A dispersed refuge model for women escaping domestic violence : A regional case study
- Authors: McDonald, John , Green, Rosemary
- Date: 2001
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Primary Health Vol. 7, no. 1 (2001), p. 85-89
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- Description: Refuges for women escaping domestic violence have traditionally been communal residences located in metropolitan areas. More recently, alternative service models have been funded to provide for clients with multiple and complex needs. This paper evaluates the first year of operation of an innovative refuge model for women and their children. "Marg's Place" is a statewide, high security, dispersed accommodation support model located in a regional setting. Evaluation methods included interviews, surveys, and analysis of client databases and program documents. Thirty-five women and 42 children used the service for an average stay of 20 days during the first 12 months. The main findings were that the dispersed model can cater for a wide range of service users, including those with multiple and complex needs, who would be unlikely to be successfully accommodated in a communal refuge. There was little evidence that the dispersed model contributes to feelings of isolation or loneliness for women or children. The regional setting presented both advantages and disadvantages for women wanting to resettle in the area. Women reported significantly enhanced levels of empowerment, and the high security provisions met their needs for safety. Overall, this refuge model provides an accessible, responsive and effective service.
- Description: 2003004475
A review of mathematical models used to determine sperm donor limits for infertility treatment
- Authors: Sawyer, Neroli , McDonald, John
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Fertility and Sterility Vol. 90, no. 2 (2008), p. 265-271
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- Description: Objective: To review mathematical models used to determine sperm donor limits for infertility treatment and to consider the need to develop a new, internationally recognized and applicable model for calculating limits. Design: Literature review. Setting: Models for determining sperm donor limits were identified through bibliographic databases. Patient(s): Published models. Intervention(s): Variables used in the models were defined, evaluated, and assessed for relevancy and applicability. Main Outcome Measure(s): Relevance and applicability of model variables used to predict the number of consanguineous matings, probability of unwitting sibling mating and contribution to F (coefficient of inbreeding). Result(s): Models found to be outdated and inadequate for the present-day. Conclusion(s): Many countries have introduced limits to the number of offspring each anonymous sperm donor can father but these limits vary considerably. Published models for calculating sperm donor limits are in need of improvement and it is recommended that an enhanced, internationally applicable formula be developed for calculating acceptable limits. Moreover, it is recommended that further research be undertaken into the social and familial consequences of the revocation of sperm donor anonymity and the implications for the setting of sperm donor limits. © 2008 American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
- Description: C1
A rural perspective of telephone counselling and referral
- Authors: Watson, Robert , McDonald, John
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Primary Health Vol. 10, no. 2 (2004), p. 97-103
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- Description: A telephone survey was used to examine rural residents' (n=102) perceptions and knowledge of a well-established national telephone counselling and referral service-Lifeline. Residents in rural Australia experience generally poorer access and availability to health-related services than their metropolitan counterparts. They may also have problems with confidentiality and stigmatisation in using what services are available in their area. Although this was a non-comparative study, it was reasoned that these barriers to help-seeking in rural areas would mean their population would know and value a service such as Lifeline, which provides equitable and anonymous support and referrals to all Australians. The results showed that the service was known, valued, and supported strongly by the respondents. The findings supported the belief that telephone counselling and referral has an important and unique place in rural health support and referral.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000949
An evaluation of the CAST program using a conceptual model of school-based implementation
- Authors: Corboy, Denise , McDonald, John
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health Vol. 6, no. 1 (2007), p. 1-15
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- Description: Therapeutic prevention and/or early intervention programs for children at risk of developing disruptive behaviour disorders are increasingly being implemented in schools. One such Australian school-based program is CAST: CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) and Schools Together, an evidenced-based program treating children with emerging disruptive behaviour disorders in the early primary school years. The current evaluation examines the process of implementation of the CAST program in primary schools. By using a conceptual model of school-based implementation (developed by Greenberg, Domitrovich, Graczyk & Zins, 2005) the wide array of factors that can affect successful implementation at the school level were identified, and those elements critical to implementation quality were examined. Semi-structured individual and group interviews were conducted with a sample of 69 school personnel across 16 schools in the City of Ballarat and wider Grampians region of Victoria, in both government and Catholic primary schools. Results showed that schools were highly satisfied with the quality of CAST resources and personnel, and the implementation and delivery of sessions as planned. Aspects that impacted negatively on the implementation process were the lack of parental engagement; the lack of classroom follow-up in some schools; the level of readiness and pre-planning by the schools; and the availability of technical support. Greenberg’s conceptual model appears to be a useful framework to utilise in examining the implementation of the CAST model, as it allowed close examination of how the program was implemented within naturally occurring constraints. It allowed the identification of elements within the CAST model and the associated support system that must be maintained and nurtured by the collaborating parties, in addition to the factors at a school level that are potential barriers to effective implementation. Identification and examination of such factors assist in ensuring quality outcomes for school-based interventions in the future.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005834
An exploration of national calls to Lifeline Australia: social support or urgent suicide intervention?
- Authors: Watson, Robert , McDonald, John , Pearce, Dora
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Guidance & Counselling Vol. 34, no. 4 (Nov 2006), p. 471-482
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- Description: Lifeline Australia Inc. provides a free 24-hour telephone counselling and referral service to all Australians. The trained telephone counsellors of the service record information on many of their calls in Lifeline's Client Service Management Information System (CSMIS). This paper presents a descriptive summary of a national CSMIS data set, which was compiled during a 3-month period in 2003. The CSMIS data provided a clear national profile of the callers to the service. The results of this study support the hypothesis that callers are generally seeking social support from the service. The discussion explores the implications of this finding for Lifeline and other generalist counselling and referral services and their capacity to offer suicide intervention to the community.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001998
Areal call rates to a rural Lifeline centre
- Authors: Watson, Robert , McDonald, John , Pearce, Dora
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at TASA '04 Refereed Conference Proceedings: Revisioning institutions: Change in the 21st century, Beechworth, Victoria : 8th November, 2004
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- Description: This study investigated the relationship between areal call rates to Lifeline Ballarat’s telephone counselling service and the Socio-economic Indexes for Australia. Successful calls for the period of January, February, March, and April 2002 (N=3767) were geospatially referenced to small areas. It was hypothesised that call rates would increase with greater socio-economic disadvantage as measured by the Socio-economic Indexes for Australia. Population adjusted call rates in each exchange service area in the study region were produced and their relationship with the corresponding Socio-economic Indexes for Australia scores were investigated. Significant correlations were observed for the call rate indicator, named the Lifeline Indicator of Social Need, and the Socio-economic Indexes for Australia advantage/disadvantage, disadvantage, and education/occupation indices. The results support Johnston’s (1979) finding of a relationship between socio-economic status of an area and local utilization of telephone counselling. The results support the idea that social factors such as the socio-economic climate of the area can have a significant association with seeking support from telephone counselling services such as the Lifeline service. An implication of the study may be that the calls to telephone counselling and referral centres could be used as a functional social indicator of the expressed need for psychosocial support or as a contributor to other social indices.
- Description: E1
- Description: 2003000971
Ballarat health consortium : A case study of influential factors in the development and maintenance of a health partnership
- Authors: McDonald, John , Murphy, Angela , Payne, Warren
- Date: 2001
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Primary Health Vol. 7, no. 2 (2001), p. 75-82
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- Description: Intersectoral partnerships in health have a central role in current policy and programs. Partnerships are seen to be an effective strategy for maximising health outcomes. However, theoretical models of health partnerships are underdeveloped. Moreover, the research literature contains inconsistent findings about their effectiveness, and there has been very little evaluative research on health partnerships in this country. This paper reports on a case study of an intersectoral consortium using a health promotion approach to cardiovascular disease. A model of partnership formation and development is presented. From this, a research strategy was devised and carried out. Results indicate that the health consortium was formed inresponse to a critical health issue, and as a separate legal entity without recurrent funding, it has been sustained through the commitment of individual members. Project funding has, in large part, dictated its operations. The case study reveals the strengths, vulnnerabilities and achievements of this consortium over five years. To produce sustainable health outcomes, the researchers conclude, partnerships require strategic management to capitalise on individual endeavours, organisational alignments, and government or funder priorities. Ideological zeal for intersectoral health partnerships must be balanced by rigorous evaluation; together with more sophisticated indicators for measuring success in partnerships in health promotion. Theoretical development of models of health partnerships will also contribute to their enhanced effectiveness.
- Description: 2003004325
Barriers to accessing psychosocial support services among men with cancer living in rural Australia : Perceptions of men and health professionals
- Authors: Corboy, Denise , McDonald, John , McLaren, Suzanne
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Men's Health Vol. 10, no. 2 (2011), p. 163-183
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- Description: Little research has investigated formal psychosocial support use among men with cancer living in rural areas. The current study investigated perceived barriers to support service use among such men, within the framework of the Behavioral Model of Health Service Use. In a mixed methodology study, 82 men with cancer living in rural Australia were surveyed, and nine of these men, plus three health professionals, participated in semi-structured interviews. Reasons for not participating in formal support were sufficient informal support and subjective judgements about perceived need. Service availability was rarely endorsed by the men as a reason for non-participation, but was emphasised by health professionals. Identifying factors that impede or facilitate service use might enable rural men experiencing cancer-related distress to seek the extra psychosocial support they need. © 2011 by the Men's Studies Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
Clinical health practice in a remote setting : The impact of local community relationships
- Authors: Murphy, Angela , McDonald, John
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at the 2004 Annual Conference of TASA, Beechworth, Australia : 7th - 8th December, 2004
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- Description: This paper reports on an empirical research about the way in which local community relationships influence clinical health decision-making in a health service in a remote town in Victoria, Australia. Evidence-based practice is now widely promoted as the most effective and efficient basis for making clinical health decisions. However, little is known about its use in rural and remote settings. To date, researchers have assumed that the uptake of evidence-base practice among health care practitioners is primarily a function of the levels of training, resources and support provided to them. Drawing upon qualitative data from individual and group interviews with health care practitioners and managers, this research revealed that strong community relationships profoundly influence clinical decision-making. Community influence was evidenced through the blurring of health practitioner professional and private roles, the extent of community ownership and control of the health services, and the politicisation of health service delivery. The results show how local community relationships can influence clinical practice in a remote town. This advances our understanding of the determinants of the uptake of evidence-based practice. Evidence-based practice may be usefully viewed as a site of political contestation. Introduction
- Description: E1
- Description: 2003001298
Contestability and social justice : The limits of competitive tendering of welfare services
- Authors: McDonald, John
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Social Work Vol. 55 , no. 2 (2002), p. 99-108
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- Description: This paper critically analyses competitive tendering as a model for the provision of welfare services. Competitive tendering, driven by National Competition Policy and other imperatives for greater efficiency and a smaller public sector, is now used extensively by governments to fund welfare services. However, the suitability of this funding model to welfare services generally, and specifically welfare services in non·metropolitan areas, can be criticised on both theoretical and empirical grounds. Competitive tendering is grounded in economic rationalist, urbo-centric assumptions that are largely inappropriate for welfare provision, and have limited validity in rural areas. There is lillie rigorous empirical evidence of improved efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery under this model. Conversely, there is mounting evidence about the negative impacts. In rural areas this includes the erosion of community service obligations, less collaboration and greater secrecy between agencies, the reduction of choice, limited opportunities for local planning, cost shifting, and threats to continuity of care. This paper concludes with a call for greater application of the 'public benefit' test under the provisions of the National Competition Policy, and the development of more sophisticated frameworks for assessing the contestability of welfare services. Social workers have a leading role to play in challenging the dominant ideology of competition·orientated welfare reforms.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000195
Dimensions of pastoral care: Student wellbeing in rural Catholic schools
- Authors: Ollerenshaw, Alison , McDonald, John
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Primary Health Vol. 12, no. 2 (2006), p. 137-145
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- Description: This paper investigates the health and welfare needs of students (n = 15,806) and the current service model in Catholic schools in the Ballarat Diocese of Victoria, Australia. Catholic schools use a service model underpinned by an ethos of pastoral care; there is a strong tradition of self-reliance within the Catholic education system for meeting students' health and welfare needs. The central research questions are: What are the emerging health and welfare needs of students? How does pastoral care shape the service model to meet these needs? What model/s might better meet students' primary health care needs? The research methods involved analysis of(1) extant databases of expressed service needs including referrals (n = 1,248) to Student Services over the last 2.5 years, (2) trends in the additional funding support such as special needs funding for students and the Education Maintenance Allowance for families, and (3) semi-structured individual and group interviews with 98 Diocesan and school staff responsible for meeting students' health and welfare needs. Analysis of expressed service needs revealed a marked increase in service demand, and in the complexity and severity of students' needs. Thematic analysis of qualitative interview data revealed five pressing issues: the health and welfare needs of students; stressors in the school community; rural isolation; role boundaries and individualised interventions; and self-reliant networks of care. Explanations for many of these problems can be located in wider social and economic forces impacting upon the church and rural communities. It was concluded that the pastoral care model-as it is currently configured-is not equipped to meet the escalating primary health care needs of students in rural areas. This paper considers the implications for enhanced primary health care in both rural communities and in schools.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001995
Evidence-based health care and community nursing : Issues and challenges
- Authors: McDonald, John , Smith, Janine
- Date: 2001
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian health review : a publication of the Australian Hospital Association Vol. 24, no. 3 (2001), p. 133-140
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- Description: This paper examines the implications of the movement towards evidence-based health care for community-based, primary health care nursing in Australia. While both aim to improve health status, we argue that they are antithetical in many respects. Community nurse practitioners draw upon primary health care principles and adopt a holistic, preventive, empowering approach to working with and in communities. By contrast, evidence-based approaches utilise systematic reviews of primarily quantitative research to inform decisions about health at three levels: public health, the health care system, and individual patients. In response to this challenge, community nurses must reiterate their philosophies and practice models. Moreover, it is imperative to produce verifiable evidence of the effectiveness of their approach while mounting a thorough critique of the evidence-based movement.
- Description: 2003004331
Funding for rural health research from the Australian Research Council : A missed opportunity?
- Authors: McDonald, John
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Rural Health Vol. 17, no. 3 (2009), p. 124-128
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- Description: Objective: To determine the number of projects, and level of funding, for rural health research from the Australian Research Council (ARC). Design: Analyses of ARC searchable datasets of completed, and new and ongoing projects from 2001 to 2008. Main outcome measures: Number of rural health research projects as a proportion of total funding; level of funding for rural health research projects as a proportion of total funding. Results: Only 46 of 6498 ARC completed projects were classified as rural health research projects. This represents 0.7% of the total number of projects, and 0.39% of the total funding allocated. Only 25 of 4659 ARC new and ongoing projects were classified as rural health research projects. This represents 0.54% of the total number of projects, and 0.27% of the total funding allocated. None of the 832 completed fellowships were classified as rural health. Only five (0.52%) of the 953 new and ongoing fellowships were classified as rural health. Conclusions: The level of under-funding for rural health research could be partially addressed by directing applications towards the ARC, in addition to the National Health and Medical Research Council. With a few exceptions, rural health researchers are not yet competitive in the national funding arena. © 2009 The Author Journal compilation © 2009 National Rural Health Alliance Inc.
- Description: 2003008096
Implementing evidence-based health care : A new model for rural areas
- Authors: McDonald, John
- Date: 2001
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at 6th National Rural Health Conference, Canberra : 4th-7th March 2001
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- Description: 2003004316
Intentions to use telephone and face-to-face support services: Attitudes of Australian men following prostatectomy
- Authors: Corboy, Denise , McLaren, Suzanne , McDonald, John , Jenkins, Megan
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology Vol. 8, no. (November 2012), p. 225-226
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- Description: C1
Legitimating private interests: Hegemonic control over 'the public interest' in national competition policy
- Authors: McDonald, John
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Sociology Vol. 43, no. 4 (2007), p. 349-366
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- Description: National Competition Policy (NCP), legislated in Australia in 1995, has arguably been the single most consequential economic policy over the past decade. Yet it has largely escaped sociological analysis. This article investigates how the concept of the public interest in NCP has actually had the effect of legitimizing neo-liberal ideologies concerning private, individual, economic interests. Using critical policy analysis, this article examines how this legitimization has occurred through: (1) the policy language of the public interest, and how this discourse has shifted over time; (2) the implementation of NCP, particularly the application of the public interest test; and (3) evidence proffered by dominant institutions about the social and economic distributional outcomes of NCP. This analysis demonstrates that the policy language and public discourse of the public interest has been used to secure hegemonic control to legitimate the interests of dominant groups. © 2007 the Australian Sociological Association.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005831
Markets, outsourcing and the welfare state : Reconciling welfare policies in state education
- Authors: McDonald, John
- Date: 2001
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Just Policy: A Journal of Australian Social Policy Vol. 22, no. (2001), p. 36-42
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Men's Health and wellbeing: Learning through the lifecourse
- Authors: McDonald, John
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Men Learning Through Life Chapter 3 p. 34-48
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- Description: Men’s health and wellbeing: Learning through the lifecourseJohn MacdonaldIntroductionThis chapter draws on new data and insights from international research to provide a background to the question of why men’s health and well-being is a matter that deserves looking at in more depth. It also aims to offer some insights into men and learning in the context of their health and the ways in which a social determinants approach to health can enrich an understanding of men’s health and learning.For some time, thinking about men’s health, both in academic writ-ing and in policy and programmes, has been carried out within two main frameworks: a bio-medical one and what might be called a social-psychological one, based on notions of ‘masculinity’. While both of these approaches may have useful insights, they are increasingly being shown to be an inadequate basis for a comprehensive approach to men’s health, including the structuring of men’s health policies and of programmes aimed at ‘educating’ men about their health. The emergence on the world public health scene of the enormous amount of evidence concerning the social determinants of health (SDOH) presents a fresh way of thinking about men’s health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has led the field (WHO 2003, 2008) and many scholars throughout the world are adding to the available evidence of the impact of social and political environments on people’s health (Marmot, 2005; Macdonald, 2010). The systematic study of social determinants, Men’s health and wellbeing: Learning through the lifecourse 35social epidemiology (Berkman and Kawachi, 2000), is described as looking for the ‘causes of causes’, not just of disease but also of health. This approach calls for consideration of diverse local contexts, societies and populations. There is a considerable body of research on the social determinants of women’s health (Wuest et al., 2002; Anderson, 2006) as well as the inspirational Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH, 2013), which has spent two decades looking at wom-en’s physical and psychosocial health over the lifespan.
Moorabool Shire project : Stage 1 - Local area planning
- Authors: Blaskett, Beverley , Marshall, Craig , McDonald, John , Ollerenshaw, Alison
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Report
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- Description: This project was funded by the Victorian Government Department of Human Services and the Moorabool Shire Council and is currently being used to inform future health and welfare service provision in the Moorabool Shire.
- Description: K1
- Description: 2003002861
Neo-liberalism and the pathologising of public issues: The displacement of feminist service models in domestic violence support services
- Authors: McDonald, John
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Social Work Vol. 58 , no. 3 (2005), p. 275-284
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- Description: Using domestic violence support services as a case study, this paper examines how the ascendancy of neo-liberalism has individualised and pathologised public issues. Four perspectives are identified that have been influential in understanding the causes of domestic violence, determining responses to it and measuring the effectiveness of support services. These four perspectives may be categorised as: (i) victim-blaming; (ii) social movement; (iii) empowerment; and (iv) pathologising. From analysing the standard outcome measures currently used for government-funded accommodation programs, the author contends that the pathologising perspective dominates. This is partly attributable to the inherent methodological and ethical issues in evaluating programs of this nature. However, it is primarily driven by the ascendancy of a neoliberal, managerialist ideology that has depoliticised and clinicalised domestic violence. This has effectively silenced structural analyses of domestic violence and displaced feminist service models.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001234