Much Ado About Nothing? The Role of Land-Based Gambling Venue Employees in Facilitating Problem Gambling Harm Reduction and Help-Seeking.

Over the past decade, greater emphasis has been placed on the role of the land-based gambling industry to respond to problem gambling behaviour in their venues. Despite this, there is a lack of clear information advising best practice responses by gambling venue employees. This article reviews strategies, practices, and policies employed by land-based gambling venues concerning their employees' role in preventing gambling-related harm and responding to problem gambling behaviours. A systematic search strategy was applied to source peer-reviewed literature which identified 49 articles. The synthesised results were arranged and presented across five categories: (1) the identification of gamblers with potential problems in the venue; (2) gambling venue staff responses to gamblers with potential problems; (3) gamblers' perspectives around venue responsibilities and interactions with gamblers with potential problems; (4) corporate social responsibility programs and the identification of gamblers with problems in the venue; and (5) gambling venue staff needs. The results suggest that most activity performed by venue staff concerning their response to problem gambling is limited to observing and documenting risky behaviours and then discussing this internally with other venue staff. Action which moves beyond this, such as approaching and interacting with identified gamblers of concern, rarely occurs. The results of this review suggest that a focus on the identification and intervention specifically with identified gamblers of concern is a particularly unhelpful aspect of the role of venue staff. The results also indicate that a re-thinking of the role frontline staff play in addressing problem gambling is necessary.

Using a theatre-based programme to prevent gender-based violence: evidence from Australia.

Bystander interventions play an important contribution to efforts to prevent violence against women and arts-based interventions have been effective as part of a range of health promotion programmes. You the Man is a theatre-based programme, which contributes to violence prevention efforts in community settings. Requiring a single actor and minimal props, the programme consists of a 30-35 min play about intimate partner violence and sexual assault followed by a moderated post-performance panel discussion including staff from local support agencies. Although it has received positive feedback in a range of settings, the only previously published evaluation involved establishing short and long-term impacts on American high school students. This article examines the short-term impacts from attending You the Man events on a different audience, i.e. Australian adults. Anonymous online surveys conducted prior and 4 weeks after events were completed by 41 participants of whom 29 were female and 12 were male, three-quarters of whom were aged between 18 and 49, and who attended events at university campuses (46.3%), in workplaces (34.1%), at sporting clubs (12.2%) and community centres (7.3%). At follow up, participants regarded the severity of abusive and coercive behaviours as being higher than at baseline, their capacity to intervene as a bystander had increased, as had the number of sources of support they would recommend to someone experiencing gender-based violence. Hence, theatre-based programmes can positively affect attitudes in relation to gender-based violence, increase bystander knowledge about safe ways to intervene and positively affect intended bystander intervention.

Educating Social Workers in the Midst of COVID-19: The Value of a Principles-led Approach to Designing Educational Experiences during the Pandemic.

Social work education in Australia in the midst of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) would not have been possible under our pre-pandemic accreditation standards due to assumptions about best practice in higher education that were not possible to enact during the pandemic. Rather than immediately arguing for a new set of standards, as Heads of Social Work programmes the authors of this paper promoted a principles-led approach to inform 'the right' way-in an ethical sense-of ensuring social work education could continue in Australia during the pandemic. This meant conceptualising the challenges of delivering social work education in a pandemic as being not only practical but also ethical in their nature. Using examples of how this approach guided the design of adaptive online teaching and field education placements at our universities, we consider the future possibilities for ethical and rules-based governance approaches to social work education. How students learn is changing and what they are learning will help them respond to the immediate and future needs arising from the pandemic. As such, rather than having their education compromised by COVID-19, social work students at the time of the pandemic and into the future may in fact benefit from the changes that have emerged during this period.

Understandings and Perceptions of Domestic Violence Among Newly Arrived Afghan Women in Australia.

Women's perceptions of domestic violence vary across societies and cultures and might change by moving to a new society. This study aims to explore newly arrived Afghan women's understandings and perceptions of domestic violence and whether they perceive this as acceptable. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 newly arrived Afghan women in Australia. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed inductively to generate and organize themes. The findings showed that informants had a sound knowledge and understanding of domestic violence, and many of them identified various forms of violence. Also, informants strongly rejected that violence against women be considered normal or acceptable.

Seeking Help in Domestic Violence Among Muslim Women in Muslim-Majority and Non-Muslim-Majority Countries: A Literature Review.

OBJECTIVE: Women from different backgrounds and cultures are at risk of domestic violence. Disclosing the abusive experience and seeking help is not straightforward and easy and might be a complicated and long-term process. Muslim women, like other groups of women, may face various barriers to disclose abusive relationships and for seeking help. Some of the barriers may be common for the majority of Muslim women in different contexts, while others might be related to women's situations and the wider society they live. To identify these barriers and make recommendations for future studies, this article reviews related papers conducted in both Muslim-majority and non-Muslim-majority countries. METHOD: A critical systematic review of the literature was conducted for identifying Muslim women's barriers in disclosing abuse and seeking help. RESULTS: Twenty-one studies met the inclusion criteria. The main identified barriers are discussed into under four themes: social context, family context, individual factors, and expectations of service providers. CONCLUSIONS: Although the researchers tried to investigate various barriers in seeking help, many of them have not focused on structural obstacles. Besides, in many Muslim-majority countries, the issue has not been explored. Therefore, the results of the current article will not apply to those countries. Recommendation for future research comprises more qualitative research compatible with the women's cultures and backgrounds in different societies, focusing more on structural and cultural factors to explore and find women's barriers to seek help.

Educating Australia's Jewish Communities about Child Sexual Abuse.

It has been claimed that effective responses to child sexual abuse (CSA) must engage with the specific cultural, social, and religious contexts of the target communities. For Jewish communities in Australia, the program J-Safe was established to raise awareness, create cultural change, and empower the Jewish community to be able to prevent, recognize, and address child sexual assault within the school setting. This paper reports on the experiences of teachers in two Jewish-day schools who had participated in the J-Safe Project's protective behaviors teacher training program. Participants' accounts of the training indicate the Project builds teachers' knowledge and supports teachers' skill development in the areas of incidence, behavioral indicators and responding to disclosure suggest the training has relevance for the Jewish teaching context. However, the extent to which the training was successful at engaging with culturally specific norms within the Jewish community seems to have been limited, although it may be that the participants were not atypical from the wider group who participated in the J-Safe Project training.

Service providers' experiences and needs in working with refugees in the Geelong region: a qualitative study.

Service providers in Geelong, one of the priority locations for the resettlement of refugees in regional Australia, were interviewed to explore their perceptions of the health and wellbeing needs of refugees, and the capacity of service providers in a regional area to meet these. In all, 22 interviews were conducted with health and human service professionals in a range of organisations offering refugee-specific services, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) services in general, and services to the wider community, including refugees. The findings revealed that a more coordinated approach would increase the effectiveness of existing services; however, the various needs of refugees were more than could be met by organisations in the region at current resource levels. More staff and interpreting services were required, as well as professional development for staff who have had limited experience in working with refugees. It should not be assumed that service needs for refugees resettled in regional Australia will be the same as those of refugees resettled in capital cities. Some services provided in Melbourne were not available in Geelong, and there were services not currently provided to refugees that may be critical in facilitating resettlement in regional and rural Australia.

Occupational health and safety among commercial sex workers.

The concept of occupational health and safety (OHS) for commercial sex workers has rarely been investigated, perhaps because of the often informal nature of the workplace, the associated stigma, and the frequently illegal nature of the activity. We reviewed the literature on health, occupational risks, and safety among commercial sex workers. Cultural and local variations and commonalities were identified. Dimensions of OHS that emerged included legal and policing risks, risks associated with particular business settings such as streets and brothels, violence from clients, mental health risks and protective factors, alcohol and drug use, repetitive strain injuries, sexually transmissible infections, risks associated with particular classes of clients, issues associated with male and transgender commercial sex workers, and issues of risk reduction that in many cases are associated with lack of agency or control, stigma, and legal barriers. We further discuss the impact and potential of OHS interventions for commercial sex workers. The OHS of commercial sex workers covers a range of domains, some potentially modifiable by OHS programs and workplace safety interventions targeted at this population. We argue that commercial sex work should be considered as an occupation overdue for interventions to reduce workplace risks and enhance worker safety.

Not the same: a comparison of female and male clients seeking treatment from problem gambling counselling services.

Previous studies of problem gamblers portray this group as being almost exclusively male. However, this study demonstrates that females comprised 46% of the population ( n = 1,520) of persons who sought assistance due to concerns about their gambling from the publicly-funded BreakEven counselling services in the state of Victoria, Australia, in one 12-month period. This suggests that the model of service delivery which is community based counselling on a non-residential basis may be better able to attract female clients than treatment centres where males predominate such as veterans centres. A comparative analysis of the social and demographic characteristics of female and male gamblers within the study population was undertaken. As with previous studies, we have found significant differences between males and females who have sought help for problems associated with their gambling. Gender differences revealed in this study include females being far more likely to use electronic gaming machines (91.1% vs. 61.4%), older (39.6 years vs. 36.1 years), more likely to be born in Australia (79.4% vs. 74.7%), to be married (42.8% vs. 30.2%), living with family (78.9% vs. 61.5%) and to have dependent children (48.4% vs. 35.7%), than males who present at these services. Female gamblers (A$7,342) reported average gambling debts of less than half of that owed by males (A$19,091). These gender differences have implications for the development and conduct of problem gambling counselling services as it cannot be assumed that models of service which have demonstrated effectiveness with males will be similarly effective with females.

Child protection and public health: nurses' responsibilities.

BACKGROUND: Health care workers have been recognized as having a key role in the protection and care of Scotland's children, particularly in respect of identification and detection of child abuse. Nurses, especially health visitors, are often the first professionals to suspect that child abuse has taken place. While previous research has found that health visitors have primarily perceived their role as that of providing support and advice to vulnerable families, there are pressures on them to fulfil a more narrow surveillance role. Concurrent with a lack of clarity about the role of health visitors in child protection, there has been increasing recognition that other nurses can also make an important contribution, including those who do not work directly with children. AIMS: The aim of the study was to explore nurses' understanding of their professional responsibilities in relation to child protection, and the potential for nurses to be involved in the protection of children from abuse. METHODS: A qualitative interview-based design was used, and 99 nurses working in an National Health Service trust in a Scottish city were interviewed, either individually or in groups, about their professional involvements in child protection issues. Interview data were subjected to thematic analysis. FINDINGS: There was lack of consensus among interviewees about the nursing remit in child protection issues, particularly with respect to the extent to which nurses should actively seek to detect cases of child abuse. An emphasis on identification and detection was not easily accepted by many nurses, and was perceived by some to be a change from their more traditional role of supporting families, as well as being potentially in conflict with some public health responsibilities. CONCLUSION: In spite of the perception of some nurses that there is a sharp divide between child protection work and public health interventions, many of the child protection roles identified by nurses, such as supporting families, parenting education and service development, are clearly within the ambit of contemporary notions of public health. Furthermore, it is clear that there is a role in child protection for a much wider group of nurses than health visitors.

Medication compliance and satisfaction with treatment for HIV disease in a sample of African-American crack cocaine smokers.

The development of treatment regimes for African-American HIV-infected crack cocaine users has often been based on assumptions about compliance with medication regimes rather than evidence. This study sought to obtain baseline information on the adherence to antiretroviral medications by members of this important risk population in Houston, Texas. It was found that for only 5 of a range of 16 antiviral medications was there a significant correlation between levels of compliance reported by respondents and their beliefs as to how effective these medications are. Medication compliance was also found not to be associated with frequency of crack cocaine use in the month prior to interview. Furthermore, irrespective of both gender and their reported extent of medication compliance, the respondents tended to report positive relationships with their treating physician, with higher levels of satisfaction reported by women. These results suggest that the majority of African-American crack cocaine users are able to comply with HIV treatment regimes, with more than half (53%) claiming full compliance for one or more medications, and a further one third (31%) claiming compliance more than half the time. Moreover, these findings suggest that they will continue to take antiretroviral medications even if they have doubts about the effectiveness of these medications.

The sustainability of health promotion interventions for different levels of social organization.

In health promotion, enthusiasm for sustainability has frequently overshadowed critical reflection with regard to whether this aim is warranted, let alone feasible. Consequently, the not insubstantial body of literature on sustainability in health promotion is not particularly helpful to decision makers. In this paper we seek to provide some guidance for the development of sustainability for health promotion interventions, arguing that it is necessary to be able to differentiate between (i). levels of social organization which are the focus of change, (ii). the programmes and agencies which are the means employed to achieve change, and (iii). the outcomes or effects that are achieved. Furthermore, funding allocations need to be congruent with programme characteristics if one is serious about achieving sustainability.

Critical processes for creating health-promoting sporting environments in Australia.

The reach of sporting organizations into the community makes them an ideal vehicle through which to promote health to the general population. There are now a number of documented examples demonstrating that sponsorship can lead to improvements in the health of the sporting environment, but relatively little is known as to why some sponsorships are more successful in achieving these structural changes than others in ostensibly similar sports. The purpose of this study was to identify the processes required for health promotion agencies and sporting organizations working in collaboration to implement structural changes in sporting settings such as smoke-free environments, provision of healthy food choices, responsible alcohol management and sun protection, along with the factors that facilitate and hinder this from being achieved. We conclude that such changes are difficult to achieve, especially in the absence of a programmatic approach to health promotion.