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Objective: To systematically review evaluated local, community or peer‐delivered well‐being and employment interventions delivered within regional, rural and remote Australia. Design: Searches within nine databases retrieved peer‐reviewed and grey literature from an initial pool of 3186 papers published between 2012 and 2022. PRISMA guidelines were adhered to, and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) was used to assess the quality of the well‐being or employment (or both) articles. Findings: A total of 19 items met the inclusion criteria, which included two quantitative, 12 qualitative and five mixed‐methods evaluations. Intervention cohorts included Indigenous Australians, youth, older people, workers and the general community. The average methodological rating was 83%. The overall level of evidence for the interventions was low due to mostly descriptive studies. Discussion: Interventions that appeared effective in improving well‐being tended to focus on addressing social connectedness and self‐determination. Unexpected employment outcomes were evident across many of the studies, which highlighted the reciprocity between well‐being and employment. Conclusion: This review highlights promising interventions for improving well‐being by focusing on social connectedness and self‐determination. Further empirical evidence is encouraged to explore the reciprocal relationship between well‐being and employment, emphasising the significance of social connectedness and self‐determination in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are few short, validated tools to assess young children's obesity‐related dietary behaviours, limiting the rapid screening of dietary behaviours in research and practice‐based early obesity prevention. This study aimed to develop and assess the reliability and validity of a caregiver‐reported short dietary questionnaire to rapidly assess obesity‐related dietary behaviours in children aged 6 months to 5 years. The Early Prevention of Obesity in Childhood Dietary Questionnaire (EPOCH‐DQ) was developed using a rigorous process to determine content and structural validity. Three age‐appropriate versions were developed for (1) infants, aged 6–12 months, (2) toddlers, aged 1–2.9 years and (3) pre‐schoolers, aged 3–5 years. The questionnaire (7–15 items) measures dietary behaviours, including diet risk from non‐core food and beverage intake, diet quality from vegetable frequency, bread type and infant feeding practices. Test–retest reliability was assessed from repeated administrations 1 week apart (n = 126). Internal consistency, concurrent validity (against a comparison questionnaire, the InFANT Food Frequency Questionnaire), construct validity and interpretability were assessed (n = 209). Most scores were highly correlated and significantly associated (p < 0.05) for validity (rs: 0.45–0.89, percentage agreement 68%–100%) and reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.61–0.99) for diet risk, diet quality and feeding practice items. The EPOCH‐DQ shows acceptable validity and reliability for screening of obesity‐related behaviours of children under 5 years of age. The short length and, thus, low participant burden of the EPOCH‐DQ allows for potential applications in various settings. Future testing of the EPOCH‐DQ should evaluate culturally and socio‐economically diverse populations and establish the predictive validity and sensitivity to detect change. Key messages: Accurate measurement of obesity‐related dietary behaviours is essential for the evaluation of early obesity prevention programmes and monitoring population trends.The 7–15 item Early Prevention of Obesity in Childhood Dietary Questionnaire (EPOCH‐DQ) was shown to have acceptable validity and reliability for assessing obesity‐related behaviours of children aged 6 months to 5 years of age.The short length and thus low participant burden of the EPOCH‐DQ allows for potential applications in various settings, including research, population health monitoring and use by health professionals.Future testing of the EPOCH‐DQ should include evaluation across culturally and socio‐economically diverse populations and determine the predictive validity and sensitivity to detect change of the EPOCH‐DQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Music therapy interventions with informal carers of individuals with life-threatening illness at pre- and post-bereavement is an increasingly important clinical area. This systematic review is the first to synthesise and critically evaluate the international evidence associated with music therapy with adult informal carers pre- and post-bereavement. Specifically, the objectives were: i) to describe the characteristics and effectiveness of music therapy interventions which aim to improve health-related outcomes for adult informal carers of adults with life-threatening illness (pre- and post-bereavement), and ii) to describe the experience of music therapy for adult informal carers of adults with life-threatening illness (pre- and post-bereavement). Methods: Eligibility: adult informal carers of adults at end of life or bereaved; music therapy interventions for improving health-related outcomes; qualitative; mixed-method; and quantitative studies including comparators of any other intervention; published in English from 1998 onwards. Six databases were searched up to July 2022. A JBI mixed-methods systematic review approach was followed throughout, including quality appraisal, data extraction and a convergent segregated approach to synthesis and integration. Results: A total of 34 studies were included, published between 2003 and 2022. Most were conducted in North America (n = 13), Australia (n = 10), or Europe (n = 8). No studies were conducted in low- and middle-income countries or in the UK. The majority were qualitative (n = 17), followed by quasi-experimental (n = 8), mixed-methods (n = 7) and two RCTs. The majority focused on carers of individuals with dementia (n = 21) or advanced cancer (n = 7). Seventeen studies were purely quantitative or included a quantitative component. During meta-synthesis, findings were aligned to core outcomes for evaluating bereavement interventions in palliative care and previously identified risk factors for complicated grief. Commonly targeted outcomes in quantitative studies included quality of life and mental wellbeing, showing equivocal effectiveness of music therapy with significant and non-significant results. Twenty-two studies either purely qualitative or with a qualitative component underwent meta synthesis and suggested a diverse range of improved pre- and post-bereavement outcomes for informal carers across all core outcomes, and across all risk and protective factors, including psychological, spiritual, emotional, and social outcomes. Conclusions: Qualitative studies provide moderate to strong evidence for improved health-related outcomes for adult informal carers of adults with life-threatening illness pre-bereavement. Limited studies including those bereaved negates conclusions for the bereavement phase. Comparisons and explanations for effectiveness across quantitative and qualitative studies are equivocal, with a high risk of bias and small samples in the limited number of quantitative studies, demonstrating a need for high-quality RCTs. Systematic review pre-registration: PROSPERO [CRD42021244859]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing use of non‐medicated wound dressing with claims of irreversible bacterial binding. Most of the data are from in vitro models which lack clinical relevance. This study employed a range of in vitro experiments to address this gap and we complemented our experimental designs with in vivo observations using dressings obtained from patients with diabetes‐related foot ulcers. A hydrophobic wound dressing was compared with a control silicone dressing in vitro. Test dressings were placed on top of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa challenge suspension with increasing concentrations of suspension inoculum in addition to supplementation with phosphate buffered saline (PBS) or increased protein content (IPC). Next, we used the challenge suspensions obtained at the end of the first experiment, where bacterial loads from the suspensions were enumerated following test dressing exposure. Further, the time‐dependent bacterial attachment was investigated over 1 and 24 h. Lastly, test dressings were exposed to a challenge suspension with IPC, with or without the addition of the bacteriostatic agent Deferiprone to assess the impacts of limiting bacterial growth in the experimental design. Lastly, two different wound dressings with claims of bacterial binding were obtained from patients with chronic diabetes‐related foot ulcers after 72 h of application and observed using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Bacteria were enumerated from each dressing after a 1‐h exposure time. There was no statistical difference in bacterial attachment between both test dressings when using different suspension inoculum concentrations or test mediums. Bacterial attachment to the two test dressings was significantly lower (p < 0.0001) when IPC was used instead of PBS. In the challenge suspension with PBS, only the hydrophobic dressing achieved a statistically significant reduction in bacterial loads (0.5 ± 0.05 log colony forming units; p = 0.001). In the presence of IPC, there was no significant reduction in bacterial loads for either test dressing. When bacterial growth was arrested, attachment to the test dressings did not increase over time, suggesting that the number of bacteria on the test dressings increases over time due to bacterial growth. SEM identified widespread adsorption of host fouling across the test dressings which occurred prior to microbial binding. Therein, microbial attachment occurred predominantly to host fouling and not directly to the dressings. Bacterial binding is not unique to dialkylcarbamoyl chloride (DACC) dressings and under clinically relevant in vitro conditions and in vivo observations, we demonstrate (in addition to previously published work) that the bacterial binding capabilities are not effective at reducing the number of bacteria in laboratory models or human wounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Context: Involving people with lived experience of health conditions and the public (consumers) in health research is supported by policy, practice and research funding schemes. However, consumer involvement programmes in discovery‐based preclinical research settings are uncommon. Few formal evaluations of these programmes are reported in the literature. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate an established patient and public involvement programme operating in a major Australian Discovery‐Based Medical Research Institute (DBMRI) to inform programme development and the wider field. Design and Participants: A multimethods programme evaluation incorporating demographic, descriptive and qualitative data obtained through consumer/researcher co‐developed online surveys and semistructured virtual interviews. Programme participants (n = 111) were invited to complete an online survey seeking feedback on their experience of involvement, programme processes and perceived impacts. A purposive sample of 25 participants was interviewed. Descriptive data were analysed using explanatory statistics and qualitative data from surveys and interviews were thematically analysed. Results: This consumer involvement programme was found to be useful and meaningful for most participants, with specific examples of perceived added value. Consumers most commonly engaged with researchers to inform research development, prepare funding applications or strengthen lay communication of science. Genuine consumer–researcher interactions, relationship development and mutual respect were key elements in a positive experience for participants. Opportunities to 'give back', to learn and to ground research in lived experience were identified programme strengths and benefits. Developing researcher training in how to work with consumers, increasing the diversity of the consumer group membership and expanding the range of consumer activities were identified opportunities for improvement. Organisational support and adequate programme resourcing were identified as key enablers. Conclusion: Discovery‐based preclinical research is often viewed as being distant from clinical application; therefore, consumer involvement may be considered less relevant. However this study identified value in bringing a strong consumer voice to the discovery‐based research process through a coordinated, organisation‐wide approach with the potential for application in similar preclinical research settings. Patient or Public Contribution: Four consumer partners from the DBMRI Consumer Advisory Panel were actively engaged in developing this programme evaluation. Specifically, these consumer partners co‐developed and pilot‐tested surveys and interview guides, reviewed and commented on project data analysis and reporting and also contributed as co‐authors by editing the manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Western Sydney Diabetes (WSD) established an innovative diabetes service in May 2020, using virtual and in-person care, linking primary care with the diabetes specialist team. This study evaluated the service's feasibility using qualitative and quantitative methods. Method: Evaluation included: 1) thematic analysis of interviews and workshops with patients and health professionals (n = 28); 2) quantitative analysis of records of patients admitted July 2020-June 2021 (n = 110). Results: Key themes related to 1) benefits: convenient location, access to integrated care, advantages of virtual care; 2) challenges: hard for patients to ask questions, technology issues; 3) confidence: shared care decision making, multidisciplinary team; and 4) future directions: additional multidisciplinary services, expanded insulin stabilisation service, promotion. Improvements between baseline and 3 months included 1.3% reduction in HbA1c (p < 0.05). Sulfonylurea dropped by 25% between initial appointment and follow-up, and GLP1RA/SGLT2i use increasing by 30% (p < 0.05). The clinic covered costs using Medicare billings and Nationally Weighted Activity Units. Discussion: The findings suggest this integrated care model was feasible and perceived as beneficial by both patients and providers. The clinic offers a promising model of practice that could be developed further to roll out in other regions for rural delivery of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]