Swimming and water safety delivery for newly arrived Australians.

In Victoria, Australia, culturally and linguistically diverse communities are more than twice as likely to drown than their Australian-born counterparts. One explanation is the lack of feasible, community-led approaches to water safety and swimming education. A community engagement framework was used to develop and implement a 5-day pool program to teach swimming and water safety to newly arrived migrant children attending an English language school in Victoria. Socio-cultural needs of the predominantly Afghan cohort were incorporated through in-language consultation with parents who requested males and females be educated separately. Participants were assessed against Victorian aquatic competency benchmark standards at pre- and post-program, however, there was no expectation to achieve these competencies within the 5 days due to a lack of prior aquatic exposure. Independent and paired samples t-tests determined changes in skills, including by sex and number of lessons attended. Forty-one participants completed all assessments. Excluding lifesaving skills, there was a significant increase in total competency attainment overall from pre- to post-program (p < 0.001), and for each competency (p's ≤ 0.002)-predominantly knowledge and rescue skills. Improvements were mostly recorded among males, demonstrating that females may require more specialized support to achieve similar outcomes. Improvements in rescue skills and knowledge indicate the program's effectiveness in increasing newly arrived migrant children's awareness of, and exposure to, foundations of safe aquatic behaviours. Future programs tailored to newly arrived migrant communities should consider implementing water familiarization activities as a stepping stone to engagement with structured swimming and water safety education.

Bush Nippers: Evaluating the effectiveness of the Nipper education program in regional inland Victoria, Australia.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: Internationally, inland waterways are identified as leading locations for drowning. 'Nippers' programs provide coastal lifesaving and water safety knowledge and skills to children aged 5-14 years in Australia. However, a 49% increase in Victorian inland waterway drowning compared with the 10-year average, necessitated adapting the Nippers water safety program to inland regions: Bush Nippers. METHODS: Overall, 105 participants from two age groups (under 9 and under 12) were involved across three Bush Nippers programs delivered at river and/or pool locations in regional Victoria, Australia. Surveys and observations assessed participants' water safety knowledge and competencies, and used alongside interviews to obtain program feedback from parents, instructors and communities. Costs were compared to other aquatic programs to determine feasibility of replicating the program. RESULTS: Significant increases in knowledge from pre to immediate posttest were recorded (P < .05) and water competencies were high posttest. Communities were grateful for the regional program delivery and understood the necessity of learning lifesaving skills, particularly in open water environments. Costs were akin to other similar programs indicating program replicability and enhancing likelihood of uptake. CONCLUSIONS: Bush Nippers increased water safety knowledge in children and was well received by the community. Wider uptake of the program is encouraged to diversify aquatic education for regional Victorian children. SO WHAT?: Given the high regard and demand for the program, and importance of learning lifesaving skills, provision of a scalable lifesaving program in inland regions may address the drowning trend and improve aquatic participation.

"They don't think it will ever happen to them": Exploring factors affecting participation in alcohol-influenced aquatic activity among young Australian adults.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: Young adults are over-represented in alcohol-related drownings in high-income countries; however, little research has investigated their behaviours and decision-making to inform prevention efforts. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 young Australian adults (aged 18-24 years). Questions, informed by previous research, inquired about behavioural practices in aquatic contexts and influences on involvement in alcohol-influenced aquatic activity. Interviews were transcribed verbatim. Thematic and interpretative phenomenological analysis followed. RESULTS: Two main themes: personal and contextual awareness, and the impact of other people affected perceptions and involvement in alcohol-influenced aquatic activity. Perceived control of situations and self-confidence affected how these influences impacted individuals' involvement. Participants acknowledged some young adults likely overestimate their aquatic abilities. This awareness was not discussed in relation to their own capabilities. CONCLUSION: Drowning prevention efforts should inform young adults of the dangers of combining alcohol and aquatic activities, and make risks appear more immediate and applicable. Consideration should be given to measuring both perceived and actual aquatic abilities within various aquatic environments, to determine whether self-reported perceived competence is an accurate proxy measure for actual aquatic ability. The influence of alcohol should also be highlighted. Steps are required for a positive shift in Australian norms of alcohol use in aquatic settings and the social and cultural attitudes towards this. SO WHAT?: This study provides new insight into young adults' perceptions and involvement in alcohol-influenced aquatic activity. It enhances the evidence base for drowning prevention and health promotion practitioners and should inform more focused campaigns to prevent alcohol-related drownings among young Australian adults.

Respecting alcohol, respecting the water: Young adult perspectives on how to reduce alcohol-influenced drownings in Australia.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: Alcohol-influenced drowning among young Australians (aged 18-24 years) is a prominent health concern. However, effectiveness of targeted prevention campaigns for this age group is unknown, as this information is not typically published in peer-reviewed or easily accessed grey literature. Accordingly, future campaigns cannot build on prior efforts to address this health problem. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews ascertained young Australian adults' perspectives on preventing alcohol consumption in aquatic settings, and their awareness of appropriate safety strategies and Australian national and state drowning prevention campaigns. Discussions were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed using an interpretative phenomenological approach. RESULTS: Twenty-three individuals (mean age 20.65 years) participated in an interview. Participants had poor understanding of alcohol-focused drowning prevention campaigns and used logos and names to decipher key campaign messages. Education was recommended as the preferred method for prevention, and participants suggested preferences for delivery (eg social media, in schools, humour and shock tactics). The safety strategies discussed appeared to be transferred from strategies used in other contexts, rather than related to the specific risks of aquatic scenarios. CONCLUSIONS: Drowning prevention practitioners should ensure transparency and clarity of their campaign names and logos to enhance understanding of the messages. Practitioners should also consider using audience analysis during campaign design, delivery and evaluation, alongside best practice recommendations from literature, to enhance campaign suitability and effectiveness. SO WHAT?: Water safety practitioners and policy makers should acknowledge these findings when developing campaigns which address young adults' lack of awareness of safe aquatic behaviours to encourage a sustained behaviour change.

A systematic review of alcohol education programs for young people: do these programs change behavior?

Numerous education programs have addressed young peoples' alcohol use. To date, no peer-reviewed publication has evaluated the effectiveness of such programs delivered across a range of contexts to change alcohol-related behaviors, attitudes and/or knowledge. This systematic review aimed to identify alcohol education programs addressing young people, and determine whether they changed alcohol-related behavior, knowledge and attitudes; and, ascertain components of successful programs. Studies were identified, guided by the PRISMA review process, from the earliest records until June 2020. Included studies (N = 70) comprised an alcohol education program which focused on young people (15-24 years). Forty programs reported behavior changes, and these programs were the highest quality. Others impacted attitudes and/or knowledge only (n = 12); or reported no impacts (n = 17). Recent programs were more likely than older programs to feature online delivery and report behavior changes. To enhance alcohol education, future programs should include the identified quality criteria, alongside process and long-term outcome evaluations, to better monitor effectiveness. Findings indicated some education programs have capacity to positively change alcohol-related behavior; however, outcome consistency varied even in high-quality programs. Alcohol education programs should be designed alongside health education/promotion models and best-practice recommendations, to improve the likelihood of desirable behavior-related outcomes.