Search

Young people’s unemployment and underemployment are acknowledged as serious and enduring problems in Australia and globally. Construction is one of the largest employers of young people, and social procurement of construction products and services has significant potential if harnessed to address this problem. This article argues that project-based intermediation offers critical new insights into how social procurement can be implemented in a construction context. Employing a single case study approach, the article uses ecological systems theory and concept mapping to examine the results of focus groups with twelve young people who transitioned to employment in the Australian construction industry through a unique project-based intermediary set up by a major contractor to meet its social procurement requirements. Addressing the current under-theorisation of social procurement research, this article offers new conceptual insights into the socio-ecological networks that influence young people’s successful transition to employment in construction. The findings also provide new practical insights for government policymakers and the construction industry into the potential role that project-based intermediation can play in addressing youth unemployment in the context of emerging social procurement policies in many countries.

While the household in which a child grows up is considered a critical environment that influences nutrition outcomes, there is little research examining the influence of household composition and structure on complementary feeding practices. This study examined the influence of household structure and composition on complementary feeding practices, using the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS), 2000 to 2016. The composition variables were calculated from the attributes of household members (alters) and the structure variables from their kinship status. A multilevel mixed-effects regression model, specifying survey rounds as the random effect, was used to examine the association between household structure/composition and the Minimum Meal Frequency (MMF) and Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD). The average Marginal Effects (MEs) were calculated to facilitate practical interpretation. Children of caregivers with a higher number of alters (degree), unique number of kinship category (effect size), closely related (constraint), and mixed-age alters (age diversity) seemed to increase the probability of meeting the MDD. Degree and effective size decreased the probability of meeting MMF, while constraint increased it. Overall, this study revealed some associations between household structure and composition and complementary feeding practices. Hence, complementary feeding interventions could be adapted to account for the household structure and composition variations.

Timing reproduction to coincide with optimal environmental conditions is key for many organisms living in seasonal habitats. Advance in the onset of spring is a particular challenge to migratory birds that must time their arrival without knowing the conditions on the breeding grounds. This is amplified at high elevations where resource availability, which is linked to snowmelt and vegetation development, shows much annual variation. With the aim of exploring the effects of variability in the onset of local resource availability on reproduction, we compared key life history events in an Alpine population of the Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) between years of contrasting timing of snowmelt. Based on remote sensed images, we identified 2020 as an exceptionally early snowmelt and green-up year compared to the preceding year and the long-term average. Individuals tracked with light-level geolocators arrived well before the snowmelt in 2020 and clutch initiation dates across the population were earlier in 2020 compared to 2019. However, observations from a citizen science database and nest monitoring data showed that the arrival-breeding interval was shorter in 2020, thus the advance in timing lagged behind the environmental conditions. While hatching success was similar in both years, fledging success was significantly reduced in 2020. A trophic mismatch in early 2020 could be a possible explanation for the reduced reproductive success, but alternative explanations cannot be excluded. Our results show that, despite the timely arrival at the breeding grounds and a contraction of the arrival-breeding interval, Wheatears were not able to advance breeding activities in synchrony with environmental conditions in 2020. Earlier reproductive seasons are expected to become more frequent in the future. We show that the negative effects of changing seasons in Alpine migratory birds might be similar to birds breeding at high latitudes, despite their

BACKGROUND: Pandemics and the large-scale outbreak of infectious disease can significantly impact morbidity and mortality worldwide. The impact on intensive care resources can be significant and often require modification of service delivery, a key element which includes rapid expansion of the critical care workforce. Pandemics are also unpredictable, which necessitates rapid decision-making and action which, in the lack of experience and guidance, may be extremely challenging. Recognising the potential strain on intensive care units (ICUs), particularly on staffing, a working group was formed for the purpose of developing recommendations to support decision-making during rapid service expansion. METHODS: The Critical Care Pandemic Staffing Working Party (n = 21), representing nursing, allied health, and medical disciplines, has used a modified consensus approach to provide recommendations to inform multidisciplinary workforce capacity expansion planning in critical care. RESULTS: A total of 60 recommendations have been proposed which reflect general recommendations as well as those specific to maintaining the critical care workforce, expanding the critical care workforce, rostering and allocation of the critical care workforce, nurse-specific recommendations for staffing the ICU, education support and training during ICU surge situations, workforce support, models of care, and de-escalation. CONCLUSION: These recommendations are provided with the intent that they be used to guide interdisciplinary decision-making, and we suggest that careful consideration is given to the local context to determine which recommendations are most appropriate to implement and how they are prioritised. Ongoing evaluation of recommendation implementation and impact will be necessary, particularly in rapidly changing clinical contexts.

Background: Limited resources make prevention of complex population-level issues such as obesity increasingly challenging. Collaboration and partnerships between organisations operating in the same system can assist, however, there is a paucity of research into how relationships function at a local level. The aim of this study was to audit initiatives, explore networks, and identify potential opportunities for improving the obesity prevention system in a Health Service area of Western Australia (WA). Methods: A mixed-methods study was undertaken in a metropolitan Health Service in Perth, WA in 2019–20. Structured face-to-face interviews (n = 51) were conducted with organisations engaged in obesity prevention, to identify prevention initiatives and their characteristics using a Systems Inventory tool. The Research Team identified the 30 most active organisations during the Systems Inventory, and an online Organisational Network Survey was administered to explore: relationships across six domains; partnership duration; frequency of interaction with other organisations; barriers to implementation; and key contributions to obesity prevention. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise barriers, contributions and Systems Inventory data. Organisational Network Survey data were analysed using social network analysis through UCINET 6 for Windows and Netdraw software. Whole network and cohesion scores were calculated: average degree; density; diameter; and degree centralization. Core-periphery analysis was conducted to identify densely connected core and sparsely connected periphery organisations. Results: The Systems Inventory identified 189 unique prevention initiatives, mostly focusing on individual-level behaviour change. Fifty four percent (n = 15) of the Organisational Network Survey respondent organisations and most core organisations (67%, n = 8) were government. The information and knowledge sharing network had a density of 45% indicating a high level of informat