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The production of sociological knowledge in Australian universities is explored through an empirical study of research papers published in a selection of academic outlets between 1960 and 2011. Drawing on theories concerning scholarly practices, institutional formation and the sociology of knowledge, questions are posed about the factors that shape and structure the production of sociological knowledge about health and medicine. The concept of intellectual schools is examined, with evidence sought for the presence of these 'knowledge networks' in the Australian context. The study suggests the formation and maintenance of schools are subject to structural factors within the university sector, specifically the relative wealth and prestige of the university and the dictates of the higher education market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australia we have become preoccupied with the potential adverse impact of our ageing population on our health and social systems. The projected cost of having increasing proportions of our population in the over 70s, retired, chronically ill category of the demographic profile is emerging as a major challenge for governments and private insurers: so much so in fact that the government is now urging older people to stay at work longer. In America, new approaches to the management and self-management of chronic diseases have been invoked to encourage and support older people to improve their quality of life and reduce their recourse to and dependence upon health care technologies, clinical interventions and health care management systems. Unless this is achieved, it is argued, the cost of looking after this emerging ‘bubble’ of elderly people will become increasingly unsustainable as fewer and fewer (proportionately) younger people work to pay the taxes that support ageing, retired, sick and dependent populations. This paper argues that we are at real risk of having our economic wealth and productivity impeded and truncated by the financial burden of looking after high demand and high cost dependants at the aged end of the social demographic. This paper offers an alternative view of our ageing population, as well as highlighting some of the assets we have in our elderly populations, and providing suggestions as to an alternative view of the phenomenon of ageing that incorporates elements such as flexible working arrangements and the application of new, enabling technologies. This approach to our ageing population dilemma is predicated on a concept of lifelong learning and social participation along with better preventive and early intervention systems of health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the commodification of healthcare in general and of private health in particular, it is difficult not to acknowledge the growing influence of competition and 'the market' in shaping the way that nurses' work is managed by private hospitals and by nurses themselves. This paper explores the discourses shaping nurses' work in private healthcare, drawing upon data from an ethnographic study conducted in one Australian acute care private hospital. The framework for analysis relies on an exploration of the mentalities and governance of nurses' work in such a setting. The study shows how marketing and performance measures are believed to ensure the viability of the enterprise while simultaneously commodifying nurses' caring work. It is this work that remains invisible to the healthcare system and the hospitals where they work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to medical care is significant for many transgender young people and their families, which involves interactions with healthcare professionals. While a trans affirming model is used across Australian paediatric gender clinics, this does not automatically mean that all transgender young people and their parents experience the care they receive as affirming. This article considers the experiences and views of transgender young people (aged 11–17) and their parents in relation to healthcare professionals inside and outside of gender clinics in Australia. Ten qualitative interviews were conducted with parent–child dyads in two Australian states. Key themes relating to healthcare professionals were: differing levels of healthcare professional knowledge and affirmation, quality of service is dependent on individual healthcare professionals, and lack of connected services and referral pathways. The discussion explores specific issues arising from the findings that suggest implications for training for healthcare professionals so as to be better equipped to provide trans affirming clinical care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of persisting health inequities within many multicultural and socially diverse countries like Australia, there is a call for health services to implement culturally inclusive systems and practices. Nowhere is this more important than in regional, rural and remote Australia where consumers are diverse, health services are scarce, and services designed for particular groups of the population are lacking. Drawing on interviews with 20 staff of a rurally-based, mainstream community health service, this article examines the role of discourse in the transition to a culturally inclusive health centre. In doing so, the power struggles inherent in such a process are highlighted. The article contends that improvements in the health outcomes of First Nation and culturally Other groups within the Australian population is contingent upon systematic resistances that disrupt and re-arrange existing dominant discourses. This calls for a disruption of current race relations in both broader social fields as well as those supporting biomedical assumptions about the delivery of healthcare in the mainstream health sector. Alternative discourses must be promoted in both these fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries, including Australia, are currently experiencing severe shortages of professional, para-professional, and semi-professional workers in their health care systems. This is generally conceived as a problem stemming from rising demand in health care services or the production of inadequate numbers of health related graduates. A qualitative study of health care workers in the Australian context challenges the adequacy of this supply-demand approach to the health care system; and demonstrates that solutions lie in the conceptualisation of the health sector as a socio-cultural system. Findings indicate the extent to which policies independently formulated for the health, education, finance, and industry sectors have, in combination, inadvertently impacted on the functioning of the health care system, and some policy mechanisms, such as privatisation and marketisation, have fundamentally eroded its structural framework. Conclusions can therefore be drawn about the relationship between workforce shortages and the neo-liberal orientation of recent governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]