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Background and Objectives A multifaceted construct called occupational communion (OC), defined as a sense of belonging based on social interaction at work, has been proposed to understand why care workers were positively engaged in their jobs over time, even though they were very demanding. Rich qualitative data on the multiple aspects of OC in care work exist, but a valid measure does not. Research Design and Methods We applied a mixed-method systematic scale development process to measure OC. Aged and dementia care workers in Australia (76%) and other countries participated in a focus group and online surveys (N = 2,451). We also used interview data from our prior study. The study involved 3 components: (1) scale development and design; (2) pilot test validation with exploratory factor analysis; and (3) confirmatory validation via confirmatory factor analysis. The third component assessed convergent and discriminant validity using measures of communion, self-efficacy, work engagement, job and life satisfaction, intention to leave, positive and negative affect, and mood. Results We developed a 28-item Occupational Communion Scale (OCS) with good internal consistency (composite reliability = 0.75–0.91) across 6 factors: (1) "natural" carer, (2) psychological need to care, (3) connection with clients, (4) connection with coworkers, (5) desire for more connection, and (6) blurred boundaries. All validity measures correlated with OC and work engagement, self-efficacy, and positive affect showed the strongest association. Discussion and Implications The OCS can be used to design and evaluate interventions addressing aged care workforce engagement, social connections and well-being, and care outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Australian aged care workforce surveys offer limited information about those who engage in online dementia education regarding their occupational health and well‐being. A salutogenic approach was applied to an aged care context to quantitatively assess both positive and negative aspects of health at work to inform the development of workplace interventions tailored to those interested in self‐development. Methods: Physical, psychological and occupational health were measured in an online cross‐sectional survey of general health, chronic conditions, psychological distress, positive and negative affect, job satisfaction, access to workplace amenities and turnover intentions of aged care workers undertaking an online dementia course in October 2014. Results: Participants (N = 662) rated their general physical health as good and a minority experienced chronic conditions such as obesity. Overall, workers had average levels of positive and negative affect and low distress. However, 25% were likely to have a mental health condition. While most were employed on a permanent basis (80%) and reported moderate job satisfaction, 18% were likely to leave their job. There were some gaps in workplace amenities to support health and well‐being: for example, 13% reported no access to lunch break areas. Conclusions: Results suggest precarious resilience in aged care workers enrolled in an Australian online dementia course. Workplace interventions that focus on preventative health strategies are required to address the health risks associated with higher than national averages of obesity and mental health, and reduce exposure of workers to physical and psychological harms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated ultrasound tranducer arrays having a micromachined diaphragm framework were studied for their crosstalk characteristics. The latter were analysed from the measured far-field angular response of an unfocused ceramic transducer. A cross-coupling model was then used in curve-fitting the directivity patterns obtained from the Fourier transform of the data. The derived crosstalk-related parameters suggested that the small diaphragm window provided the least crosstalk at superior interelement isolation among three linear arrays constructed.

Abstract Background Typically, dementia involves progressive cognitive and functional deterioration, leading to death. A palliative approach recognizes the inevitable health decline, focusing on quality of life. The approach is holistic, proactive, supports the client and the family, and can be provided by the client's usual care team. In the last months of life, distressing symptoms, support needs, and care transitions may escalate. This project trialed a strategy intended to support a consistent, high quality, palliative approach for people with dementia drawing close to death. The strategy was to implement two communities of practice, drawn primarily from service provider organizations across care sectors, supporting them to address practice change. Communities comprised practitioners and other health professionals with a passionate commitment to dementia palliative care and the capacity to drive practice enhancement within partnering organizations. Project aims were to document: (i) changes driven by the communities of practice; (ii) changes in staff/practitioner characteristics during the study (knowledge of a palliative approach and dementia; confidence delivering palliative care; views on death and dying, palliative care, and a palliative approach for dementia); (iii) outcomes from perspectives of family carers, care providers, and community of practice members; (iv) the extent to which changes enhanced practice and care continuity; and (v) barriers to and facilitators of successful community of practice implementation. Methods/design This action research project was implemented over 14 months in 2010/11 in metropolitan Perth, Western Australia and regional Launceston, Tasmania. Each state based community of practice worked with the researchers to scope existing practice and its outcomes. The research team compiled a report of existing practice recommendations and resources. Findings of these two steps informed community of practice action plans and development of additional resources. Change implementation was recorded and explored in interviews, comparisons being made with practice recommendations. Changes in staff/practitioner characteristics were evaluated using survey data. Findings from semi structured interviews and survey administration established outcomes from perspectives of family carers, care providers, and community of practice members. Consideration of processes and outcomes, across the two state based settings, informed identification of barriers and facilitators. Community of practice reflections also informed study recommendations.

Background: Research on workforce development for high‐quality dementia care more often focuses on enhancing employee knowledge and skill and less on managing employee stress and coping at work. Objective: To review employee stress and coping in response to high job demands in community‐based dementia care organizations in Tasmania, Australia. Methods: Stress and coping in response to job roles of 25 community‐based dementia care workers were reviewed using self‐report questionnaire data. Data were analysed for descriptive results and at an individual case level. Individual participant scores were reviewed for clinically significant stress and coping factors to create worker profiles of adjustment. Results: Two adjustment profiles were found. The ‘global resilience’ profile, where workers showed positive adjustment and resilience indicating they found their jobs highly rewarding, were very confident in their abilities at work and had a strong match between their personal and organizational values. The second ‘isolated distress’ profile was only found in a minority and included poor opportunities for job advancement, a missmatch in personal and work values or clinically high levels of psychological distress. Conclusion: Aged care workplaces that advocate employee well‐being and support employees to cope with their work roles may be more likely to retain motivated and committed staff. Future research should consider employee stress and coping at the workforce level, and how this can influence high‐quality care delivery by applying the measures identified for this study. Comparative research across different care settings using meta‐analytic studies may then be possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hand washing and glove use are the main methods for reducing bacterial cross-contamination from hands to ready-to-eat food in a food service setting. However, bacterial transfer from hands to gloves is poorly understood, as is the effect of different durations of soap rubbing on bacterial reduction. To assess bacterial transfer from hands to gloves and to compare bacterial transfer rates to food after different soap washing times and glove use, participants' hands were artificially contaminated with Enterobacter aerogenes B199A at ~9 log CFU. Different soap rubbing times (0, 3, and 20 s), glove use, and tomato dicing activities followed. The bacterial counts in diced tomatoes and on participants' hands and gloves were then analyzed. Different soap rubbing times did not significantly change the amount of bacteria recovered from participants' hands. Dicing tomatoes with bare hands after 20 s of soap rubbing transferred significantly less bacteria (P <0.01) to tomatoes than did dicing with bare hands after 0 s of soap rubbing. Wearing gloves while dicing greatly reduced the incidence of contaminated tomato samples compared with dicing with bare hands. Increasing soap washing time decreased the incidence of bacteria recovered from outside glove surfaces (P < 0.05). These results highlight that both glove use and adequate hand washing are necessary to reduce bacterial cross-contamination in food service environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]