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Determine current vision care pathways and practices for stroke survivors in Australia and internationally, focusing on identifying reoccurring gaps in these pathways and unmet care needs. A scoping narrative review was conducted to identify literature related to post-stroke vision care practices and perspectives of patients and health professionals. A total of 16193 articles were retrieved and 28 deemed eligible for inclusion. Six were Australian, 14 from the UK, four from the USA, and four from within Europe. Post-stroke vision care is largely unstandardized, with substantial inconsistency in the use of vision care protocols, who executes them and at what point in post-stroke care they are utilised. Health professionals and stroke survivors expressed that unmet care needs were primarily a result of lack of education and awareness regarding post-stroke eye problems. Other gaps in care pathways related to the timing of vision assessment, provision of ongoing support, and the integration of eye-care specialists into the stroke team. Further research is needed into current Australian post-stroke vision care to accurately assess whether the needs of stroke survivors are being met. Available evidence indicates that in Australia, there is a requirement for well-defined protocols for vision screening, education, management, and referral of stroke survivors. Post-stroke vision care in Australia is unstandardised, which may cause inequities in vision care provision to Australian stroke survivors in different regions and/or care facilities. Education and training pertaining to stroke-related vision conditions for stroke healthcare professionals and the inclusion of eye-care professionals in stroke care teams is likely to improve gaps in care practice/pathways identified in the current evidence base. Management of stroke-related visual conditions should be inclusive of detailed information provision that is specific to the patients condition(s) and circumstances, as well as ongoing, long-term management strategies/support services to better aid stroke survivor"s reintegration into the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We report results in relation to returning to driving in the UK under the exceptional cases rule for visual field loss. Methods: The Hemianopia Adaptation Study is a prospective clinical study recruiting adult stroke survivors with new onset homonymous hemianopia. The mobility assessment course (MAC) was used to measure navigational scanning. Car drivers were offered a 1-year post-stroke assessment to consider referral for driving assessment. Results: Of 144 participants, 51 were eligible for driving assessment, with 13 (25.4%) accepting appointment for UK Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) referral. A statistically significant difference in gender and baseline Barthel (stroke severity) scores was found between those requesting referral and those declining (p＝0.046; p<0.001). MAC outcomes were significantly different, with those referred having a lower percentage of target omissions (9.0%) and faster mean course completion time (46.0 s), than those not referred (28.3%/72.5 s) (p＝0.006/p<0.001). Twelve of the 13 referred were offered a driving assessment by the DVLA. All 12 passed and returned to driving. Conclusions: It is possible for individuals with post-stroke homonymous hemianopia to return to driving, where exceptional cases criteria are met. There is evidence to support use of the MAC as a clinical measurement of adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: A comprehensive whole-school approach has emerged as a promising model for building connectedness in the school setting. The health-promoting school model, through its whole-school orientation and attention to the school organizational environment, identifies structures and processes that influence school connectedness. This paper aims to investigate this model. Design/methodology/approach: This study examines the key mechanisms of health-promoting school structures and processes, as well as the pathways of their influence on school connectedness, by using a qualitative case study methodology in three school communities in southeast Queensland, Australia. In-depth interviews, focus groups, observations and documentary evidence provided the data. Findings: Key elements of the health-promoting school model that facilitated interactions between school community members were events that were characterised as positive, social, celebratory, and with no financial cost, as well as informal gatherings that involved food or events with communal eating. Through these interactions, mutual reciprocal relationships were developed. School community members began to learn about and understand one another's positive qualities, which in turn promoted additional aspects of school connectedness. The key elements and pathways of the health-promoting school approach were supported by factors such as informal teaching, reinforcement, adequate time for relationships to develop, and being embedded within the whole-school orientation. The results of this study are used to formulate a theoretical model of how the health-promoting school approach builds school connectedness. Originality/value: These findings are important because they provide insight into the central role of food in the school culture and how it links other key elements and factors that can be implemented in the school setting to build connectedness. (Contains 3 figures.)

Purpose: Schools are widely accepted as having the potential to make substantial contributions to promoting healthy eating habits in children and adolescents. This paper aims to present a case study from an Australian school of how a whole-school approach, planned and implemented through a health promoting school framework, can foster improved nutrition in schools by creating a supportive environment for healthy eating habits. Design/methodology/approach: A case study approach was used to investigate the influence of a health promoting school approach on improvements to nutrition in the school environment. Data were collected using in-depth interviews, student focus groups and documentary evidence, such as school planning documents and observations of health promoting school activities. Findings: This study illustrates how initiatives to promote a healthier school environment increased demand for nutritious food in the school community, which in turn impacted the supply of these foods at the school tuckshop. The study provides insight into the key factors that facilitated these changes in the school, both internally, in terms of organisational change processes within the school, and externally, through support from a health promotion agency. The study also illustrates the centrality of educational leadership in the school context, even in an area typically identified as a "health" issue. Originality/value: This paper presents qualitative research identifying organisational processes that instigate change in the provision of nutritious foods within the school environment.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that characterise effective school-community partnerships that support the sustainability of school health initiatives applied within a health-promoting schools approach. Design/methodology/approach: The study used an explanatory case study approach of five secondary schools participating in a health-promoting school programme, "The Logan Healthy Schools Project" in Logan, South-East Queensland, Australia to investigate how school-community partnerships support the sustainability of school health initiatives. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 deputy principals, school staff members, and community-based partners, along with observations and a documentary analysis of Logan Healthy School Project activities. A thematic analysis was conducted on the data. Findings: The factors that characterise effective school-community partnerships that support the sustainability of school health initiatives include: a focus on building relationships between school and community partners, complementary capacities of school personnel and service providers, commonality of intent and shared goals between both parties, and competence of practice, primarily of the community service provider. These four factors were consistent at the school operational level and strategic programme co-ordination level of the Logan Healthy Schools Project, yet varied in importance across the initiation, growth, and maturity of the school-community partnerships. Originality/value: The study adds to the limited body of knowledge that surrounds effective school-community partnerships and how the features of these partnerships contribute to the sustainability of school health initiatives. The study highlights the importance of initiating, growing, and maintaining school-community partnerships and provides insight into the factors that should be considered when planning and developing school health promotion initiatives. (Contains 2 figures.)

Purpose: School connectedness, or a sense of belonging to the school environment, is an established protective factor for child and adolescent health, education, and social well-being. While a comprehensive, whole-school approach that addresses the school organisational environment is increasingly endorsed as an effective approach to promote connectedness, how this approach creates a sense of belonging in the school environment requires systematic in-depth exploration. This paper aims to address these issues Design/methodology/approach: This study examines the influence on school connectedness of a whole-school approach to promote health in school, using a qualitative case study method. Three school communities in Southeast Queensland, Australia, are investigated as case studies in order to formulate a theoretical model of how health promotion approaches can build school connectedness. Findings: This study finds that a health promotion approach builds school connectedness by encouraging a "whole-school" orientation designed to foster interaction among members of the entire school community. Specific activities that promote interaction are school-wide activities involving the entire school community and, at the classroom level, "whole-class" activities in which students and staff work together on activities that create links between the two groups, such as collaborative curriculum planning. The "whole-school" emphasis on partnerships between staff and students and parents is also important, particularly with its focus on initiating and sustaining school-community partnerships. Originality/value: The findings are important, since they validate a whole-school approach to building school connectedness and address an important gap in the literature about how to promote school connectedness and thereby protect the well-being of children and adolescents. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to demonstrate the contribution of whole school approaches embodied by the health-promoting school approach, to the promotion of school connectedness, defined as the cohesiveness between diverse groups in the school community, including students, families, school staff and the wider community. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-disciplinary review of literature was conducted to identify strategies consistent with the health-promoting school approach and the values and principles that promote school connectedness. The review included peer-reviewed articles and published books and reports identified from the databases spanning the education, health, social science and science disciplines and used search terms encompassing health and mental health promotion, schools, social connectedness, belonging and attachment. The paper is also a framework of the contribution of the health-promoting school approach to promoting school connectedness and was developed drawing on health promotion strategies at the broader community level known to foster connectedness. Findings: The paper found that the framework developed illustrates how the health-promoting school approach has the potential to build school connectedness through two major mechanisms inclusive processes that involve the diversity of members that make up a community the active participation of community members and equal "power" relationships, or equal partnerships among community members and supportive structures such as school policies, the way the school is organised and its physical environment, that reflect the values of participation, democracy and inclusiveness and/or that promote processes based on these values. Practical implications--In this paper the detailed mechanisms outlined in the framework provide practical strategies for health promotion practitioners and educators to use in the everyday school setting to promote connectedness. Originality/value: This paper draws together substantial bodies of evidence and makes a persuasive case for the contribution of the health-promoting school approach to building school connectedness. (Contains 5 figures.)