Description:
Attracting and retaining effective education leaders and teaching staff for regional, rural and remote schools in Australia is a major sustainability and quality issue facing every State and Territory. It is also a major concern in pre-service teacher education, particularly for those universities which have a commitment to rural and regional areas.
Description:
Attracting and retaining effective education leaders and teaching staff for regional, rural and remote schools in Australia is a major sustainability and quality issue facing every State and Territory. It is also a major concern in pre-service teacher education, particularly for those universities which have a commitment to rural and regional areas.
Description:
INTRODUCTION: Organophosphates are a class of insecticides used globally by the agricultural industry for insect control. Acute consequences of organophosphate exposures are well known, while there has been limited research on their long-term effects. The objective of this review was to discuss the health effects of chronic organophosphate exposure in farmers. METHODS: Medline, Scopus and Web of Science were searched to find the relevant articles. Articles published only in English and until December 2018 were reviewed. The selected articles were then categorised as neurological (neurobehaviour, neurodevelopmental, neurological signs and symptoms) or non-neurological subheadings. RESULTS: A total of 53 articles for neurological effects and 17 articles for non-neurological effects were identified. Chronic organophosphates exposure was associated with deficits in the neurobehaviour subsets of attention and short-term memory, increased incidence of neurodegenerative diseases and effects on peripheral nerves and neurodevelopment. However, research to support non-neurological effects such as respiratory symptoms, increased cancer risk, endocrine disruption, cardiac issues, chronic fatigue and infertility was limited. CONCLUSION: Chronic organophosphate exposure was found to affect four of the five areas of described neurological effects in the literature. A large proportion of the research in this area was not methodologically strong, therefore few recommendations can be conclusively made. Future research is warranted to investigate the non-neurological effects of chronic exposure to ensure the occupational risks of low-level chronic exposure are clearly communicated to farmers and farm workers.
Description:
INTRODUCTION: Organophosphates are a class of insecticides used globally by the agricultural industry for insect control. Acute consequences of organophosphate exposures are well known, while there has been limited research on their long-term effects. The objective of this review was to discuss the health effects of chronic organophosphate exposure in farmers. METHODS: Medline, Scopus and Web of Science were searched to find the relevant articles. Articles published only in English and until December 2018 were reviewed. The selected articles were then categorised as neurological (neurobehaviour, neurodevelopmental, neurological signs and symptoms) or non-neurological subheadings. RESULTS: A total of 53 articles for neurological effects and 17 articles for non-neurological effects were identified. Chronic organophosphates exposure was associated with deficits in the neurobehaviour subsets of attention and short-term memory, increased incidence of neurodegenerative diseases and effects on peripheral nerves and neurodevelopment. However, research to support non-neurological effects such as respiratory symptoms, increased cancer risk, endocrine disruption, cardiac issues, chronic fatigue and infertility was limited. CONCLUSION: Chronic organophosphate exposure was found to affect four of the five areas of described neurological effects in the literature. A large proportion of the research in this area was not methodologically strong, therefore few recommendations can be conclusively made. Future research is warranted to investigate the non-neurological effects of chronic exposure to ensure the occupational risks of low-level chronic exposure are clearly communicated to farmers and farm workers.
Description:
INTRODUCTION: National and state-based minimum data sets remain inadequate in providing a complete representation of emergency presentations, especially among paediatric asthma presentations. Thus, the aim of the study was to identify if a deficit exists in current emergency paediatric asthma hospital presentation datasets and how this may inform an understanding of childhood asthma in Victoria Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study examined emergency hospital presentation data between 1 February 2017 and 31 January 2019. All paediatric (0-14 years) emergency asthma presentation data were collected from nine hospitals in south-western Victoria, Australia, using the Rural Acute Hospital Data Register (RAHDaR), which gathers both Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD) data from larger government hospitals, and non-VEMD data from smaller, more rural institutions. RESULTS: Of the 854 emergency presentations identified for children with asthma aged 0-14 years, 540 (63.2%) were managed initially at larger government-reporting hospitals. A total of 314 (36.8%) emergency presentations were initially managed at emergency facilities, such as urgent care centres. Overall, it was found that a total 278 (32.5%) of all emergency presentations did not appear in current government datasets. CONCLUSION: The RAHDaR database, a complete register of data, captures all emergency presentations in south-western Victoria and highlights as much as a 33% deficit in the data currently available to inform asthma resource initiatives including policy development, funding allocation, prevention and management initiatives in Victoria. More accurate data from sources such as RAHDaR are essential to fill the now-evident data chasm.
Description:
INTRODUCTION: National and state-based minimum data sets remain inadequate in providing a complete representation of emergency presentations, especially among paediatric asthma presentations. Thus, the aim of the study was to identify if a deficit exists in current emergency paediatric asthma hospital presentation datasets and how this may inform an understanding of childhood asthma in Victoria Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study examined emergency hospital presentation data between 1 February 2017 and 31 January 2019. All paediatric (0-14 years) emergency asthma presentation data were collected from nine hospitals in south-western Victoria, Australia, using the Rural Acute Hospital Data Register (RAHDaR), which gathers both Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD) data from larger government hospitals, and non-VEMD data from smaller, more rural institutions. RESULTS: Of the 854 emergency presentations identified for children with asthma aged 0-14 years, 540 (63.2%) were managed initially at larger government-reporting hospitals. A total of 314 (36.8%) emergency presentations were initially managed at emergency facilities, such as urgent care centres. Overall, it was found that a total 278 (32.5%) of all emergency presentations did not appear in current government datasets. CONCLUSION: The RAHDaR database, a complete register of data, captures all emergency presentations in south-western Victoria and highlights as much as a 33% deficit in the data currently available to inform asthma resource initiatives including policy development, funding allocation, prevention and management initiatives in Victoria. More accurate data from sources such as RAHDaR are essential to fill the now-evident data chasm.