Search

This paper demonstrates how a qualitative methodology can be used to gain novel insights into the demands of wheelchair racing and the impact of particular racing chair configurations on optimal sport performance via engagement with expert users (wheelchair racers, coaches, and manufacturers). We specifically explore how expert users understand how wheels, tires, and bearings impact sport performance and how they engage, implement, or reject evidence-based research pertaining to these components. We identify areas where participants perceive there to be an immediate need for more research especially pertaining to the ability to make individualized recommendations for athletes. The findings from this project speak to the value of a qualitative research design for capturing the embodied knowledge of expert users and also make suggestions for "next step" projects pertaining to wheels, tires, and bearings drawn directly from the comments of participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on three studies conducted in Australia, Canada and Ireland which explore the factors influencing research utilisation in the child protection sector in each country. The paper recognises that research uptake is complicated by a number of factors. It also acknowledges critiques which cite the equally significant influence of ideologies, context, unpredictability, time constraints and political expediency. However, all three studies recognised the increasing importance of evidence-based practice. The methods used in the three studies were not identical but the frameworks used were sufficiently similar to enable the classification of both common and dissimilar barriers and facilitators to research use. Those which they identified were categorised into four types: individual, organisational, environmental and characteristics relating to the nature of research material. Implications were identified for policy makers, service providers and research producers. The point was made that we now live in a period where unprecedented means of knowledge transfer and exchange provide unique opportunities to improve the lives of children and families. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages Avail of opportunities to attend learning events., Draw on research findings when conducting assessments, writing reports, devising intervention plans, evaluating programmes and tendering for funding., Establish links with research centres., Become involved in the conduct of research., Support colleagues (champions) who display particular interest and motivation in the use of research evidence by recognising and/or rewarding effort., Avail of opportunities to undertake further study that includes a research component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheelchair basketball (WCBB) often includes reverse integration (RI), defined as the inclusion of athletes without impairment in a sport traditionally aimed at athletes with an impairment. This study explored how RI in WCBB was understood by internal stakeholders. Data were gathered from athletes, coaches, and administrators at an Australian club competition and at a Canadian elite training center. Analysis of semistructured interviews with 29 participants led to the identification of eight themes. Collectively, the findings showed that RI was embedded within WCBB, RI was considered to be a way to advance the growth and improve the quality of WCBB as well as a way to increase awareness of WCBB and disability. There were some concerns that RI may not be equitable, as WCBB is a "disability sport." Stakeholders' perspectives on RI could provide useful information for sport policymakers, managers, administrators, sports organizations, and athletes interested in further developing WCBB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The aim of the present study was to describe how policy makers (bureaucrats and politicians) in Australia and Ontario (Canada) perceive evidence provided by doctors to substantiate applications for disability income support (DIS) by their patients with mental illnesses. Because many mental illnesses (e.g. depression) lack diagnostic tests, their existence and effects are more difficult to demonstrate than most somatic illnesses. Methods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 informants, all influential in the design of the assessment of DIS programs. The informants were subcategorised into advocates, legal representatives, doctors (general practitioners (GPs) and specialists (e.g. psychiatrists)), policy insiders and researchers. Informants were found through snowball sampling. Following the principles of grounded theory, data collection and analysis occurred in tandem. Results. Informants expressed some scepticism about doctors' evidence. Informants perceived that doctors could, due to lack of diagnostic certainty, 'write these things [evidence] however [they] want to'. Psychiatrists, perceived as having more time and skills, were considered as providing more trustworthy evidence than GPs. Conclusion. Doctors, providing evidence to support applications, play an important role in determining disability. However, policy makers perceive doctors' evidence about mental illnesses as less trustworthy than evidence about somatic illnesses. This affects decisions by government adjudicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports findings from a large mixed-method study exploring the migration to the United Kingdom (UK) of social workers trained in Australia, Canada, India, Romania, South Africa, the US, and Zimbabwe, and the migration of British trained social workers to Australia. The project aimed at exploring the motivations for migration, the experiences of integration, and the impact of culture on these. This article focuses on the quantitative findings and will use some of the qualitative data to further explain and interrogate the differences between these groups based on their country of origin. The findings show the greater challenges migrants from developing countries have experienced, including lack of recognition of their qualifications and experience, and discrimination. The findings also show that contrary to common assumptions, the migration experiences of social workers coming from Australia, Canada and the US are not as easy as expected. American social workers who migrated to the UK turned out to be the group least professionally satisfied. The British in Australia on the other hand, were the most satisfied. Implications for practice and future research are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the knowledge and confidence of physiotherapists in managing knee osteoarthritis (OA) and patellofemoral pain (PFP); and explore their learning behaviors and preferences related to the management of these knee conditions. One hundred and sixteen Australian and Canadian Physiotherapists were recruited via social media, e-mail, and an online course. Part 1: Quantitative involved an online survey evaluating knowledge of evidence and confidence in providing treatments for knee OA and PFP. Part 2: Qualitative involved semi-structured interviews with 13 participants exploring current practice and learning needs, that were analyzed using an initial framework structured on interview questions, followed by inductive approach to identify additional themes. Awareness regarding evidence supporting exercise for knee OA and PFP was good (89–96%), and qualitative themes indicated physiotherapists emphasized exercise-therapy and education. Perceived value of passive treatments and surgery varied. Preference for face-to-face workshops to address learning needs, alongside describing time and cost barriers to access them, emerged from qualitative findings. Online learning formats were viewed as convenient, but not as effective as face-to-face learning. Knowledge and confidence related to interventions for knee OA and PFP of Australian and Canadian physiotherapist participants broadly aligns with guidelines. Knowledge translation strategies focused on face-to-face workshops, supported by online education may help to bridge evidence-to-practice gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Increasing numbers of older people are living longer, often alone, in their own homes. Services and products that enable older people to remain safely in their own homes are required. The My Smart Home project recruited 30 community-dwelling people aged 65+ to co-design a package of technology to address their individual goals for safety and security at home. The technology package, up to the value of $4000, included installation of health monitoring, communication and entertainment devices, and security alarms, with 6 hours of technology coaching. Methods: Participants completed the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI), the Australian Quality of Life-8 Dimensions (AQoL-8D) and the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) at baseline, and after 4 weeks' use of the technology package. Semi-structured interviews were also used to qualitatively understand the challenges, enablers and outcomes of the project with respect to safety and security in the home. Results: Significant improvements in PWI (p < 0.01), AQoL-8D (p < 0.001) and COPM for goal performance (p < 0.001) and goal satisfaction (p < 0.001) were reported. Participants also reported feeling safer and more secure in their own homes. Common barriers to adoption of technology, cost, integration with already-owned technology and lack of confidence were overcome with this technology and coaching package. Conclusions: An individualised package of technology, with coaching, that supports older people to realise their personal goals with technology resulted in improved well-being, quality of life and sense of safety and security in community-dwelling older people. Ultimately, this should support a longer and better quality of life at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To determine which characteristics of academic leadership are perceived to be necessary for nursing deans to be successful. Background Effective leadership is essential for the continued growth of the discipline. Method A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 30 deans (academics in universities who headed a nursing faculty and degree programmes) was conducted in three countries - Canada, England and Australia. The conversations were analysed for leadership attributes. Result Sixty personal and positional attributes were nominated by the participants. Of these, the most frequent attribute was 'having vision'. Personal attributes included: passion, patience, courage, facilitating, sharing and being supportive. Positional attributes included: communication, faculty development, role modelling, good management and promoting nursing. Conclusion Both positional and personal aspects of academic leadership are important to assist in developing a succession plan and education for new deans. Implications for nursing management It is important that talented people are recognised as potential leaders of the future. These future leaders should be given every chance to grow and develop through exposure to opportunities to develop skills and the attributes necessary for effective deanship. Strategic mentoring could prove to be useful in developing and supporting the growth of future deans of nursing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinical scholarship has been conceptualised and theorised in the nursing literature for over 30 years but no research has captured nurses' clinicians' views on how it differs or is the same as clinical expertise and clinical leadership. The aim of this study was to determine clinical nurses' understanding of the differences and similarities between the clinical expert, clinical leader and clinical scholar. Methods: A descriptive interpretative qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews with 18 practising nurses from Australia, Canada and England. The audio-taped interviews were transcribed and the text coded for emerging themes. The themes were sorted into categories of clinical expert, clinical leader and clinical scholarship as described by the participants. These themes were then compared and contrasted and the essential elements that characterise the nursing roles of the clinical expert, clinical leader and clinical scholar were identified. Results: Clinical experts were seen as linking knowledge to practice with some displaying clinical leadership and scholarship. Clinical leadership is seen as a positional construct with a management emphasis. For the clinical scholar they linked theory and practice and encouraged research and dissemination of knowledge. Conclusion: There are distinct markers for the roles of clinical expert, clinical leader and clinical scholar. Nurses working in one or more of these roles need to work together to improve patient care. An 'ideal nurse' may be a blending of all three constructs. As nursing is a practice discipline its scholarship should be predominantly based on clinical scholarship. Nurses need to be encouraged to go beyond their roles as clinical leaders and experts to use their position to challenge and change through the propagation of knowledge to their community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To explore the experiences of strategic leads for nurse education as they sought to respond to the COVID‐19 pandemic. Design: We utilised a qualitative interpretative approach to explore education leaders' experiences of leading during the early months of the pandemic. Methods: Nineteen leaders with significant strategic responsibility for nurse education in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom were identified via purposive sampling and agreed to participate. Interviews were held between May and July 2020. Results: Four overarching themes arose from the analysis: (1) Crisis driven adaptability & flexibility; (2) Responsive, complex and changing communication; (3) Making decisions for student and staff safety; (4) Looking to the future; stronger partnerships. Conclusion: Internationally, while nursing education leaders faced different problems, they shared a common goal amidst the crisis to remain student‐centred. They demonstrated they were able to face major challenges, respond to large scale logistical problems and make decisions under significant and ongoing pressure. Impact: In responding to the pandemic, nurse leaders shared knowledge and offered mutual support. This bodes well for future collaboration. The move to online learning accelerated an existing trend and it seems likely that this will continue. Given the pressures they experienced over an extended period, the sector may wish to consider how it prepares and supports existing and future leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debriefing is used across many disciplines and for different purposes in work-integrated learning (WIL), but there remains much ambiguity about what debriefing actually is, and what it entails. This study explored conceptualizations of debriefing for 35 WIL practitioners. located across a range of disciplines, professions, institutions and countries (Australia, New Zealand, Canada). Findings point to a broad range of views and demonstrate that debriefing is associated with three different types of learning in WIL: academic, reflective and performance related. Our results show that the most consistently cited feature of debriefing was the presence of a facilitator, with the value of debriefing seen as enabling deeper insights than would be possible via solitary reflection. For supporting learning, most practitioners used both reflection and debriefing, suggesting that neither is seen as better than the other, but that both are useful and necessary strategies for student learning in WIL. Implications for practice and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, adult migrant and refugee women's negotiation of sexual agency in the context of marriage is explored. In Sydney, Australia and Vancouver, Canada, 78 semistructured individual interviews, and 15 focus groups, comprised of 82 participants, were conducted with women who had recently migrated from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Sri Lanka, and South America. Women's negotiation of sexual agency was evident with respect to husband choice, disclosure of sexual desire, pleasure, pain, and sexual consent. While some participants took up subjugated sexual subject positions reflecting dominant cultural or religious discourses, many women also resisted these discourses to enact sexual agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Occupational therapists' are increasingly working with communities and providing services at the community level. There is, however, a lack of conceptual frameworks to guide this work. Aim: The aim of this article is to present a new conceptual framework for community-centered practice in occupational therapy. Material and Method: The conceptual framework was developed from qualitative multi-case research on exemplars of community participation. The first was, a network of Canadian food security programs, and the second, a rural Australian community banking initiative. Key themes were identified from across the case studies, and cross-case findings interpreted using occupational therapy and occupational science knowledge, and relevant social theory. The outcome is a four-stage, occupation-focused, community-centered practice framework. Findings: The Community-Centred Practice Framework can be used by occupational therapists to understand and apply a community-centered practice approach. The four stages are: (1) Community Identity, (2) Community Occupations, (3) Community Resources and Barriers, and (4) Participation Enablement. Conclusions: Further research is needed to trial and critically evaluate the framework, to assess its usefulness as a robust, occupation-focused, frame of reference to guide community-centered practice in occupational therapy. Significance: The proposed framework should assist occupational therapists to conceptualize community-centered practice, and to utilize and apply theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]