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Aim: To explore the nutritional content of meal kits from two main Australian companies over a 6‐week period against healthy eating guidelines for pregnancy. Method: Across the 6‐week period, weekly meal kits from both Provider 1 and Provider 2 were purchased, 36 individual meals were assessed. All data were analysed for the development of a macronutrient and micronutrient profile of meals. Extracted data were macronutrient, vitamin, and mineral composition, which were compared against the healthy eating guidelines for pregnant women in Australia and New Zealand. Results: Meal kits include higher levels of sodium, and lower levels of dietary fibre, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, grains, and dairy when compared against the guidelines for healthy eating for pregnant women in Australia and New Zealand. Conclusions and implications: Meal kits may increase meals prepared and consumed in the home, and thanks to the clear instructions and pre‐portioned ingredients, may reduce stress related to food preparation. They have the potential to provide nutritionally adequate meals to pregnant women as a way to mitigate food insecurity or hunger during pregnancy and may provide some nutritional benefits and have the potential to remove some of the challenges with maintaining an adequate diet when pregnant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Food insecurity is a public health concern that has profound impact on physical and mental health, and on social well‐being. Pregnancy is a period in which food insecurity is likely to be particularly deleterious, due to the serious impact on both mother and child. Food insecurity is not routinely screened in antenatal healthcare settings, and the preferences of pregnant women regarding food insecurity screening and support are poorly understood. This study aimed to determine the views and preferences of food‐insecure pregnant women regarding food insecurity screening and support within antenatal healthcare. Methods: This qualitative descriptive study used face‐to‐face semi‐structured interviews, conducted in February and March 2023, to gain the views of purposively sampled food‐insecure, pregnant women in Melbourne, Australia. Food insecurity was evidenced by an affirmative response to at least one of three assessment items in a screening questionnaire. Qualitative content analysis was conducted to summarise the views and preferences of women. Results: Nineteen food‐insecure pregnant women were interviewed. Three themes were identified: (1) acceptability of being screened for food insecurity, (2) concerns about the consequences of disclosure and (3) preferences regarding food insecurity screening and supportive strategies that could be offered within an antenatal healthcare setting. Conclusion: Women were accepting of food insecurity screening being conducted within routine healthcare. Women identified potential benefits of routine screening, such as feeling supported by their clinician to have a healthy pregnancy and less pressure to voluntarily ask for food assistance. Women gave suggestions for the implementation of food insecurity screening to optimise their healthcare experience, maintain their dignity and feel able to disclose within a safe and caring environment. These results indicate that food insecurity screening in the antenatal setting is likely to have support from pregnant women and is urgently needed in the interest of promoting optimal nutrition for women and children. Patient Contribution: Pregnant women with lived experience of food insecurity were purposively sampled to obtain their insights regarding screening and support within a pregnancy healthcare setting. Member‐checking occurred following data collection, whereby all participants were offered the opportunity to review their interview transcript to ensure trustworthiness of the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue addressed: Climate change is one of the greatest challenges to public health and well‐being. Steps taken by governments now will have a significant effect on public health outcomes, including the food system and food security. Method: This study reviewed municipal public health and well‐being plans from 79 local government areas (LGAs) in Victoria, Australia. Documents were included if they explicitly mentioned climate change and food insecurity. Of the 79 LGAs, 13 met the selection criteria and a content and framing analysis was conducted to identify the level of recognition of climate change on food security and proposed mitigation actions and strategies. Results: Of the 13 LGAs, the documents of six were identified as having a high level of responsiveness to climate change and food insecurity, five were assessed as medium and two low. Framing analysis identified council acknowledgment of how climate change effects food access through availability and price, and growing food locally and sustainably is seen as a common action to improve food security. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that planning for climate change and food insecurity is not a high priority for Victorian LGAs. Given the current political climate in Australia, where many in federal government continue to deny the existence of climate change or are reluctant to implement mitigation strategies, it is now and will be increasingly important into the future that local governments plan for the impact of climate change on food insecurity. So what?: Climate change will impact how people access food and what foods are available to them. Unless all levels of government start to address and plan for climate change, the impact on communities will continue to intensify and grow more costly and damaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review examines the current published and "grey" literature relating to the experiences of homelessness by people seeking asylum within Australia. While many people seeking asylum have experienced homelessness during their flight, inadequate and unaffordable housing are a feature of the settlement experience for a large number of new arrivals to Australia, putting at risk their successful settlement. This study aims to explore the factors influencing access to stable housing. A systematic review of the academic literature and a search of the grey literature identified 11 articles and 20 documents related to homelessness and people seeking asylum in Australia. The academic literature included a variety of methods and approaches to the investigation of the experience of homelessness in Australia. The grey literature was more practice based, including evaluation and research reports, submissions, and newsletters. Findings suggest that experiences of homelessness are multifaceted and have a range of influences, including policy, financial stress, lack of access to education and employment, and a lack of affordable and suitable housing. Any solutions to address homelessness need to be similarly diverse. Discrimination from real estate agents and employers was also identified as a barrier to housing for many people seeking asylum, an issue that will need to be addressed at a systematic level. The lack of research published in the academic literature means that although there may be some programmes or solutions operating in the community, as demonstrated in the grey literature, this information is not being shared beyond organisation websites or subscriber lists, resulting in a lack of coherency or sharing of solutions. This review highlights the need for further attention to the factors influencing homelessness in asylum seekers, the experience of homelessness, and how these can be addressed by government and non‐government led strategies and policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Aims: Prescription medications are readily accessible on both the dark and surface web. This study focuses specifically on modafinil. Modafinal is a medication that is used to treat sleepiness due to a range of sleep disorders, but is also used off-label as a cognitive enhancer. This study aimed to evaluate surface websites which sold modafinil to Australia to provide an overview of and to document the characteristics of surface web retailers.Design and Methods: An online search to identify online retailers selling modafinil was performed using three search engines. Retailers were included if they sold modafinil to Australia, as verified through the purchasing process. Thirteen retailers were included in the final sample.Results: Most retailers sold more than one product, with products being sold in tablet form the most common (88%). Retailers offered products of multiple strength, with the 200 mg product most common (51%). Most retailers included information on the side effects of the substances (77%), few listed any supporting evidence. Few listed information regarding legal status (24%). Most retailers used a number of features to indicate legitimacy.Discussion and Conclusion: This is the first study to document the characteristics of surface web retailers purporting to sell modafinil to Australia. Future studies may analyse purchased samples to identify potential counterfeit or poor-quality medications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recent changes to Australia's welfare system have impacted low‐income single parents who have been moved from a family payment, Parenting Payment Single, to a lower payment directed at individuals looking for work, Newstart Allowance. Research has shown that single‐parent families are particularly vulnerable to the risk of financial deprivation and poverty, and this recent welfare payment change further compounds the often dire financial situation for these families. Twenty‐three in‐depth interviews were conducted with low‐income single mothers who had been recently moved off the Parenting Payment Single and on to Newstart Allowance. As a result of this payment change and the decreased welfare assistance, the women spoke of needing to develop new strategies to compensate for their decreased income. This article focuses on the strategies these families developed and employed, exploring the women's ability to be resourceful in times of welfare changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent decades have seen issues of asylum seeking and border security feature heavily in Australian federal elections, with significant campaign time and money dedicated to the promotion of border security policies that seek to limit the number of boats carrying asylum seekers. In this article, we investigate the language of threat and the construction of asylum seekers as a 'threat to national security,' we suggest that this language can be traced to the 2001 'Tampa crisis,' and that while there have been brief phases where a 'humane' approach to the arrival of asylum seekers was present, the asylum seeker 'issue' overall has been exploited by major political parties to generate positive election outcomes at the expense of Australia's humanitarian obligations. We argue that the current perception of Australia's border protection laws are a form of 'compassionate deterrence,' where inhumane treatment of asylum seekers is justified on the basis of 'saving lives.' Related Articles [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Aim: To understand health service access and needs of people who use performance and image enhancing drugs (PIED) in regional Queensland.Design and Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 people (n = 19 men) who reported the use of a range of PIEDs, including anabolic-androgenic steroids, human chorionic gonadotropin, growth hormone, clenbuterol, tamoxifen, insulin and peptides.Results: Participants reported accessing a range of services, including needle and syringe programs and pharmacies, for sterile injecting equipment. While PIEDs users attributed some stigma to needle and syringe programs, they were seen as an important service for injecting equipment. Participants reported receiving either positive care from health-care providers, such as general practitioners (GP), or having negative experiences due to the stigma attached with PIED use. Few participants reported disclosing their PIED use to their GP not only because of the concerns that their GP would no longer see them but also because they felt their GP was not knowledgeable about these substances.Discussion and Conclusion: Participants in the study reported no difficulty in accessing health services based on living in a regional area, with their concern focused more upon how they were viewed and treated by service staff. [Dunn M, Henshaw R, Mckay F. H. Do performance and image enhancing drug users in regional Queensland experience difficulty accessing health services? Drug Alcohol Rev 2016;35:377-382]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Aims Needle and syringe programs (NSP), which provide sterile injecting equipment, are a cornerstone of Australia's drug harm reduction strategy and assist in reducing the spread of blood-borne virus infections, such as HIV and hepatitis C, among people who inject drugs. Some reports suggest that steroid users are an increasing proportion of clientele at NSPs. In this research, we investigate the experience of NSP workers who come into contact with people who use steroids and other performance- and image-enhancing drugs (PIED). Design and Method Thirteen NSP workers were recruited using purposive sampling strategies. Participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and coded for themes. Results There are three key findings of this study. Firstly, NSP workers do not feel well informed about the substances that PIED users are injecting. Secondly, they were unsure what equipment PIED users required. Thirdly, PIED users were perceived to differ from other client groups, and these differences impacted upon the level of rapport staff could build with this group. Discussion and Conclusion PIED users pose unique challenges for NSP workers compared with other NSP client groups. The PIEDs used and the way in which they are used are substantially different compared with other NSP clients, and there appears to be a lack of knowledge within the workforce about these substances. This study highlights the need to engage in workforce training, but also the need to more effectively engage with PIED users in relation to effective harm reduction strategies. [Dunn M, McKay FH, Iversen J. Steroid users and the unique challenge they pose to needle and syringe program workers. Drug Alcohol Rev 2014;33:71-77] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue Addressed Methods Results Conclusions So What? International students are at a heightened risk of experiencing negative health and wellbeing outcomes, which was further exacerbated during the COVID‐19 lockdowns. This research sought to explore the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the health and wellbeing of international students in Australia.Thirty‐one international students participated in qualitative in‐depth interviews between March and April 2022 to explore their experiences of health and wellbeing during 2020–2021 while they lived and studied in Australia. Interviews were coded and analysed thematically using NVivo software.Findings highlight the impact of the pandemic on international students' mental, social and financial wellbeing, including worry about loved ones, social isolation, financial and employment insecurity and challenges related to online learning. The pandemic exacerbated and brought more attention to existing issues and placed students in unequal positions in relation to domestic students and each other.The COVID‐19 pandemic has increased students' vulnerability to poor mental health and to a range of social and financial issues.The findings of this study highlight the need for support strategies to improve international students' mental health and social wellbeing outcomes in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]