likeliho...

There is little evidence that workshops alone have a lasting impact on the day-to-day practice of participants. The current paper examined a strategy to increase generalization and maintenance of skills in the natural environment using pseudo-patients and immediate performance feedback to reinforce skills acquisition. A random half of pharmacies (N...

To review the literature relating to the use of simulated patient methods to enhance communication skills of pharmacists. We searched Embase, Lilacs, Medline, Scielo, and Scopus databases between 1980 and 2008, using "communication skills", "patient counseling" and "pharmacist" as keywords. This search was then further refined by using "simulated p...

In Australia, there are two categories of non-prescription medicines: pharmacy medicines and pharmacist only medicines. Standards were developed to define and describe the professional activities required for the provision of these medicines at a consistent and measurable level of practice. Our objective was to implement nationally a quality improv...

Techniques used to change behaviour should be considered

For long the medical literature has shown that patients do not always receive appropriate care, including pharmacotherapeutic treatment. To achieve improved patient care, a number of physician-oriented interventions are being delivered internationally in an attempt to implement evidence based medicine in routine daily practice of medical practition...

The aim of this study was to identify the factors that influence prescribing of new drugs among general practitioners, endocrinologists and psychiatrists. Four focus groups were conducted with GPs, endocrinologists and psychiatrists on sources of awareness and influences on prescribing of new drugs. Pharmaceutical companies were the most important...

In medication review involving community pharmacists and physicians, there is an underlying assumption that if community pharmacists provide evidence based pharmacotherapeutic recommendations, physicians, in turn, will implement these recommendations. However, although in general medication review has been shown to improve the quality of medicine u...

The objective of the study was to develop and test standards of practice for handling non-prescription medicines. In consultation with pharmacy registering authorities, key professional and consumer groups and selected community pharmacists, standards of practice were developed in the areas of Resource Management; Professional Practice; Pharmacy De...

There is little evidence that workshops alone have a lasting impact on the day-to-day practice of participants. The current paper examined a strategy to increase generalization and maintenance of skills in the natural environment using pseudo-patients and immediate performance feedback to reinforce skills acquisition. A random half of pharmacies (N...

There is significant ongoing concern about misuse of medication by consumers. A potential point of intervention is the pharmacy, since pharmacies offer a forum for consumer contact and are a primary source of drug supply. A pharmacy protocol is described, in which purchasers of non-prescription analgesics are asked to review their use of the medica...

A total of 305 subjects from Sydney were randomly allocated to receive either an active (24 hour transdermal nicotine patch over a 10 week course) or placebo nicotine patch. All subjects participated in a multicomponent cognitive-behavioural smoking cessation programme over five weeks in two-hour group sessions. The continuous abstinence rates at t...

Hospital-based outpatients participating in a cognitive-behavioural group programme (2 hours/week over 5 weeks) were studied to evaluate the effectiveness of a 24-hour transdermal nicotine patch in assisting smokers to stop smoking when used as an adjunct to a cognitive-behavioural group programme, and to assess weight gain following cessation, usi...

In pharmacy practice there is a need to introduce practical tools and guidelines for delivering pharmacy-based interventions. This paper describes a conceptual intervention specifically designed for use in a community pharmacy setting. It is argued that many pharmacists' difficulties in delivering drug-related interventions may be a result of tryin...

The transdermal nicotine system is an adhesive patch that slowly and continuously delivers nicotine into the bloodstream by percutaneous absorption. The transdermal nicotine system has been shown to be effective as an aid to smoking cessation (1). Concurrent behavioural intervention including a relapse prevention component enhances the maintenance...

To evaluate the efficacy of the transdermal nicotine patch as an aid to smoking cessation when used as an adjunct to a cognitive-behavioural group intervention and to assess the effectiveness of the patch in ameliorating withdrawal symptoms. Double-blind placebo-controlled randomised trial with six months' follow-up of those who returned to the hos...