Understanding perceptions of injury risk associated with playing junior cricket
- Authors: White, Peta , Finch, Caroline , Dennis, Rebecca , Siesmaa, Emma
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 14, no. 2 (2010 2010), p. 115-120
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
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- Description: Preventing sports injuries in children is important, but there is limited information about children's perceptions of injury risk or their injury beliefs and attitudes. This study investigated injury risk perceptions in a sample of junior sports participants across different age levels of play. Junior cricket players (n = 284, aged 8-16) completed a survey about their injury risk perceptions. Survey questions asked about players' perceived injury risk to themselves compared to cricketers in general, as well as their perceived injury risk across different playing position, ground condition, and protective equipment use scenarios. Chi-square analysis found that risk perceptions were significantly higher in U12 and U14 players for both batting and fielding compared to U16 players and that U16 players had a higher risk perception associated with bowling. Players tended to see themselves as less likely to be injured than cricketers in general and perceived there to be a high risk of injury when fielding close to the batter and a comparatively low risk of injury when fielding in the outfield. Junior players also perceived there to be a high injury risk associated with playing on hard and bumpy grounds. Despite their relatively accurate perceptions of risk and appreciation for the importance of protective equipment, junior players need continual reminding of the importance of safety strategies by coaches and others. Coaches need to inform players that fielding injuries can occur anywhere on the ground, and include skills practice accordingly. © 2010 Sports Medicine Australia.
Observations of caregiver supervision of children at beaches : Identification of factors associated with high supervision
- Authors: Petrass, Lauren , Blitvich, Jennifer , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Injury Prevention Vol. 17, no. 4 (2011), p. 244-249
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565904
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- Description: Objective: To identify independent factors associated with caregiver supervision levels at beaches. Methods: Children (aged 1-14 years) engaged in beach play and their caregivers were observed at Australian beaches during September-April, 2008/09. Caregiver, child, and environmental factor data were collected and recorded on a validated observation instrument. The main outcome of interest was a continuous measure of supervision. After adjusting for potential clustering by beach/state, multivariable linear regression was used to identify independent factors associated with caregiver supervision. Results: Four independent predictors of supervision and one interaction effect (child age by the caregiver and child position on beach) were identified. Caregivers who were supervising from a different position to where the child was playing were less likely to provide high supervision, as were older caregivers (>35 years) compared to younger caregivers (≤34 years). Compared to children playing alone, children playing with one, or two or more others were less likely to receive high supervision, and children aged 1-4 years were likely to receive higher supervision than older children. Conclusion: This study provides new knowledge about underlying factors associated with the level of caregiver supervision in beach settings. Future studies should continue to explore independent predictors of supervision so that effective programmes, which focus on caregiver supervision, can be targeted to address poor supervision practices.
Sports policy development and implementation in context : Researching and understanding the perceptions of community end-users
- Authors: Donaldson, Alex , Leggett, Susan , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Review for the Sociology of Sport Vol. 47, no. 6 (2012), p. 743-760
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
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- Description: Ensuring community clubs implement centrally developed sports policy is a challenge for most sports. One hundred and eighty four (70% male, 68% aged 40 to 59 years) community Australian football club representatives (first-aid providers, administrators, parents, coaches, etc.) from across the country provided their perceptions of an Australian Football League-developed sports trainer policy and associated workforce training structure (jointly referred to hereafter as 'the policy') via an online survey. This article presents a qualitative analysis of the open-ended questions within the survey using the analytical lens of symbolic interactionism. Respondents generally supported the intent of the policy and identified many potential benefits of the policy, if adopted. They also provided insight into the organization and operation of community sports clubs and stressed that the volunteer intensive nature of community sport needs to be accommodated in the policy to enhance the likelihood of community-level acceptance and implementation. Successful community club implementation of this type of centrally developed micro-level sport policy requires that policy-makers understand and address the implementation context-related perspectives raised in this study. © The Author(s) 2011.
- Description: 2003010571
What would you like? Identifying the required characteristics of an industry-wide incident reporting and learning system for the led outdoor activity sector
- Authors: Goode, Natassia , Finch, Caroline , Cassell, Erin , Lenne, Michael , Salmon, Paul
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Outdoor Education Vol. 17, no. 2 (July 2014), p. 2-15
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
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- Description: The aim of this study was to identify the characteristics that led outdoor activity providers agree are necessary for the development of a new industry-wide incident reporting and learning system (UPLOADS). The study involved: 1) a literature review to identify a set of characteristics that are considered to be hallmarks of successful reporting and learning systems in other safety-critical domains; and (2) the presentation of these characteristics to 25 Australian led outdoor activity providers using a two round modified-Delphi technique to obtain consensus views on their relative importance in this domain. Thirteen out of 30 characteristics were endorsed as "essential" for developing an incident reporting and learning system for the led outdoor activity sector, and a further 13 were endorsed as "required". "Essential" characteristics primarily related to operational or practical characteristics of the system, while "required" characteristics primarily related to system infrastructure, data quality and the basis for developing of countermeasures to address identified injury risks. The findings indicate that although led outdoor activity providers are primarily concerned that the demands of reporting do not adversely impact on their day to day operations, they also recognise that data collection methods and countermeasure development need to be of high quality. The paper concludes by highlighting some potential strategies for implementing the characteristics considered "essential" and "required".
Implementing injury surveillance systems alongside injury prevention programs: evaluation of an online surveillance system in a community setting
- Authors: Ekegren, Christina , Donaldson, Alex , Gabbe, Belinda , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Injury Epidemiology Vol. 1, no. 1 (2014), p. 1-15
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1058737
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565907
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- Description: BACKGROUND:Previous research aimed at improving injury surveillance standards has focused mainly on issues of data quality rather than upon the implementation of surveillance systems. There are numerous settings where injury surveillance is not mandatory and having a better understanding of the barriers to conducting injury surveillance would lead to improved implementation strategies. One such setting is community sport, where a lack of available epidemiological data has impaired efforts to reduce injury. This study aimed to i) evaluate use of an injury surveillance system following delivery of an implementation strategy; and ii) investigate factors influencing the implementation of the system in community sports clubs. METHODS:A total of 78 clubs were targeted for implementation of an online injury surveillance system (approximately 4000 athletes) in five community Australian football leagues concurrently enrolled in a pragmatic trial of an injury prevention program called FootyFirst. System implementation was evaluated quantitatively, using the RE-AIM framework, and qualitatively, via semi-structured interviews with targeted-users. RESULTS:Across the 78 clubs, there was 69% reach, 44% adoption, 23% implementation and 9% maintenance. Reach and adoption were highest in those leagues receiving concurrent support for the delivery of FootyFirst. Targeted-users identified several barriers and facilitators to implementation including personal (e.g. belief in the importance of injury surveillance), socio-contextual (e.g. understaffing and athlete underreporting) and systems factors (e.g. the time taken to upload injury data into the online system). CONCLUSIONS:The injury surveillance system was implemented and maintained by a small proportion of clubs. Outcomes were best in those leagues receiving concurrent support for the delivery of FootyFirst, suggesting that engagement with personnel at all levels can enhance uptake of surveillance systems. Interview findings suggest that increased uptake could also be achieved by educating club personnel on the importance of recording injuries, developing clearer injury surveillance guidelines, increasing club staffing and better remunerating those who conduct surveillance, as well as offering flexible surveillance systems in a range of accessible formats. By increasing the usage of surveillance systems, data will better represent the target population and increase our understanding of the injury problem, and how to prevent it, in specific settings.